Port Fairy tale: Drift House, Victoria

Behind this quaint facade on Great Ocean Road is an exquisitely designed, modern, award-winning magical retreat.

Winning formula: Drift House integrates old and new. Pictures: Martina Gemmola

A tiny four-suite retreat, opened in 2014 and tucked away on Victoria’s southwest coast at the far reaches of the Great Ocean Road, has achieved the kind of critical acclaim usually reserved for big-gun five-star lodgings. Elbowing aside top mainstream resorts and chic city hotels, Drift House has taken out the Best Luxury Accommodation gong in the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards for the past two years.

It’s a feat that seems sprinkled with fairy dust for a small newcomer, and its success has also bumped up the tourism profile of Port Fairy township, now considered a hot place for destination dining, seasonal whale-watching at East Beach, homewares and antiques shopping and old-style seaside holidays, complete with boat trips and fish and chips.

Drift House owners John Watkinson and Colleen Guiney are city sea-changers with a keen appreciation of design and a love of all things local. In conjunction with Melbourne architecture and design studio Multiplicity, it took 15 months to convert a dilapidated 1850s bluestone two-storey terrace on a fortuitous corner block and to add a contemporary perforated steel extension that would surely shock the original owner, a salty sea captain.

Personalised extras

The outcome is a clever integration that encompasses an apartment-style suite on each level and a pair of spacious units in the modern annexe; all with vivid pops of colour, quirky décor touches and fine furnishings.

The four accommodation options feature kitchenettes and expected accoutrements such as quality bedlinen, bathrobes and fast wi-fi. Personalised extras abound, from stashes of books and magazines to original artworks, including murals by Colleen. Original timber floors have been restored and limed, walls removed for free-flow layouts, and the groovy showers in tiled pods would look equally at home in any metro boutique hotel.

Groovy bathrooms

There’s no on-site dining but in-suite provisions include the most generous “maxi-bars” and breakfast baskets imaginable. Parish produce, including wines, is favoured and dipping into the organic breakfast bounty, or setting off with a picnic hamper, feels like taking a farm-gate tour of regional Victoria’s best providores. There is a 10m-long solar-heated pool in the landscaped garden, an emphasis on reclaimed materials and hand-crafted pieces, rigorous green practices and total privacy for a romantic getaway. All but suite No 4 (upstairs in the annexe) have a fireplace.

On a quiet avenue beside the Moyne River, shaded by Norfolk pines, the property is a short stroll from the town proper. Alternatively, you can take a retro Drift House bike – John and

Quirky decor touches

Colleen describe them as “1970s California beach cruisers” and they nicely fit the laidback atmosphere of Port Fairy. Glide along the slow, wide streets, stop at the lolly shop, fossick about at Blarney Books and Art, look hopefully in real-estate agency windows, drift and discover.

PERFECT FOR

Couples; no provision for children. All suites have king-sized beds but No 4 can be reconfigured with two large twins. My top pick is No 3, which has hardwood-battened walls, a private courtyard and a centrepiece bathtub.

MUST DO

Time your stay to take in the Port Fairy Winter Weekends, a festival of food, wine, music, performance and arts, opening on June 10.

DINING

Head to local restaurants Fen and Merrijig Kitchen; there’s fabulous ice cream at Poco (the likes of white chocolate with poached figs and orange blossom) and good coffee at Slitti Cafe. Or grab a great take-out pizza from Coffin Sally and retreat to your suite with a bottle.

GETTING THERE

Port Fairy is 28km past Warrnambool; the driving time from Melbourne is about three hours and 20 minutes, or two hours and 40 minutes from Avalon Airport.

BOTTOM LINE

Winter packages, from June 1 to August 31, are $265 a suite per night, based on a minimum three-night stay. One-night stays year-round start from $375 a night.