The Duxton

The Duxton sits on the corner of the O’Connor shops and works on two levels. Downstairs is the pub proper — a bistro and a sports bar, with a kitchen that runs from lunch through to late, which is rarer in Canberra than it sounds. Upstairs is where the private events happen, across three spaces that can be used separately or combined.

The Oak Room is the big one. It takes up to 200 guests cocktail style, or 80 to 100 seated depending on how the room is laid out, and it comes with its own entrance beside Flatheads Café, its own bar and its own toilets — so a function there is properly self-contained rather than a roped-off corner of a pub. It also carries exclusive access to the Rooftop Terrace, which is the space to book if the event runs into the evening and you want the sunset.

The Loft is the smaller, more relaxed option: a cocktail bar with its own bar and a permanent lounge area, seating 30 or holding 60 standing, looking out over the treetops of O’Connor. The Living Room is part of the Loft and can be shut off behind a large sliding door for groups of up to 35 seated or 40 cocktail, with a portable bar and a bartender of your own.

The spaces are finished with open ceilings, suspended greenery and rustic detailing, and the venue is happy for you to bring in extra styling. Between them they cover corporate functions, birthdays, engagements, wedding receptions and Christmas parties, and the range of room sizes means the same venue works for a team of a dozen or a party of a couple of hundred.