Mr Hogan, who took over the famous Bendigo hotel in 2007, said it was time for a break.

He maintains ownership of the land and building but the business has been bought by Mark Marantelli and Ray Sharawara.

"They have been in the hotel game for almost 40 years," Mr Hogan said. " I wouldn't lease a business like (the Shamrock) to newcomers in the industry.

"Mark and Ray approached me and I just decided to give them a go. I have been operating the hotel since 2007, so it was time for a break.

"I'm very happy Ray and Mark can take it over and continue the good wok and improvements on the hotel."

The iconic hotel on the corner of Pall Mall and Williamson Street will have parts of it redeveloped and modernised.

"We fell in love with (the Shamrock) as many other people do but did so knowing full well it requires a lot of money to be spent to bring many parts of the building to a higher standard," Mr Sharawara said. "It's now 123 years old, we're aware of that.

"We will be concentrating on the public areas beginning with the cafe-bistro on corner of Pall Mall and Williamson Street. We want to enhance that room and make it into wine bar, cafe and bistro (and) want to feature as many local Bendigo wines.

"The next step will concentrating on the TAB and sports bar bistro.

"We are hoping to start as soon as we can and are waiting on plans to come through. We can't give a date but it will be as soon as possible with as little disruption to operation as possible."

Mr Sharawara said he and his business partner were in it for the long haul after taking over a long-term lease in July.

"My partner and I (have worked together) in the hotel industry for over 20 years," he said. "Individually we have both been in the industry for 36 years.

"We are always looking for opportunities and have been friends and acquaintances with Jim through the Australian Hotels Association (Victoria). So we have always had a constant dialogue.

"We were looking for opportunities in Bendigo and came to Jim for advice on what might be around. We looked at various properties and while doing that Jim said he was interested in selling.

"That started it about 12 months ago and then it went one thing went to another."

Mr Sharawara is an executive member of the AHA Victoria board. The partners are also AHA councillors.

Between the two hoteliers they have had a hand in venues in Geelong, Ballarat, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Wandon, Horsham and Melbourne.

"We love regional Victoria and love developing (hotels) and putting money into regional Victoria," Mr Sharawara said. "We have great confidence in Bendigo in making this place better again.

"We will also aim to get ourselves involved with community organisations."

Mr Hogan said he was proud of his time in charge of Bendigo's Hotel Shamrock.

"It's been an engineering exercise, it was massive," he said. "We managed to really create a fantastic hotel.

"We have added different bars and modernised the hotel's food and beverages, installed the American bar upstairs and built (Gold Dust) downstairs. We put TAB and sports bar in.

"We also built a whole new wing at the hotel with new rooms, a pool and gym in the basement. I'm proud of the hotel as it is now."

Mr Hogan said Mr Marantelli and Mr Sharawarra would have their own ideas about how to add to the hotel.

"They will be a benefit to Bendigo and the tourism in Bendigo.

"I hope Bendigo keeps developing its tourism industry.

"If I was staying it would be my wish to see a 12-month a year major attraction (developed). A theme park of some kind. I think maybe, we are a bit too dependent on what happens at the art gallery."

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