For more than 20 years, Shannon and Simeon Crawley have been part of Bright’s tourism story. They raised their family in a roadside motel, welcomed thousands of visitors to the Victorian High Country and eventually transformed that same motel into the rather fabulous Hara House. Now, they’re ready to hand it over.

If you remember the traditional Australian roadside motel, exposed brick, cars parked outside the rooms and perhaps a swimming pool out the back, Hara House might make you look twice.

There is still a little of that history there, but today you’ll also find pink bicycles, beautiful interiors, a Dead Sea mineral pool and heated spa, sauna, tennis court, wellness treatments and a very good restaurant.

It’s stylish, certainly, but thankfully it has kept its sense of fun.

And behind all that colour is a lovely Australian accommodation story.

Image Supplied - McDonald Hospitality Brokers

The property began life as the Ovens Valley Motor Inn, built in 1986 by George and Patrizia Simone. Patrizia would go on to become one of northeast Victoria’s best-known food identities, while the motel itself became part of Bright’s tourism landscape.

Then came Shannon and Simeon Crawley.

The couple returned to Bright in 2004, drawn by the mountains, the lifestyle and the snow, and took on the motel while raising three young children.

Anyone who has ever lived onsite while running an accommodation business will probably appreciate that “work-life balance” may not have been the phrase that immediately sprang to mind.

They spent years running the property as a traditional motel while also building High Country Holidays Tours, which welcomed more than 50,000 visitors to the region over 18 years. Their contribution to tourism was recognised in 2010 when they were inducted into the Victorian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame.

But after all those years, they could see the motel had another life in it.

Following a full restoration in 2022, Hara House emerged in 2023, with Shannon and Simeon embracing the building’s retro roots rather than trying to disguise them.

“I once heard someone say, ‘You’re either born to be a hotelier or are not’,” Shannon said.

“The transformation to Hara House has been a dream come true. We’ve created a hotel that celebrates the property’s retro heyday whilst delivering a new and thrilling guest experience in Bright.”

The result is unmistakably Hara House.

There’s exposed brick and timber, encaustic tiles, Slim Aarons art photography Australian-inspired ceramics and plenty of colour. The old roadside motel bones are still there, but they’ve been given a rather glamorous makeover.

The property now has 22 rooms and suites, surrounded by gardens with the mountains providing a pretty impressive backdrop.

And those pink bikes aren’t just for decoration. Guests can borrow one and pedal into the centre of Bright, although there are plenty of reasons not to leave the hotel at all.

Food, wine and a little indulgence

Pepperberry, Hara House’s onsite restaurant, has become an important part of the experience, with a focus on modern Australian food, regional produce and native ingredients.

The wine list looks close to home too, drawing from the Alpine Valleys, Beechworth and King Valley, and Pepperberry was the only Bright restaurant to feature in The Age Good Food Guide 2024.

Guests can add a treatment, sauna or afternoon beside the mineral pool, have a hit of tennis or simply settle in with a drink.

It is a very different proposition from the motel Shannon and Simeon took on more than two decades ago.

Of course, Hara House also has the considerable advantage of being in Bright.

Four seasons of Bright

There aren’t too many regional destinations that can put on quite as many different faces throughout the year.

Autumn is the show-off. Bright’s famous deciduous trees turn the town red, orange and gold and bring visitors from across Australia to see the display.

Winter has an entirely different energy, with Bright providing a gateway to Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buffalo and filling with skiers, snowboarders and snow-loving families.

Then, as the weather warms, the bikes and walking shoes come out. Cycling, mountain biking, hiking, swimming and exploring the surrounding valleys take over, helped along by a food, wine and brewery scene that has become a drawcard in its own right.

For an accommodation business, that year-round appeal matters.

And after more than 20 years in the region, Shannon and Simeon have decided the time is right for someone else to make the most of it.

Hara House is on the market

Hara House has been listed for sale as a freehold going concern through McDonald Hospitality Brokers, with an asking price of $8.495 million.

The offering includes its 22 rooms and suites, Pepperberry restaurant and bar, wellness facilities, mineral pool and heated spa, sauna and tennis court.

According to the sales campaign, Hara House has recorded year-on-year revenue growth of around 10 percent since opening, with an average daily rate of approximately $270 and occupancy of around 50 percent.

There is also potential for a future owner to explore further development.

The property previously held approval for eight additional double-storey units and a café. That approval has since lapsed, but the selling agents say there may be an opportunity to investigate reinstating it.

Selling agents Dan McDonald & Bennett Mountjoy of McDonald Hospitality Brokers believe Hara House offers something that is difficult to recreate from scratch.

“Hara House is a rare example of hospitality excellence and execution. A unique benchmark accommodation, wellness and luxe lifestyle precinct with no detail overlooked or expense spared.

“For the buyer, the opportunity is to take an already established and distinctive property in one of Victoria’s strongest year-round tourism destinations. Excitingly, this remarkable property is only three years reborn running at 50 percent occupancy, its story has only just begun.”

For Shannon and Simeon, the sale will close a pretty significant chapter.

They arrived at the Ovens Valley Motor Inn with three young children and spent the next two decades building businesses, raising their family and becoming part of Bright’s tourism community.

What they have created looks very different from the motel they first took on in 2004, but its history hasn’t been lost along the way.

Perhaps that’s part of Hara House’s charm. It has been given a whole new life, without forgetting where it came from.