Batemans Bay: $20m hotel pinned for Dolphin Ave, Hanging Rock

A $20m hotel replacing a recently knocked down decrepit motel is set to breathe new life into a rapidly growing South Coast tourism powerhouse, if plans are approved.

An artist’s impression of the proposed hotel.

Plans to replace a decrepit and recently knocked-down motel with a multimillion-dollar mixed-use hotel and residential complex in a popular NSW South Coast tourism hotspot are moving forward years after the initial submission.

Originally submitted in July 2023, Canberra-based Dolphin Avenue Developments’ proposal seeks to construct a three-storey, 43-room hotel, with a separate townhouse development containing 10 homes.

The proposed hotel is pinned for a now-vacant Dolphin Ave block neighbouring the Batemans Bay skatepark, TAFE, library and Hanging Rock Oval, which was once home to the Hanging Rock Family Motel, which closed its doors in 2021.

The old hotel has since been demolished to make way for the new development, despite its approval pending.

Years after its first submission, the development plans have returned to Eurobodalla Council’s public exhibition page for further community feedback on the massive proposal.

The hotel is pinned for Hanging Rock near the Batemans Bay CBD.

Development application plans state the proposed hotel and townhouse complex also includes 75 carparking spaces, foyer, reception, office, breakfast and bar area and back-of-house areas.

Construction has already seen the removal of the existing motel, but will also see significant landscaping.

The hotel is proposed for Dolphin Ave.

Former Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber president David Maclachlan welcomed the proposed hotel, saying Batemans Bay was in dire need of more accommodation.

“We’re one of the most popular tourist destinations in NSW,” he said.

“We’re the closest coastal town to Canberra, but there is a genuine lack of tourism accommodation.”

The proposed hotel comes as other Eurobodalla towns also see major hotel developments proposed, such as a massive facelift for Narooma’s Tree Motel on the Princes Highway, where plans are under way to turn it into a modern tourism accommodation facility.

Its plans also remain on public exhibition.

The proposed hotel also comes some years after well-known hotel empire Abode opened its first coastal hotel in Malua Bay, 12km south of Batemans Bay.

Got a story? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as Batemans Bay: $20m hotel pinned for Dolphin Ave, Hanging Rock