Bingil Bay Resort former sites set to be sold as owner retires

It was once one of the Far North’s premier beachfront resorts with a wealth of history, but it now stands as house and two vacant lots, with the owner ready for her next move.

A HISTORIC site where one of Mission Beach’s premier resorts once stood is being offered as a package deal after its owner’s emotional efforts to restore the cyclone-ravaged business finally came to an end.

To an average passer by, it would now appear as just a two-bedroom house with two vacant lots on either side of the Cutten St, Bingil Bay property, overlooking the picturesque beachfront.

However for Anna Noiosi, owner of the now defunct Bingil Bay Resort, it was a lifetime of memories that were torn apart by Cyclone Larry, with Yasi hammering the final nail in the coffin, like so many of the town’s tourism offerings.

Bingil Bay Resort owner Anna Noiosi whose business, home and rental property all lost rooves during Cyclone Larry. Photographer: Julie Lightfoot

Ready for retirement, Ms Noiosi is offering the three lots and the house via expressions of interest to prospective buyers, after spending more than 30 years at her beloved home.

A hairdresser in New South Wales by trade, the topical charm of Mission Beach attracted Ms Noiosi to the Far North and to purchase the resort in 1987.

Over the years renovations to the motel, cabins and the restaurant followed in due course, before Ms Noiosi stepped away from the game for a couple of years, only to return in 1992, when she reopened the seaside premises as a health resort.

RELATED: Castaways Resort and Spa hits market at Mission Beach

Unfortunately for Ms Noiosi, she was ahead of her time.

“I ran it as a health resort for a couple of years, but lost a lot of money,” she said.

“People in ‘93, ‘94 didn’t care a whole heap about their health. It is so different, now yes.”

So in the mid-90s, she went back to operating it as a motel and the name Bingil Bay Resort was born.

“But there was a pilot strike in between all this which crucified Far North Queensland.

“And it took a lot of work to rebuild the region. We all used to pay our own way and travel to Brisbane and New Zealand and sell the destination to (travel) wholesalers.”

After rebuilding the town’s popularity, Ms Noiosi cherished the following decade with endless nights of entertainment and joyous occasions including dinner dances, karaoke nights and special dinners.

But 2006 would be the last time Ms Noiosi hosted any guests, or operated the restaurant. Cyclone Larry destroyed the community icon, like much of the community around it.

Unfortunately, insurance bungles made it difficult to recover, although Ms Noiosi did begin to rebuild until Yasi (2011) crushed her spirit all together.

She consolidated and converted the central property into her new residence, with the motel and original house just distant memories of her prime hospitality years.

While she remained active in Mission Beach through social clubs, hairdressing and baby sitting, Ms Noiosi said it was likely she’d stay in town, but it was time to move on from the Bingil Bay property.

She said genuinely interested buyers should email [e-mail]

Originally published as Bingil Bay Resort former sites set to be sold as owner retires