General News
27 May, 2026
Best bush pub in Victoria
WALKING away with a massive accolade for Dimboola last week were the owners of the historic Victoria Hotel, but for Meran and Stoph Pilmore, they were quick to spread acknowledgements and thanks to the community they have helped flourish over the past 11 years.
Turning up to the 2026 Australian Hotels Association Victoria State Awards, they were lost for words when their name was read out as Best Bush Pub.
“I was pretty shocked, actually,” Stoph said.
“We’ve entered about six times across various categories. We've been a finalist, but we've never actually conquered the big one.”
The hotel was recognised for its “extraordinary commitment” to Dimboola and surrounding communities.
On social media, they were quick to credit the town for the success, posting “It takes a community to raise a country pub” and detailing how every little part of what people brought to the iconic pub was important to them.
“To our incredible town – thank you,” they wrote.
“This award belongs to every single person who has walked through our doors, shared a meal, pulled up a stool, worked a shift, lent a hand, cheered us on, or simply believed in what a little country pub can mean to a community.”
Stoph said the award was a great vindication of the vision he and Meran had when they took over – they were conscious of making sure it served the local people well.
“Everything we do has a community focus,” he said.
“When we first bought the hotel, I said to Meran and to the staff, there's two key things we need to do. If that phone rings and there's a question, we say ‘yes’, and then we work out how to do it.
“Secondly, we're going to be front and centre in sponsorship of everything in town. If they're going to have a frog race down the main street, we're going to have a banner there.
“We have to get that community back on board, because previously that wasn't the case.”
Stoph said part of the motivation was as simple as ensuring meals were consistently available and the operating hours were reasonable.
“From the day we walked in,” he said of the change in food service approach.
“Previous to that, you were lucky to get anything.
“When a hotel in a small country town closes its doors at 7pm on a Saturday night, they haven't got a very good business model.”
Over time, he said their customer-focused attitude began to pay dividends, and not just for them.
“What we've been able to capture is a cohort of people who travel regularly between Melbourne and Adelaide and make that a halfway place to stay,” Stoph said.
“Our focus around that was to make sure that our kitchen was open seven nights a week.
“The previous owners of the motel up the road, Horsham Road – what they noticed is because we started doing food seven nights a week, they were starting to get more people who travel to the region, that might come up from a company and do a lot of business in the area, they were ... stay(ing) at their motel, because they can come to the pub and get a meal any night of the week.”
More broadly, Stoph said he has been grateful to see genuine growth in general business and community activity in Dimboola over roughly the same period, but he believed it has also substantially lifted the town's spirit to the point where it attracts comments from visitors.
“How many people come to our town and go, ‘this is the most friendliest place I've ever been’?” he said.
“Fancy having a reputation around Australia for being a friendly town! This is a great thing with all the rubbish that's going on in Melbourne, and all this pressure going everywhere.
“What I encourage everyone is to get out in your community, get into a local shop, and if you've got a spare dollar to help them out, buying goods or a knick-knack, or whatever it is, do it.”
He said he didn’t want to get “too political about it”, but believed there were hard times ahead and the community needed each other.
“I’m very concerned for anyone who has any aspiration in this country at the moment,” Stoph said.
“We're going to be going through a really tough time the next couple of years, really tough.
“I'd encourage everyone to enjoy the social side of the community, whether it's just walking down the main street, saying good day to people.
“We're going to value and appreciate every single cent that comes in over our counter to keep our community vibrant.”
But at the end of the day, he said the award was a reflection on the local people and visitors who helped make the pub what it was.
“The success of this is bigger than us as the providers; the success of this is to be celebrated by every individual who pops in,” Stoph said.
“Some people only come there and have a squash and have connection with someone, they sit down, have a bit of a yarn for five (or) 10 minutes.
“That's what pubs are about, that's why they are the heart of the community.
“That's why they're important for the social fabric, for those people who may not have a great deal of people in their lives, they can come and sit there – and whether it's a bit of banter or whether it's a serious conversation, or whether something's upset them in their lives – they can tend to come in and land on the wood, have a yarn, and feel a bit better about themselves.
“That’s what it’s about.”