July 2, 2024 update: A day after publication of this article, ARQ Sydney provided its drinks prices in full.
July 4, 2024 update: We have now obtained pricing for Merivale’s Beresford through manual efforts.
Editorial opinion: GSN often gets messages from readers who have paid what they consider to be outrageous prices for drinks at queer-friendly (and straight) venues.
As we reported last year, some venue operators like Universal Hotels have implemented “dynamic pricing” (also referred to as surge pricing or time-based pricing), which involves increasing the prices of drinks at certain times outside of happy hour.

At what times? There are very rarely any signs at venues that make this clear, let alone full drinks menus containing prices beyond select drinks, cocktails and specials.
(Kinselas, we’re looking at your $1 price increase across all drinks at 11pm too!)
Understandably, readers get upset when they’re charged a certain price one minute and a higher one the next.
We’ve also found that venues like Stonewall charge different prices for some drinks at different bars in the venue. For example, when it’s not on special at Stonewall, a Long Island iced tea is $20 at its main bar but $24 at some of its other bars.
In light of this, we identified 19 drinks to compare across popular queer-friendly venues to get a feel of whether they are, as some readers have suggested, “price gouging” customers.
In early June, GSN sent several of them a request for their drinks menus so that we could compare prices.
Later, when several didn’t respond to this, we sent them the list of 19 drinks and asked them to fill in their prices.
Palms, The Bearded Tit, Ching-A-Lings, Kinselas and the Burdekin Hotel all responded to our request either in full or partially.
Those that did not respond included: Merivale’s Beresford; Stonewall; ARQ by Home; the Colombian; and Universal Hotels, which owns Universal Sydney, Newtown Hotel, The Imperial Erskineville and Oxford Hotel.
When we have collated the prices of all 19 drinks (either by venue co-operation or by obtaining the prices ourselves with our readers’ help), we will publish a comparison.
There’s no doubt that venues – Oxford Street ones in particular – are doing it tough amid the cost-of-living crisis and therefore need to increase prices.
Beyond the obvious issue of Oxford Street looking like a construction site on its northern side, leading to lower foot traffic, we’re told various other factors are hitting businesses hard.
One of those is the cost of public liability insurance skyrocketing for venues with a dancefloor. The Burdekin Hotel told us that quotes it had obtained for such insurance have increased ten-fold since before COVID.
Outside of this, there’s the alcohol excise (the federal government tax on alcohol), which increases twice a year.
Then there are compliance costs; yearly award wage increases; and the cost of rent for many venues going up by about 4 per cent or more a year.
Many queer-friendly venues also put on “free” entertainment like drag shows – sometimes 7 nights a week. That costs too, and there’s a separate debate brewing behind the scenes on whether performers and DJs are paid enough – a story for another day.
But none of this excuses venues for not being transparent on pricing.
In rare public comments, Universal Sydney licensee Dillon Shaw recently told artist Andre Cordova’s Sabotage podcast that he believed Universal’s drink prices are “quite competitive”.
“We’re very mindful of the … economic climate that we’re in right now, so we try and have it so … everyone can have an affordable night,” Shaw said.
“But there is … an overall thing for all venues… a profit margin. The same if you go to Coles [or] Woolies – there’s a certain margin that you put on stuff.
“I know there [are] venues that go above and beyond and charge ridiculous prices.
“We definitely charge on the lower end, just so people can come out and have a good night.
“There’s no way you want to go and pay any more than $15 for a vodka Redbull … because then you can only afford a couple and then it ruins your night … I’d much prefer people have a bit of a decent night,” he said.
As has been made clear to GSN by some venues, the narrative of them being greedy and price-gougers is debatable when you look at the costs imposed on them.
But when the core product you sell is alcohol, the price of it should be available to see before you buy it.
To be clear, GSN is not advocating for cheaper alcohol as part of its quest for prices, but for price transparency.
As Universal’s Dillon Shaw warned in the podcast: “If you put your prices up and don’t look after people, that’s when you lose people in masses.
“You can’t like sort of price gouge. You’ve got to be respectful.”
On that note, we’d love for Shaw’s boss to get back to us with their prices.
Gay Sydney News editor