The owners of Wilyarup’s 4.5-star Willy Bay Resort are planning a multi-million dollar chalet development in the next 12 months that will expand the number of chalets on site to 16.
Ian and June Edwards bought the 10-chalet resort with several investors about 18 months ago and will expand the facility to cater to growing demand for upmarket self-contained accommodation in the South West.
The Willy Bay Resort is located in the heart of Margaret River, on 30 hectares of natural bush and parkland.
Its existing chalets have lake and vineyard views and adjoin thousands of hectares of state forest.
Mr Edwards, who is also director of asset sales for property group Knight Frank, said Willy Bay Resort was one of few 4.5-star self-catering chalet facilities in the Margaret River area.
“A lot of developers have bought vineyards and put chalets on them, but although they are short-stay accommodation they are more like holiday homes than a professionally managed resort,” Mr Edwards said.
The new, three-bedroom chalets will be built close to the existing two-bedroom chalets that were completely renovated when the Edwards’ bought the property, which was originally called the Gazebo Lake Resort.
Mr Edwards said he also planned to develop up to 15 one-bedroom suites following the three-bed chalet developments.
“We want to cater for different experiences,” he said.
“The couples are happy with one-bedroom chalets but families want to come down as well, as do groups of overseas visitors. There is also a large market for weddings.”
Mr Edwards said the new three-bed facilities would be “even better” than the renovated two-bed chalets.
The resort’s manager, Dale Jennings, said the resort had been surprisingly busy this winter.
“This time of year is supposed to be the quieter time, but we are booked out most weekends and even midweek we are getting more people down here,” Ms Jennings told Business Class.
Mr Edwards, who is also behind Willy Bay Wines, said he was still deciding whether to push ahead with his original plans to develop a winery on the property.
“The wine industry is going through some hard times,” he said, adding that development of a winery would only happen if it were economically viable.
