Hall of Fame Inductee: Karen Milesi

Karen Milesi is a force to be reckoned with, so nobody was surprised when the long-time owner and operator of the Murray Bridge Hotel was inducted into the Women in Hotels Hall of Fame.

“I had absolutely no idea, and I’m on the committee, so they managed to keep that from me very well,” said Karen.

“I can think of plenty of people who are worthy of the award.

“I was totally surprised but absolutely, totally honoured.”

The Women in Hotels Hall of Fame recognises those who have made a significant contribution to the South Australian Hotel Industry. It is often awarded to someone who is nearing the end of their career but Karen does not fit into this category.

Karen is a fourth generation hotelier. Her great-grandmother, followed by her grandmother, and then her mother, owned the Retreat Hotel in Abbotsford Melbourne, which featured prominently in the 1970s series, The Sullivans.

Karen grew up with hard work. Her parents both had “amazing work ethics,” with her mother running the Retreat Hotel, and her father working in the Victorian police force.

As a young woman, Karen moved for a job at the Darwin Casino. In Darwin, she met her late husband Rob, and the two later moved to Hobart, where Karen and her brothers purchased the Customs House Hotel.

It was her first official foray into the hotelier industry, and she fell in love fast.

“I’ve had to fight my way to the top in some ways,” said Karen.

When applying for the bank loan to purchase the Customs House Hotel, she was told verbally the loan would be granted, however the manager reversed his decision when Karen, a young woman, arrived at the bank. Some of Karen’s friends made calls and convinced the manager she was a “shoo-in” for success. The loan was approved.

When the mid-nineties hit, Karen and her brothers decided it was time to expand the family business. South Australia had recently introduced gaming, so the family saw it as an attractive option.

“We decided to come over and get involved in that, and this venue [the Murray Bridge Hotel] came up,” she recalled.

“We decided we’d go over on a five-year plan, but we did such a fabulous job of it, I’m still here twenty-five years later.”

While she has had no formal training, Karen said management came naturally to her.

“My business plan is my work ethic,” she said. “We want to make sure that the Murray Bridge Hotel comes across as a bit of city chic in the country – that’s my catchphrase to the staff.

“Our reputation is everything but we work really hard at that and after 25 years, I think I’ve done it pretty well.”

Karen has long been involved in Women in Hotels, and fondly remembers travelling from Murray Bridge for conferences.

“It was just a lovely chance to network with other women,” she said. The psyche of the organisation is to include everyone, to ensure women in the industry feel welcome and supported.

Karen is far from the end of her career (she describes her current stage as “grassroots”), and is an experienced, passionate professional. Her advice for those starting out in the industry is simple: “Don’t lose your sense of humour … because the bizarre happens every day.”

THE HURLEY HOTEL GROUP’S, ANNA HURLEY, GAVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH IN HONOUR OF KAREN MILESI'S INDUCTION INTO THE WOMEN IN HOTELS HALL OF FAME

It is an honour to be here to introduce our next hall of fame inductee. Karen Milesi is a colleague, mentor, friend and I am honoured to also call her family. She is a source of inspiration and somebody I look up to a great deal. I have been blessed in my life to know many strong women, Karen is somebody that I look to and who shows me how a woman in business can be strong and determined, be a great mother, work hard and live life to the absolute fullest.

Most of you will know Karen as the owner/operator of the Murray Bridge Hotel. But Karen’s journey through the hospitality industry started long before making her way to Murray Bridge and she has certainly accumulated some interesting stories along the journey.

Karen grew up in Melbourne and moved to Darwin as a young woman to work at the Darwin Casino. After working in the regulatory team overseeing compliance, she moved on to a role as a supervisor. Now many of you may know that Karen does not pull her punches, doesn’t matter if you’re a front bar punter or, in this case, one of the most well known businessmen in Australia, Kerry Packer.

Mr Packer, being one of the big players in that industry at the time, made a visit to that casino with his young, teenage son James. He

slipped him a pile of thousand dollar chips to have a punt on the Black Jack tables, obviously assuming nobody at Darwin Casino would have the balls to say no to Kerry Packer. Little did he know...

A young Karen Milesi had to front Big Kerry and tell him he was out of order as his son was not of age. I think most of us have had to front a customer to tell them what they are not allowed to do but none of us have had to overrule Kerry Packer!

After meeting her late husband Rob in Darwin, they moved to Hobart together to work with her brothers in their pubs down south. When the family decided to enter the South Australian pub market, Karen and Rob moved to South Australia to run their new investment, the Murray Bridge Hotel. They proceeded to renovate and grow that business from a run down country pub to a highly successful hotel... all done with two, very well behaved, young sons in tow.

As we all know, long days and late nights are all part of the business and Karen has never been one to shy away from a hard days work. Co-ordinating new menus and renovations, pulling beers in the front bar, Karen does it all. She understands the pub game like not many other people do.

Karen and her late husband Rob worked together to develop that

pub into the multi-award winning venue it is. Every facet of the Murray Bridge Hotel shows a passion and love of hospitality that is truly remarkable. As some in the room will be aware, Karen was widowed around seven years ago with the passing of her husband. Karen has since been running the pub with the assistance of her sons Josh and Nick, as well as long term managers Di and Bec, her offsiders and all-round kick ass ladies who are here tonight.

Not everyone in the room will be aware that Karen now has, what my father would call a boyfriend, but what any other mature adult might call a partner . . and he’s a ripper. I am qualified to make that assessment because Evan Kosch is my Uncle, so I know him quite well. I’m sure Karen knows how stoked the Hurley/Kosches are to have her in the family.

Thank you for your stewardship of the industry, for the guidance and example that you have shown me and many other women in our industry. You are a worthy addition to the newly installed Women in Hotels Honour Board in the AHA Boardroom. If there was a legend category, you would be on that list too.