El Horno, also known as The Horn, opened in 2008 but has struggled to recapture its history as a \u201cpumping\u201d hotspot.<\/p>\n
Robertson and his wife Libby, who took over Snap Fitness Te Aro a year ago, received the keys to the bar last week. They plan to target the over-25 market with live music, cheaper drinks, consistent service and a stronger focus on safety.<\/p>\n
Robertson said the feedback he had received most was that over-25s no longer felt there were party bars for their age.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want people that want to come in, enjoy some good music, have a good dance, have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Robertsons do not drink alcohol, El Horno was once their favourite bar.<\/p>\n
After a rugby stint in Madrid, Robertson returned to New Zealand with a craving for Spanish vibes and found it at El Horno.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want that to thrive again and we want it to still be that place that reminds people of what Wellington used to be like, whilst also bringing in a new future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple hope to restore the bar to its glory days with higher standards and a safer environment, particularly for women. They have employed a designated security guard and specially trained staff to identify potential trouble.<\/p>\n
The Robertsons, along with other businesses on the strip, want to raise standards while ensuring customers still have a good time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my biggest gripes is walking into a bar and seeing people in hoodies and shorts and Crocs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music is another part of their plan to bring customers back. Robertson pointed to Arctic Monkeys, Bon Jovi and Tom Petty as examples of the atmosphere he wants to revive.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d be sitting in there for hours just singing them, drinking fine sangria.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Horno plans to have a live band once a week. <\/p>\n
Robertson would like live music once a week and to continue El Horno\u2019s legacy of promoting local bands and artists.<\/p>\n
He was not apprehensive about taking on a Courtenay Place business but said people needed a reason to return to its nightlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it was more a calling to come back and actually contribute to Wellington society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson said there was nothing quite like Courtenay Place elsewhere in Australasia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is pretty prime real estate, and it can get back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Courtenay Place getting new paint, street improvements and new lighting, alongside the long-awaited rebuild of \u201cThe Court\u201d, Robertson said he was looking forward to being part of the area\u2019s revival.<\/p>\n
Grace Symmans<\/a> is a Wellington-based reporter who covers news in the capital. Grace joined NZME in 2025 as a producer for Wellington Mornings on Newstalk ZB. She can be emailed at grace.symmans@nzme.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Horno, also known as The Horn, opened in 2008 but has struggled to recapture its history as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[86208,83585,306814,117,111,139,55083,69,6029,9769,6744,22399,2170,59744,1439,9095,213,6736,6923],"class_list":["post-624225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-courtenay","tag-el","tag-horno","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nightlife","tag-nz","tag-once","tag-owners","tag-place","tag-places","tag-plan","tag-revival","tag-scene","tag-secret","tag-sports","tag-was","tag-what"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}