AUSTRALIAN TRAVEL MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2021

HILLCREST MERIMBULA - SOUTH COAST AUSTRALIA

https://www.australiantraveller.com/australia/unique-family-accommodation/

The seventies was the era that gave us shagpile carpets and shag haircuts, ponchos and Pink Floyd. It also gifted us the roadside motel. And while some of the trends from that decade have been rightfully relegated to the scrapheap, others, like this stylised form of accommodation, have come roaring back in all their retro glory. Hillcrest Merimbula, which was completed in 1969, weaves the best of the ’60s and ’70s through the bones of the mid-century building and lets the era shine on. And that was owner Caspar Tresidder’s intent. In fact, Caspar’s brief to Sydney-based interior designer Félicie Chardon, of Atelier Chardon, was for the two-storey motel, which is located at the top of Merimbula Drive facing seaward, to have the feel of lighthouse.

By reconfiguring all the rooms to face the view, the Hillcrest takes advantage of its lofty position; I felt like an actual lighthouse keeper while standing on my balcony looking out past Short Point, over Lake Merimbula and onto Bar Beach. Luckily, I didn’t have to guide any ships to shore. The bedside tables in my Exhale rooms contained binoculars (not a bible) and I even managed to zoom in on the whales passing by, which added to the romance of my stay.

What I loved about the Hillcrest Merimbula – apart from its no-plastics policy – is that it kept the right quotient of kitsch, taking its cues from the period and softening the once brown-brick facade with soothing earthy tones, delicate linens, concrete tables and feature mirrors. There are also design flourishes that are like a wink back to the ’70s, such as the Aztec archways and original wood panelling and pops of muted pinks and reds inspired by the sandstone and mudstone on Merimbula Beach. The motel, once shabby, is now chic. And even the act of pulling up outside the door of my room in the Merimbula motel left me with a sentimental affection for the roadside lodgings of my childhood.

Determined to make the most of a stay, I spent a transcendent few hours sitting on my balcony, sipping a cup of Mayde Tea and breathing in the salty air. All up, there’s one family room and six inter-connecting rooms at the motel, which has 29 rooms and one one-bedroom apartment and has plans to open a casual restaurant and pool bar in November 2021. In Merimbula, outdoor adventure reigns. And while I was too busy visiting an actual lighthouse to use the tennis court, fire pit, or pool bar, I made a mental note to return with my husband and two sons who would totally approve of the motel and the fact many of Merimbula’s top surf spots are mere minutes away. – Carla Grossetti