Mangonui Hotel is one of the best-preserved early twentieth-century hotels in Northland. Its history reflects the importance of sea transport in the Far North as well as changing attitudes towards public houses. Constructed in 1905-1906, the large timber building was erected on the Mangonui waterfront for a local publican, William J. Bray. The establishment lay in the commercial part of the town and close to the main wharf, where traders and other visitors alighted. Previously connected with the whaling industry, Mangonui was the second largest port in the Far North, and the final destination of the Northern Steamship Company's weekly excursions from Auckland. The settlement had previously been renowned for its drinking establishments, but had developed into a settled administrative and commercial centre by the early 1900s. The hotel was built at a time of growing anti-alcohol sentiment, with the number of liquor licences in New Zealand declining from 1,719 in 1899, to 1,257 in 1910. 'Respectably' positioned next to the courthouse and new post office, the establishment took its licence from the earlier Settlers' Hotel - demolished in 1906 - which had been situated closer to the industrial workforce of the Kauri Timber Company mill in Mill Bay. Following the advent of six o'clock closing for pubs in 1917, the Mangonui Hotel became the only licensed premises in the town.

The hotel was built as a prominent two-storeyed structure, with a main frontage facing the beach and harbour. Erected by the carpenter Charles Coldham of Onehunga, its U-shaped plan included two wings extending back from the main façade, clad by weatherboards on a kauri frame. Recognisable as a hotel from its size and general appearance, the building differed from earlier hotels in the town by having an ornate, upper-storey balcony running around three sides. This emphasised the quality of the accommodation on its upper floor, which was advertised in 1914 as being 'the best in the north'. While associated structures incorporated stabling for horses, the ground floor of the main building included a bar and billiards room. Subsequent modifications occurred after changes in licensing laws, such as the construction of a new lounge bar to the rear, which was added shortly after the re-introduction of ten o'clock closing in 1967. The building continues to function as a hotel and bar, maintaining much of its early appearance and fabric.

The Mangonui Hotel is a significant example of hotel architecture in New Zealand, demonstrating the appearance and design of provincial establishments in the early 1900s. It is important for reflecting the impact of the prohibition movement in the early twentieth century, and subsequent attitudes to the consumption of alcohol. The building has valuable links with sea-borne trade and travel, which was paramount in the Far North before the advent of a developed road system. It reflects important economic and social changes in Mangonui, including the town's transformation into a regional commercial and administrative centre. The building has played a significant role in the social life of the town for a hundred years, and is a distinctive landmark beside the Mangonui harbour. It forms an integral part of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historic landscape along the Mangonui waterfront, which also encompasses the adjacent courthouse, post office and commercial buildings, as well as other elements such as trees, wharves and the shoreline itself.