World-famous bar closing
A Wellington bar that famously turned away Hollywood actress Liv Tyler is closing.
Motel Bar has been operating on Forresters Lane since 1999, and was once favoured by movie stars who were in the capital.
According to legend, Tyler was once turned away when the star was living in Wellington while Lord of the Rings was being filmed.
‘‘The story goes she tried to gain access to the site after hours and was simply not let in,’’ co-owner Rob Scott said.
‘‘It got through the whole community that Liv Tyler wasn’t cool enough to get into Motel Bar. That’s always been a talking point to this day.’’
Tyler’s co-star Elijah Wood is said to have celebrated his 18th birthday there, and other famous faces including Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, comedian John Cleese and Kiwi actor Sam Neill have also made appearances.
Scott said the bar, which had been revamped a number of times, had come to a natural end.
‘‘For the past few years, it’s been a cocktail tiki bar and we feel it’s run it’s course … So we are going to close and will repurpose the site and you’ll just have to watch the space in 2018.’’
Co-owner Michael Hollings said it was time for a change.
‘‘It’s had a great run with lots of great customers but we’d like new drinks for a new crowd.’’
Hollings estimated the bar had served half a million drinks over the past 19 years.
‘‘That’s a lot of drinks going through that one fridge, it’s had a few motors and all sorts of things going on there.’’
Scott, who also owns Chow, The Library, and The Little Waffle Shop with Hollings, said they were looking forward to ‘‘completely reimagining what we are doing’’.
Last drinks will be served on New Year’s Eve.