Underground Coober Pedy motel a rare jewel for buyers
Buy this underground motel in Coober Pedy and you’ll strike gold – or opal, in this case.
The Comfort Inn on Crowders Gully Rd was once a mining site so opal can still be spotted in its walls.
The property has hit the market for the first time in more than 30 years and is offering prospective buyers several business opportunities.
The motel features 16 rooms, an Aboriginal art gallery, historic opal room and shop as well as a cafe.
It also has an underground function room, the only one of its kind in Coober Pedy, that can accommodate up to 80 people.
It used to be an opal mining site.
The site has come a long way since its humble beginnings as an opal mine, which was established in 1918.
It was mined up until the 1960s then almost three decades later Deane and Valerie Clee, who moved from Adelaide for work, bought it to use for church meetings in late 1988.
The couple’s daughter Debby, who currently runs the establishment, says they slowly transformed it into a motel using sea shells and ancient corals missed by miners decades earlier to fund construction.
“I went up in 2007 and that was to help them out for 12 to 18 months,” she says.
“I’ve been there from 2007 until now.
Today it has 16 rooms with the capacity to add nine more.
“There’s something about being underground – the peace, the quiet and the coolness.
“You can sit there and read a novel in absolute silence.”
Clee holds fond memories of both the business and town but says it is time to move on so she can spend more time with her family interstate.
“We have adults come through with kids that stayed there when they were kids – it’s something that they always remember,” she says.
“It’s like home, it’s a welcoming place.
The motel also includes an Aboriginal art gallery and historic opal room and shop.
“I love the motel but it’s more about what’s important in life – it’s time to pass it on to somebody else.”
Resort Brokers Australia’s Kelli Crouch is selling the property with a $2 million price tag.
The motel currently runs at 88.5% occupancy and people are often turned away in the peak season.
Land with development approval for a further nine rooms is also included in the sale, which would bring the total to 25.
This would make the motel the only one in the town with more than 20 underground rooms.
This article from The Advertiser originally appeared as “Underground motel in Coober Pedy offers buyers a rare jewel”.
