Скачать или смотреть Opening day for rebuilt $55 million, $3400-a-night Southern Ocean Lodge

After almost four years in the planning, design and construction, Baillie Lodges’ flagship property Southern Ocean Lodge on December 6 reopened on the wildly beautiful south coast of South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.
Opening day was celebrated with a site visit from SA Minister for Tourism and Multicultural Affairs, Zoe Bettison, who was welcomed to the new lodge by founders James and Hayley Baillie and the extended team.
General managers Alison Heath and John Hird were back at their posts, welcoming the first guests to arrive.
Alison and John, along with four other staff members, sheltered in the fire proof basement as the Black Summer fire swept over the lodge on the afternoon of January 3, 2020.
While most of the staff quarters survived, the lodge itself including the Great Room was completely destroyed.
Southern Ocean Lodge first opened in 2008 and original architect Max Pritchard and his team led the recreation of the new property.
The new iteration of the globally acclaimed lodge holds almost the same footprint as the original with the Great Room taking centre stage on the island’s limestone cliffs and with 23 luxurious suites easing along the coastline.
A major change is the relocation of the spa building closest to the suites, while at the top of the structure is the new ultra-premium Ocean Pavilion, cleverly designed to offer a single four-bedroom owner’s residence or two separate two-bedroom suites to create the ultimate KI hideaway for families and friends travelling together.
In a deft design manoeuvre, all guest suites are now reoriented to open towards the southeast, each taking in uninterrupted views of the Southern Ocean and rolling coastal wilderness.
All guest suites feature private decks, an EcoSmart fireplace and sink-in bathtub.
New to the property is the Great Room terrace now boasts a wet-edge pool, while spacious new surrounds for the Southern Spa allow for three treatment rooms, a gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge pools.
Designed for a new generation of travel to Kangaroo Island and in the context of a changing climate, Baillie Lodges said the Southern Ocean Lodge set new benchmarks for environmental sustainability in the tourism industry.
Clever design employs cutting-edge technologies including boosted rainwater water capture and solar power generation, with the rain water storage increasing from 1 million to 5 million litres.
Also incorporated were smart building materials, a remote-controlled sprinkler system and a reinvigoration of the surrounding natural environment with some 45,000 biodiverse native plants propagated onsite and planted in a natural buffer from the wilderness.
With the same generous inclusions as the original – all dining, the renowned open bar, five signature Kangaroo Island experiences and airport transfers – rates at Southern Ocean Lodge start at AU$3,400 per couple per night.
Southern Ocean Lodge general manager John Hird and Alison Heath and their team, as well as the tradespeople, worked incredibly hard to get the lodge open by the first week of December.
John said the lodge opened on December 6, 2023 with 21 guests, including three SA couples that bid for the privilege to be the first at a charity auction.
The lodge was expected to be close to its capacity of 58 guests just before Christmas, with all 60 staff moved in ready to work.
Of the team, 18 were originals who fled ahead of the fire but now have returned four years later.
John and Alison themselves have managed the lodge since 2012.
The final finishing touches were happening meaning the small army of tradespeople would move on.
This included local builders such as stonemason Scott Wilson.
Local KI artwork graces the halls and passages from Janine Mackintosh’s fantastic leaf mandalas, to Indiana James’ sculpture of Sunshine the kangaroo, made out of bits of Sunshine combine harvester.
Sunshine famously survived the fire, left standing among the destruction, and after a slight refurbishment is back, along with Indiana’s new metal lyrebird sculpture, made with metal cutlery recovered from the ashes.
A stunning artwork consisting of dozens of items also recovered now line the entrance to new Southern Spa, while other artworks come from the Jam Factory in Adelaide.
John and Alison are happy to be working with local suppliers again, including the Parndana school’s barramundi and the Kingscote fish shop, as well as the new mushroom growing operation.
The island’s wineries were well represented in the expanded wine cellar, that other than Champagne was all South Australian.
Having twice daily Qantas flights back at the KI Airport was vital for the functioning of the lodge, as more flight frequency allowed the lodges’ mainly international guests, mostly from the US, not fly directly after landing in Adelaide, John said.
Another addition to the lodge was a helicopter landing pad, for use in emergencies and by guests.