A renowned hinterland retreat could significantly expand with 11 luxury cabins, a fine dining restaurant and a Scandinavian-inspired bath house under new plans lodged with Sunshine Coast Council.
The proposal would extend the existing Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat onto an adjoining 9.6-hectare property at North Maleny, significantly increasing its high-end accommodation.
The existing retreat, which includes eight villas, was named the No.1 Most Romantic Hotel in the World in Tripadvisor’s 2021 Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards.
Owners Ali Khan and his wife Xochi Lindholm now hope to build on that success with an offering aimed squarely at the luxury tourism market.
Sharing details of the planned cabins, Mr Khan said, “They’ll have heated magnesium plunge pools, one-bedroom and be for adults only.
“We will offer top-notch services.”
The couple, who have owned Narrows for seven years, added two premium cabins to the existing retreat in 2022 and Mr Khan said the response had demonstrated strong demand for more accommodation of that calibre.
Plans prepared by Elevation Architecture for the 116 Narrows Road property show 11 detached short-stay cabins accommodating up to 22 guests.
Ten cabins would have about 85sqm of internal floor space, including a bedroom, lounge and kitchenette, while an accessible cabin would be slightly larger.
However, the plans propose more and larger cabins than nominated under the Sunshine Coast Council Planning Scheme’s nature and rural based tourism code.
Instead, it allows for eight cabins and a gross floor area of 60sqm for each.
Some cabins would also be 10m from the northern boundary, compared with the code’s nominated 50m setback from rural-zoned land. A road reserve separates that boundary from the existing Narrows Escape property.
Project Urban argued the proposal still met the code’s requirements because of the size of the property and the way the cabins would be spread across the site. It would have about 1.15 cabins per hectare, below the code’s benchmark of two per hectare.
The restaurant would have capacity for 60 patrons per sitting and include indoor and outdoor dining areas, a bar and commercial kitchen. While catering for resort guests, it would also be open to the public, with external patronage capped at 20 people per sitting.
A major feature would be a luxury bath house and day spa inspired by the Scandinavian bathing tradition.
Mr Khan lived most of his life in Finland, while Ms Lindholm is half-Swedish and half-Australian, and the couple plans to draw on their backgrounds to create an experience incorporating a sauna, massage space, cold pools, sunken tea lounge, hot bath and salt scrub stations.
“There will also be a proper bath house, a luxurious experience in nature,” Mr Khan said.
“Guests will feel the serenity within nature.”
“There is a gap in the market and this is definitely what we want to offer here.”
Mr Khan has worked in the hotel industry throughout his working life and said the new development would represent a “significant investment”, although he could not put a figure on its cost.
He is keen to move quickly if approval is granted, with the aim of opening within 12 months of construction starting.
The proposal requires impact assessment under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme, which means it will be subject to public notification.
The environmental characteristics of the 9.6ha property have been a key consideration in the proposal, with the site containing eucalypt forest, rainforest and rainforest regrowth, creek lines, regulated vegetation and mapped core koala and essential habitat.
Project Urban’s planning report states the layout has been shaped by those environmental values as well as flood-prone land, bushfire considerations, stormwater management and effluent disposal requirements.
A separate ecological assessment by environmental consultants Urban Catalyst 3 found the proposed buildings, parking areas and access routes had been located largely within existing cleared and maintained areas in the northern part of the property, while the proposed bath house and day spa would replace the existing residence on the eastern side.
The report states established creek lines and riparian vegetation would be retained, along with surrounding eucalypt forest and rainforest vegetation, which provides potential habitat for “conservation significant flora and fauna”.
Subject to the implementation of recommended management measures, the report states “the proposal is not anticipated to result in significant adverse direct or indirect impacts on ecological values, conservation significant species or waterway functions”.
The proposal must also be referred to the State Assessment and Referral Agency for assessment of native vegetation clearing, including potential impacts on waterways, ecological connectivity and essential habitat.
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A separate state government determination relating to the clearing has been issued, but it does not approve any vegetation clearing.
Mr Khan said he and his wife were being guided through the environmental requirements by their planning team and would work with the relevant authorities as the application progressed.
“We are all about nature here. We want to preserve the land,” he said.
