The new owner and manager of Hillcrest put on a "Monday Mingle" with neighbours and other visitors let in on the work that has been going on at the motel perched above town.

Built by the Currie family in 1968 and first opened to the public in 1969, the Hillcrest is situated at the top of Merimbula Drive - once a location away from town, now a picturesque spot for several accommodation providers and numerous residents thanks to the growth of Merimbula.

Caspar Tresidder purchased the property several months ago and has since had six of its 30 rooms completely renovated, with plans to continue that transformation over the next 12 months into an "affordable luxury" destination.

At Monday's welcome event, he said he also had plans to resurrect the original restaurant's kitchen in some form.

"Absolutely we want to offer food options - a fresh local food experience," he said.

To that end there is also a liquor and entertainment licence application in the works.

Outside the original pool has also been given a facelift, and a tennis court built by the original owners in the 1970s was uncovered during the initial renovations and brought back to life by Courtmaster Sydney.

In publicity for the motel, Mr Tresidder outlined the Hillcrest "is undergoing the largest transformation in its history under the management of builder Chris Briggs. The transformation aims to retain the motel's past while looking forward to it's bright future."

There was a large turnout for Monday's social meet and greet, with numerous people enjoying the opportunity to inspect the newly renovated rooms, the gardens and view from the main balcony.

Food was laid on by Sapphire Coast Eats and musician Virjilla Joyce provided some lovely background.

The general consensus was a great level of support for all Mr Tresidder and his team were doing, injecting new youthful energy into town.

Former Hillcrest owner, and now close neighbour, Ole Ersvaer said it was "great to see someone bringing it back to life".

Another close neighbour, Mike Coghlan, had similar things to say.

"We fully support what they've done here and we want them to succeed."

However, they also had concerns over the details of an application for a liquor licence and its reference to "entertainment". While no-one took issue with the liquor aspect, there were concerns any late night "entertainment" could create excessive noise in the tranquil residential area.

"I'm all for progress, but we don't want any noise pollution - we're not Sydney," Mr Ersvaer said.