"It means a lot of things to a lot of different people," Mr Stanway said.
Despite the bar's recent success with awards, it has not always been smooth sailing for the locally owned business.
"It takes a long time to get known [and] the first year and a half was very tough," Mr Stanway said.
When they opened in November 2014, they knew the landlord had plans to make changes to the building.
The bar had their own "game plan" - to create a brand, build a following, and then move somewhere else when asked to leave.
"I thought, actually, we haven't had enough time [to establish ourselves]," Mr Stanway said.
But the last 12 months "has been awesome" and Mr Stanway feels he's achieved the goal.
"Just."
The ex-chef cum beer-brewer was shifting the business into central Tauranga.
"We're moving to Wharf St [and] we're really excited about that," Mr Stanway said.
"We're exiting the Mount at the top of our game."
Despite being pleased with the end result, he was still sentimental.
"This is an amazing [and] unique building," Mr Stanway said.
"A lot of customers can remember it from the old days. [They] come in and reminisce.
"There are people who have had their marriage proposals in here."
The Hop House was having a final celebration today at the bar.
Building owner Simon Clark said the site and was waiting on a resource consent for a building that would include four retail tenancies and two penthouse apartments.
''We haven't found tenants yet but we are comfortable we will as there is good demand at Mount Maunganui. ''
To make way for the new complex 297 and 301 Mount Maunganui Rd would be demolished in the next couple of months to make way for the new building, he said.