Luxury in the dunes coming to the Ningaloo Coast with Hotel Sebatikel at Exmouth
A $13 million luxury eco-hotel planned for Exmouth looks set to be the first new development on world heritage-listed Ningaloo Beach in two decades.
If approved, the project will include nine units, two staff rooms, tennis courts, a golf course, a pavilion with a bar and a restaurant with a capacity of up to 120 people.
The project is too late to cash in on the State Government’s Walk in a Dream campaign, which includes 3D billboards showing whale sharks swimming past the proposed resort, but Tourism WA has thrown its support behind the unique proposal.
Named Hotel Sebatikel, the duplex units will be made of compressed soil obtained from a quarry just 10 km away.
At night, the complex will operate under a dark light grid to restrict the spread of light, helping to enhance the view of the starry night sky and the Milky Way.
Reduced lighting will also prevent any disruption to sea turtles migrating in the area, and water derived entirely from rainfall will limit the project’s footprint in the untouched area. All materials used in construction will be fully recyclable.
Co-founder Mon Palmer said the project, which was four years in the making, was a labor of love for him and his partner Phil Smith.
Their focus was to create a luxurious oasis that complemented the natural surroundings rather than overwhelming them.
“The rammed earth walls will be the same color as the dunes, so they look like something coming out of the dunes,” Ms Palmer said.
The unique design is inspired by two seemingly contrasting entities: naturally occurring sand and the naval base bunkers at the nearby RAAF Learmonth base, built between the 1940s and 1960s.
The bunkers are not only part of WA’s maritime and wartime history, but also part of the landscape that left an indelible mark on Mr Smith when he visited the area during school holidays in his youth.
Ms. Parker, an internationally renowned designer, took inspiration from the five-star Amangiri resort in Canyon Point, Utah, and similar resorts in Saudi Arabia, combining military-style bunkers with a more luxurious touch.
The proposed complex sets a new benchmark in Australia, Powerhouse Renewables Group said in a submission to planning authorities who will decide on the matter on March 5.
“(It) is a work of sustainability art, a project where design, systems and intent are aligned and where both visible and latent impacts of development are carefully considered in the context of a sensitive coastal environment,” the application stated.
“(This) appears to represent a first in Australia – setting a new benchmark for what truly sustainable, low-impact tourism development can look like in regional and remote Australia.”
The project will operate on a 5-hectare site under a 21-year land lease agreement with the Crown. Although it is just 180 meters from the ocean, it will not be the closest building to the Exmouth coastline.
An environmental review to be considered by planning authorities found no listed threatened species in the area based on database searches.
There are 19 priority species identified in the area, including three species that could potentially occur within the proposed development footprint. No State or Commonwealth threatened or priority flora species have been recorded at the site.
In addition to the original design, the founding couple also applied an unconventional investment model.
Although most of their funding comes from the Big Four banks, they also issue $100,000 worth of investment bonds.
In addition to having access before the first guest checks in, the 30 founding bondholders also get holiday credits, structured returns and full principal refunds after five years.
Ms. Palmer and Mr. Smith, who have been engaged for a decade, say they once joked about designing their own wedding venue.
Considering the years they spent getting the project off the ground and the at least two years required for construction, their prank may pay off.
If approved, Hotel Sebaticel will open in late 2027.
