Welcome to our end of year series of interviews with the people behind the award-winning bars from this year’s Boothby Best Bars Awards program. Next up, Rob Libecans, co-owner of Caretaker’s Cottage in Melbourne, which took out several awards this year: the 2025 Best Bar in Victoria presented by Never Never, and the Best Hospitality Team in Victoria presented by Perrier. The bar also scored the title of Drink of the Year presented by Bacardi, and Drinks List of the Year presented by Perrier, at the Boothby Drink of the Year Awards in December.
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Boothby Staff
Caretaker’s Cottage is your bartender’s favourite bar. Whether it’s the lighting, the sound, the fitout — everything here conveys warmth, as does the hospitality you’ll experience at the bar. Co-owners Rob Libecans, Matt Stirling, and Ryan Noreiks opened the bar in February of 2022, and it quickly became the standout opening of the year, racking up accolades at home and abroad in the years since; the bar landed at 19 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2025, their third straight appearance on the exclusive list.
The drinks menu — famously — changes monthly, but you’ll always find an excellent, properly cold Martini made with their own custom gin, and one of the best pints of Guinness anywhere — it’s makes for quite the fancy Boilermaker.
Below, we asked co-owner Rob Libecans to share his views on what the challenges for the bar business are in 2025, and what it is that makes Caretaker’s Cottage the busy, popular, and distinct bar that it is.
BOOTHBY: In your opinion, what is it about your bar that resonates with the bar industry?
ROB LIBECANS: Honestly if I knew the true answer I’d bottle it and sell it. But I’d like to think it’s the attention to detail in both our venues [they opened their second bar, Three Horses, this year] that either guests really notice or that we take care of the things they like to a point where they can relax or switch off in our company. We’re not short of places to enjoy good drinks here in Melbourne, you can get Guinness or Martinis in some amazing places. But the fact that we put so much time and effort into every small detail and facet into our service, drinks and environment is the one thing that makes us who we are. Nothing is ever rushed and no decision is made without consultation, no matter how small it might appear to anyone else.