The Riverfront Bar in Virginia to close to public

It’s the end of an era and a “sad day” in Virginia as the town’s longest established hotel and restaurant is set to close its doors following two decades in business.

The Riverfront Hotel, owned by Jimmy and Antoinette Murray, made the announcement on social media on Monday.

“It is with deep regret and a great sense of sadness that we have decided to close our food service and bar business with effect from the 29th of January after 22 years in business,” it read.

The owners blamed rising costs as the main reason for their decision to close.

“A combination of food inflation, rising energy costs, increasing labour costs, commercial rate increases, and the VAT increase to 13.5% have made this business unviable,” they said.

“We just cannot absorb these costs and give a service to our customers at reasonable prices, especially considering the cost-of-living increases being experienced in other areas by our customers. This is a very sad and emotional time for all involved in the business.”

Jimmy and Antoinette fear others working in the hospitality industry could suffer the same fate due to the rising costs.

“The cost of doing business, especially for small and medium-sized ones in this country, has become prohibitive and we fear we will not be the last to find ourselves in this position.”

The statement concluded with the owners thanking their staff and loyal customers for their support.

“We want to pay tribute to our amazing and loyal staff members over the years. They have been the bedrock of our business. We also wish to thank our many loyal customers and supporters in Virginia and beyond. Without them, we would not have been in business for such a sustained period.”

The Riverfront was established in 2002 and has taken many forms throughout the years, moving from what was originally a hotel, restaurant and bar, to opening the town’s only nightclub in February 2010, Club V.

The nightclub was renovated a number of years ago, creating the V Bar & Club at The Riverfront, a late bar that streamed live matches and sporting events and hosted a number of popular bands. It had not been open to the public since July 2022.

The property has being involved in the national effort to house Ukrainian refugees since the war began, with its hotel rooms in use for that purpose.

It’s understood the late bar has since been used as a sit down area to serve food to residents throughout the day.

It’s thought this aspect of the business is set to continue for the moment.

Efforts by this newspaper to contact the Murrays for comment directly were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.

‘Sad day’

Fine Gael Councillor and Virginia native TP O’Reilly explained Monday was a very sad day for the town.

“It’s a very sad day for the town to see the hub in the town closing. It’s disappointing to see. I suppose everyone makes their own decisions for different reasons. I wish them well in the future,” he said.

Cllr O’Reilly feels that the return of the VAT rate for the hospitality sector to 13.5% has had a big impact on businesses similar to The Riverfront.

“The VAT increase is something that I would be very worried about impacting the hospitality sector greatly and I think it’s something, as a government, that we need to look at and get the nine percent VAT rate back into play.”