Coral Bay’s beachfront hotel has closed as its owners embark on a $55 million resort redevelopment due to open just in time for the April 2025 school holidays.
Coral Bay’s beachfront hotel has closed as its owners embark on a $55 million resort redevelopment due to open just in time for the April 2025 school holidays.
RAC called last drinks at the Coral Bay Hotel on Sunday ahead of an 18-month project to rebuild the ageing resort which hosts the popular watering hole.
Known locally as top pub, the first iteration of the hotel was built in 1968 and is thought to be the reason Bills Bay, as it was known prior to 1968, was renamed Coral Bay.
The hotel will be demolished and rebuilt as part of RAC’s $55 million redevelopment of Ningaloo Reef Resort.
An RAC spokesperson said a development application was imminent for the resort, which was closing in preparation for the project.
RAC’s biggest tourism undertaking to date, the 91-room redevelopment was initially penciled in to begin construction in 2021 as a $40 million project.
Shire of Carnarvon president Eddie Smith said the redevelopment would bring “something special” to Coral Bay.
“The old pub had a lot of memories attached to it, but it is one of these older structures that has reached its used-by date,” he said.
“This has been in the wings for a number of years with previous owners as well and RAC has taken the bull by the horns and seen the benefit of doing the job.
“Coral Bay is on the world map, RAC has recognised that and they are going to build a resort that is going to complement that status.”
Mr Smith said he did not expect too much of an impact on the region’s tourism market while the resort was closed.
Coral Bay’s peak season generally runs from the April school holidays through to September.
Plans for the redevelopment were first drafted in 2017 two years after buying the popular beachside property from Aspen Group in a $33.7 million deal which also included caravan parks in Monkey Mia and Exmouth.
As part of the redevelopment RAC started building a 30-unit village to house construction workers late last year.
Mr Smith said anyone working for RAC in Coral Bay would be “living in a resort” at the village development.
He said the shire was working on a new structure plan to guide development of Coral Bay.
RAC last month announced a $46 million profit, including a 6 per cent revenue boost from its holiday resorts division.
Some 400,000 overnight stays were recorded in 2022-23, up about 50,000 from the previous financial year.
The Ningaloo Reef Resort redevelopment follows similar refreshes of RAC properties in Monkey Mia, Exmouth and Esperance in recent years.
