The Margaret River Hotel revitalisation project has achieved an historic milestone, with the heritage building and new extension officially connected last week.
The new extension brings an additional 16 rooms of accommodation to the centre of Margaret River town and enabled a new lift to be installed, providing full accessibility to the two levels of the heritage building for the first time.
“It’s a challenging building on a challenging site, so it’s pretty slow going at times, but we are determined to do it properly, and these construction milestones mean a lot to us,” said Paul Holmes à Court of Heytesbury, the family-owned Western Australian business that is restoring this Margaret River town asset.
When the Margaret River Hotel reopens, it will include 27 rooms, 30 car bays for guests, landscaped gardens on Bussell Highway and, of course, the return of the bar on the corner, which will feature a new dining room and a rear courtyard.
“Our aim is to reopen in the first half of 2026, hopefully in time for the 90th anniversary of the initial opening of the Hotel on 11 April, 1936,” Paul Holmes à Court said.
The project team includes award-winning Western Australian architects spaceagency and reputed builders Valtari, with Wilyabrup local Nathan Tucker returning to the Margaret River region for the role of site supervisor.
“Being such a unique project, everyone working on the Hotel has been so driven to do their best – especially the client team and local trades,” Nathan said.
“The team understand the importance of this building to the town and why we need to do it right. It really lifts the mood onsite and makes the whole process more collaborative. It has helped us push through some big challenges,” Nathan said.
A more visible milestone for the community has been the removal, by hand, of over 360m2 of render to expose the Margaret River Hotel’s original brickwork.
Internally, the entire ground floor has been re-levelled, hidden windows and fireplaces uncovered, and all services upgraded to 2025 standards.
“This was built during a time of change within the building industry, so there were many different materials and techniques being used for the first time. Concrete in mortar, for example. There was also a switch from imported Oregon pines to more local timbers, like Jarrah, in big dimensions that you just don’t see in modern construction,” Nathan said.
The Margaret River Hotel is owned by Heytesbury, a member of the Margaret River business community since 1987 through its wine businesses.