Fire-Hit Kangaroo Island Motel Embarks on Expansion

A heritage-listed 1920s motel on Kangaroo Island is getting a revamp after a fire gutted the site last year. 

The Seaview Motel was established in 1924 and was the first motel on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.

It includes The Odd Plate restaurant, which was supposed to reopen in September 2023 after winter closure.

However, a raging fire gutted the site in August causing an estimated $500,000 damage to the restaurant and motel, according to media reports at the time.

Now, a planning application has been submitted to the Kangaroo Island Council to renovate the damaged buildings and expand the motel offering.

Plans by hotel owner and hospitality entrepreneur Yen Aun Leow will reinstate the 100-seat restaurant at the 5877sq m site at 51 Chapman Terrace but also add a further 28 premium and 14 standard suites. 

This will increase capacity up to 106 guests, more than doubling its previous maximum.

A new reception and back-of-house facilities are planned, as well as new carparks and landscaping. 

▲ Seaview was established by Flo Ellson in 1924, and the Ellson family owned the site for nearly 100 years before selling to its current owner Yen Aun Leow in 2020.

Last year, Lonely Planet named Kangaroo Island the No.2 must-visit destination globally for 2024, and according to the council the island is visited by 205,000 people a year.

Recently, Kingscote was also identified as the site of a new $20-million art museum after the Kangaroo Island Council endorsed the project last year.

In addition to its tourist credentials, the island has been identified as a potential regional housing hotspot.

CoreLogic’s quarterly Regional Market Update, which looks at Australia’s 25 largest non-capital city regions for the year to July 2023, found that only seven out 18 areas recorded an annual increase in home values, and one of these was Kangaroo Island.