Profiles

Hotel Laguna on Hastings Street

“The question all our guests ask us about Noosa is …’what do you love the most’ and I say, do you have a couple of hours?

“Although our most precious moments are coming home from being overseas and heading down Noosa Drive to Hastings St and the first vision we see of home is the sparking blue water in the horizon and it is always met by a clear blue sky… just magnificent. Both Tony and I love the way our industry and colleagues work together as a team, we are all so ‘like minded’ and we promote Noosa any chance we get.. and why wouldn’t we?

“This in itself is reason enough to want to stay… great environment… great people… We are all truly blessed and those that have known us know that we are passionate Noosinians… now here’s a new word.”Hotel Laguna 1

Linda and Tony Jedynak are the management rights owners for Hotel Laguna in Noosa.

“Tony and I are childhood sweethearts and met when I was 15 – so we have actually known each other for over 35 years – of which 27 of them we have been happily married. We are both born and bred in Melbourne- Tony was forging a career as a surveyor with a firm called Mahon & Mahon and later the Forestry Commission. I had my sights set on being an accountant and began my career as an internal auditor with Coles Myer and later I headed up the merger of the Coles and Myer executive superannuation funds, only to be later poached by the companies actuarial firm Towers Perrin and my last job was being a superannuation fund consultant for 25 various clients across Australia .

“Together we scouted Queensland from Cairns to Noosa and ended up buying our first management rights together – Regatta Apartments on Gympie Terrace in Noosaville. Mum and dad ran this by themselves for three years, while we stayed in Melbourne until we bought a property big enough to sustain our four lifestyles! – which included golf and dining out!

“In 1991, fortune smiled upon us and Hotel Laguna was set in motion by two Noosa developers Lyndon Simmons and Murray Charlton. We signed up on the dotted line and Tony and I finally moved to Noosa in 1992. Tony went early June and I arrived in September – quite pregnant I might add… Lucky for me the development was behind and I managed to have my first child, Jessica, just as the doors were open for business.

“Hastings St shops and restaurants became our children’s front yard and the river their back yard. They had no problems with hating the neighbours children – because there was none! Their best friends were the shop assistants and I recall my son Michael at the age of 4 pulling all the flowers out of the garden bed in front of what was then Terazzo restaurant and giving them to the owner Marilyn because she gave him a free marshmallow!

“Tony and I intend to see many more years at Hotel Laguna, but when the ‘smile falls off our dial’ we will know it is time to move on… but until then, we will meet and greet our customers the same way we have for the last 21 years with a grin from ear to ear and a helping hand.

“Our end of town has seen many come and many go over the past 21 years. In the early days, the street was filled with quirky boutiques and it’s a pity to see that over the years the owners of the businesses could not survive the ever spiralling rents of Hastings St. They have slowly made their way back, but not to the extent they were 21 years ago.

“Our street scape has taken a leap into the new millennium and looks amazing with all the fairy lights lit up at night. I can honestly say that the initiatives from the Hastings St Association to beautify our street have been a great success and we can all enjoy it’s ambience and it is a great corridor to the entrance of Hotel Laguna.

“At times we have thought about moving out of Hastings St and living off site and then we would come to our senses. We get to have 48 new neighbours every week, we can decide not to cook and just walk out our front door and choose any cuisine… how good is that!Hotel Laguna 2

Hastings St is one of the best locations in the world and it is our back yard. When we close the office, we head down the back, open the glass sliding doors wide open, grab a glass of wine, watch the sun set over the river and wave to the ferry as it meanders by for its last pick up of the day. It doesn’t get better than this.

“In 1996, after four years, my mum and dad decided that it was time for them to take up bowls and play golf on a more permanent basis, so Tony and I bought them out and took on the new challenge of running a business and bringing up two young children, while getting heavily involved with all things community based” We wore many hats in the early years; Tony was on the Tourism Noosa board for many years as well as in the later years got involved with the Hastings St Association.

I on the other hand I found myself volunteering my time to the Noosa Jazz Festival under the helm of Frank Johnson in 1996, and found myself, with the support of Garth Prowd and his company USM Events (and many others over the years), running the whole show for the next 16 years.

Garth and I finally hung our boots up at the end of 2012. It was a team effort and I can say my skills with what I called ‘schmoozing’ sponsors and getting blood out of a stone became legendary!

Nobody was safe!

“Who would have thought that 16 years ago my experience in event management was zip but we managed to pull the event into something spectacular and a tourism icon for Noosa! The festival became a testament to our community spirit, and I only tapped into this and thank everybody for believing in our dream.

The event began with a handful of Frank’s jazz musician mates which expanded to over 150 national and international musicians attending the festival and along the way we managed to be part of the discovery of some young amazing talent such as Megan Washington, and brought jazz legends to our town like Graeme Bell and James Morrison, and many more. Now after 16 years it’s time for me to sit back and enjoy the show.

“Hastings St has now got the buzz back it had when we first came. With the final stages to be completed on Seahaven by the end of the year, we are confident that Hastings St and tourism in general in Noosa is in for a real boost!

We have seen an amazing amount of renovation and refurbishment to Hastings St properties over the past 21 years and now it is time for us to sit back and enjoy the wave of people who will come and enjoy what we have all created.

“We were introduced to the business of management rights when we were in our early 30s. We were fortunate to move into Hotel Laguna, a large resort with a generous size managers apartment located on the riverfront. Hotel Laguna’s 48 rooms permitted us to employ staff and therefore reducing the burden of running the entire property on our own.

“Our earliest guests that still holiday at Hotel Laguna after 21 years – Marty Eckhodlt from Melbourne. He first arrived one Christmas time with some mates and Linda had to teach them how to make hamburgers as they were entertaining some lady friends for a BBQ around the pool one night. Also, Simon and Christine Nash from Melbourne first came one Christmas holiday as a couple and have been coming every year since and they are now married with three beautiful children; Louis, Hugo and Molly. Also, Skip and Toni Bell from Wingham have been coming for their January holiday for over 15 years.”

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