The exterior of the building has been painted, plants added to the balcony and the hotel itself re-branded from the Prince of Wales Hotel to The Prince of Merewether.

"Everyone refers to the venue as The Prince so we decided to go with that, and underpin it with our location. We've incorporated the Prince of Wales feathers into the logo as a nod to our heritage," owner Ty Burford told Food & Wine.

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The balcony bar, private dining room, sports bar and VIP room are all now open, and works have commenced on the public bar and restaurant space downstairs. These areas are expected to open in September.

The balcony bar is "lighter and brighter than before; transformed to bring the outdoors in". The seasonal cocktail list has been developed in collaboration with Coal & Cedar, and gin-infused kombucha is on tap.

The new sports bar downstairs has seven big screen televisions.

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Head chef Tom Robinson and sous chef Sean Townsend are taking advantage of the hotel's new kitchen and, with a little help from part-owner Tim Montgomery, have created a bar-style menu that is available from 6pm daily, and at lunch from Friday to Sunday.

It's a taste of what's to come when the new restaurant opens in September.

"We also had a reasonably busy and successful first week, and so far, apart from a few small teething issues, things are going pretty well, and feedback has been really positive."

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