Hugo's Manly and music

General Manager of Hugo's Manly, Adam Polly, explains “It’s imperative that the people who create the music get paid fairly."

It’s a fact that Hugo’s Manly has the best sunset pack – breathtaking views and exquisite Italian flavours. The venue keeps the Hugo Group’s name alive after 24 years in the tough hospitality scene, 11 at this site alone.

Located on the iconic Manly Wharf, Hugo’s Manly is well known for its vibrancy, scenic location and good music taste.

“Music creates a vibe and fills the space. You can keep people in a room forever if you’re playing good music and definitely turn a few more dollars”, says Adam Polly, General Manager who’s been part of the family for 20 years. 

Lively, modern and hip, the room continues to fill up effortlessly.  Playing Al Green to INXS, the music is as diverse as its patrons and even changes pace and genre throughout the day.

“Hugo’s has always been a music-based venue. Music is so important, I couldn’t imagine running our restaurant without music. It would seem empty at night. A couple of times we’ve had technical difficulties and have lost the music and the room has felt so stagnant”, Adam said.

The venue has almost two dozen speakers to maintain a consistent level of volume across the restaurant without having the music too loud at any one table.

“Something that you might listen to at home might not work in the restaurant. We use a system called Nightlife and it’s really good. They tailor a lot of playlists for what we need; we take it a step forward and we create our own ones as well. We have many different playlists from a lunch playlist with more jazzy tunes to more upbeat tracks for later in the evening”.

“Now we’ve moved across to OneMusic and it’s been a very smooth transition. We all listen to music, it’s not only a key part in our businesses but in everybody’s lives. It’s imperative that the people who create the music get paid fairly and earn what they should be earning”, Adam said.