Wellington bar ordered closed for 48 hours after ‘2 for 1’ drinks offer

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

A Wellington bar was ordered to close for 48 hours over a sign offering two drinks for one during happy hour.

It is an offence for alcohol to be advertised at a price 25% or more below the price at which it is ordinarily sold.

The owner said the breaches were an “honest mistake” and that “it won’t happen again”.

A bar in central Wellington’s Courtenay Place entertainment district was ordered to close for 48 hours after a sign offering two drinks for one during happy hour could be seen from outside the premises.

Wellington City Council (WCC) applied to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority for the suspension of on-licences for two premises owned and controlled by Jose Ubiaga.

Both premises - Residence Bar and Dakota Bar - are on Courtenay Place.

The applications related to a law that says it is an offence to have on licensed premises an advert or promotion that leads people to believe the price of alcohol is 25% or more below the price at which it is ordinarily sold.

In the case of Residence Bar, there was a chalk board that could be seen from outside the premises saying: “Manager’s pick of the week, happy hour 2 for 1, 4pm – 6pm”, the authority said in its decision.

The Dakota Bar complaint related to a Facebook post with a photo of a cocktail drink and the writing over the top of it “2 for 1 cocktail 10pm – 11pm tonight”.

Both incidents took place last December.

Ubiaga had accepted the sign and post were not permitted, the authority said.

“Certainly, Mr Ubiaga has impressed us with his commitment to being compliant with the legislation, he clearly runs a large hospitality operation on various sites and he admits the breaches in each case.”

The decision also said the authority was conscious that the same sort of promotions had been run by Ubiaga for some years, and the two offences being dealt with happened very close to each other.

“We accept that Mr Ubiaga is now well aware as to what he cannot do in relation to promotions of this nature.”

For Residence Bar, the authority ordered a 48-hour suspension, which took place from 8am on Wednesday July 2 to 8am Friday July 4.

The authority also made a negative holding in that matter.

Three negative holdings or findings within a three-year period required an application to be made for the cancellation of the on-licence involved, although that did not mean the the licence will necessarily be cancelled, the authority said.

The Dakota Bar application was dismissed because the two matters happened so close together. Overall justice was addressed sufficiently be dealing only with the Residence Bar breach, the authority said.

“We have taken account of Mr Ubiaga’s commitment to ensuring that his licensed establishments do not repeat this type of offending and we have no doubt that Mr Ubiaga is well aware of the likely consequences of further offending of this type for any of the licensed establishments under his control.”

Two other bars owned by Ubiaga - Courtenay Place venue SugarWoods Bar and Rubix Bar in Willis St ‒ went into liquidation in 2024.

At the time, Ubiaga attributed the closue to a fall in foot traffic and restricted opening hours for SugarWoods’ closure.

Business wasn’t getting any better, Ubiaga said on Tuesday.

“It’s tough, it’s really hard out there. And it’s not just a hospitality problem. Everyone is finding it hard,” he said.

“The council is supposed to be there for the city. We should be working together.”

The breaches were an “honest mistake”, Ubiaga said.

“It wasn’t anything anyone did intentionally. We weren’t trying to get around anything.”

In both cases he had sorted out the problems straight away.

When the licensing team told him they were seeking two-day suspensions, he had told them he considered that to be excessive for two minor breaches, Ubiaga said.

“I would say it’s personal,” he said. “It’s not a desirable situation.”

Since the breaches, he had sent his managers on training courses, and had redone his social media.

“It hasn’t happened again, and it won’t happen again.”

A WCC spokesperson said the council “accepts the ARLA decision”. It had no further comment.