'I'll miss the people the most': End of an era for hotel icon

But after working seven days a week for most of his life - and still having an interest in the Lady Bay - he's unlikely to be able to do that for too long.

And even though he will no longer be the face of Macey's, he won't be a stranger to the popular venue.

Over the years, many of the regulars had become close friends, he said. Some are like family.

"I'll come down and have a beer with them," he said.

"I'll miss the people the most. Every day the same people come here all the time and I'll miss that."

A lifetime of working in hotels was probably inevitable for Mr Walsh. He grew up in them - his parents running a number of pubs across the region including in Boggy Creek and Koroit. "It's in the blood I suppose," he said.

After leaving school, he went to work for well-known Warrnambool identity Jimmy Leahy as an electrician.

"I loved Jimmy Leahy. If I had my life over again, the one thing I'd want to do is work for Jimmy Leahy. He was such a good guy," Mr Walsh said.

He said there were so many funny stories he could tell about his time there. After six years, Mr Walsh went out on his own before he decided to get into hotels.

"I worked in pubs in Melbourne just to learn the trade," he said.

Mr Walsh returned to Warrnambool at 27 and, with his business partner, bought the Lady Bay in 1975 and was at the helm during its golden era.

He said the Lady Bay was just "good fun". A string of big name acts played at the venue - Skyhooks and Jimmy Barnes among them.

"All the big bands used to go from Melbourne to Adelaide and use the Lady Bay as a stopover because they could get free accommodation," he said.

"The average band back then would get $10,000 a night. Jimmy Barnes $20,000."

You'd average a crowd of up to 1000 people most Wednesday nights, and local band Granny's Grave would perform on a Sunday, he said.

"In those days it was huge. If you had a venue like that now you'd be lucky to get 200 people in it really. That's how things have changed," Mr Walsh said.

The legend of the Lady Bay has outlasted the building and Mr Walsh is often stopped down the street by people wanting to talk about the good old days of The Bay.

"It's a pity it couldn't have stayed as a pub," he said.

Mr Walsh sold it in 1980 and moved to The Cally and Whalers and then later Macey's in 1983-84 which was then known as Mac's Hotel.

In 1989, he bought back the Lady Bay but, despite attempts to revive its fortunes, he decided to knock it over and build accommodation that has helped reshape the foreshore skyline.

Mr Walsh said he had seen many changes in the hotel industry over the decades - the pandemic the most recent and one that took its toll on him.

"It didn't worry me until COVID came. COVID knocked me around a little bit - the lockdowns and all that. Things just didn't come back the same." he said.

"Even as far as employment, it's so hard to get people. Everything is harder.

"I didn't mind working. My mind was saying I wanted to keep going, my body said 'no'. I'd just had enough. My legs are tired. I'm on my feet all day.

"I spent all my time in hotels, seven days a week but I enjoyed it. If I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't have done it. I'd probably still do it, it's just my body's worn out.

"I'm not sick. I never get sick. I just want to do nothing for a while."

Mr Walsh said he did three major refurbishments in his 40 years at Macey's.

"When we first came here it was a two-storey building and the bottle shop wasn't big enough, so we had to make it bigger," he said.

The original Mac's Hotel, he said, had been "let go for years and years".

"Rather than do it all up we thought we'd pull it over and make the bottleshop bigger and build a big bistro. We kept parts of it," he said.

Mr Walsh said it was now in need of another makeover.

"I wanted to stay on and do it again. The place does want revamping again now but I just didn't have the energy to do it. I could have. It was either do it myself or sell it," he said.

Mr Walsh said the new owners, PubCo, were really good operators.

"They'll come along and do a really good job," he said.

At 77, Mr Walsh said he had no plans for any major trips in his semi-retirement.

"I might go to Queensland a couple of times a year to get away from the winter but I'll wait until the May Races are over," he said.

"Three weeks would be enough for me. I was born and bred here and I've got no wish to go and live anywhere else.

"I just love the whole town."