Tauranga’s Miss Gee’s Bar & Eatery wins in Hospitality Awards for Excellence 2023

Ashleigh Gee won Best Late Night Live Entertainment Venue in Hospitality New Zealand’s Hospitality Awards for Excellence 2023. She is pictured with Sean Murray, the bar's party liaison. Photo / Alex Cairns

A 33-year-old Tauranga hospitality owner says it feels “unreal” to be recognised nationally after having been faced with a “rollercoaster” of challenges since opening her business.

Tauranga’s Miss Gee’s Bar & Eatery on The Strand received the award for the Best Late Night Live Entertainment Venue in Hospitality New Zealand’s Hospitality Awards for Excellence 2023.

Owner Ashleigh Gee told the Bay of Plenty Times it had been a “rollercoaster of a ride” to get the business to where it is today after opening in 2019, just a few months before Covid-19 hit the country.

“It feels pretty unreal to have won. A lot of hard work has gone into Miss Gee’s over the last four years, so to have it be recognised nationally is a massive deal for us.

“We opened five months before Covid so we went into lockdown when we were still paying off set up fees … so right from the start there was a lot of uncertainty, and ever since then we’ve been basically hit with restrictions, and now the cost of living crisis so it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride.”

Gee, who built Miss Gee’s with DJ Sean Murray, said “a lot of soul” had gone into the business, and she believed staying “really involved” had helped with its success.

“Sean Murray has been DJing in the music business for over 20 years, so a lot of skillset goes into it.

“But also just our commitment to electronic music and the city centre, and trying to bring something special to the city, something that we saw was missing.”

Gee said the idea for Miss Gee’s came after she and Murray had noticed a “gap in the market” for electronic music in Tauranga. Since opening, Gee said the focus of the business has “grown and adapted” to the challenges and changes they have been faced with.

“When we came out of Covid we had to do restricted, seated service. Before that, we were just a bar, so it forced us to work on our customer service and how we look after customers when they’re in for food and drinks.”

Looking to the future, Gee said she hoped to “build and improve” the business.

“Even though we are a late-night venue we have a whole range of offerings for people to come in from lunchtime until two o’clock in the morning.”

Shania Callender is a journalism student at Auckland University of Technology.

Hospitality Awards for Excellence 2023 Bay of Plenty winners:

Best Sustainability / Environmental and/or Recycling Practices

Winner

Aura Accommodation, Rotorua

Best Motel - Over 25 Rooms

Winner

Awa Motel, Whakatane

Best Late Night /Live Entertainment Venue

Winner

Miss Gee’s Bar & Eatery, Tauranga