Run Down Australian Motels Are Becoming Cool Again
Australia has dusted off a lot of old trends over the last two years.
Take surfers, for instance. Though some of them are puffing on vape pens and driving
$60,000 Sprinter vans, others are running back to SUVs (and turning them into road trip wagons) like it’s the 70s all over again.
Then there are coffee lovers. Though some java enthusiasts are ordering Oat Milk Lattes and extra hot Flat Whites, others are slurping filter brew like they were in a Vegas diner in 1990.
Then there are office workers. Though some people are still giving themselves sclerosis by working from home under a doona, others are running back to the office like it was… 2019.
Then there are investors. Though the dot com bubble should have taught us a lesson at the turn of the century, we’re losing our damn minds over crypto.
You get the picture.
Anyway, along a somewhat similar vein, Australian motels are now cool again.
Enter: The Mysa Motel. A modern twist on retro Gold Coast, the place is merging old school bones with Instagram aesthetics, and is part of a growing trend of run-down accommodations being done up, well-marketed, and turned trendy.
Photos show the place’s pool, picket fence, pink walls, vintage cars and happy customers.
The Mysa Motel is located just 10km off the iconic Gold Coast Highway, and is quite different the skyscrapers overlooking Surfer’s Paradise.
As Commercial Real Estate reports: “Local Gold Coast couple Eliza and Jason Raine have lovingly restored the ’80s blonde-brick building over a period of two years, keeping the original facade and using recycled items from the existing motel and other local properties.”
The Mysa Motel has a growing geotag on Instagram and 49 (and counting) posts to its name (under the ‘themysamotel‘ hashtag).
The Mysa Motel is not alone in this renaissance. The Sunseeker in Byron Bay also taps the nostalgia vein. Its website describes it as: “80s brick motel nostalgia reimagined (in every way) into a boutique accommodation experience for the modern conscious traveller.”
“Hidden behind the magnificent beaches of Byron Bay, Australia, The Sunseeker is nestled just out of the hustle and bustle of the main town.”
The Sunseeker, too, has a popular geotag page and 53 Instagram posts to its name.
There’s also The Sails Motel & Pool Club in Brunswick Heads, which is a lot cooler than your average motel, and Noosa’s 10 Hastings Street, as well as an avalanche of Airbnb’s also using The Instagram Effect in a similar way to convince you to press ‘book’ (“oh, this is a unique stay? Excuse me while I fish out my credit card”).
What is The Instagram Effect? The general idea is that instead of calling your granny flat with some pot plants around it a granny flat with some pot plants around it, you call it a ‘treehouse.’ And then you give it its own Instagram page and geotag and encourage People With Followings to stay there and take photos. You then put it on Airbnb and make some dosh.
In all seriousness though, there are many positive aspects to modern hotel chains losing their grip over your travel options. There have never been more (accommodation) options when booking a holiday. Now, all we need is some certainty around Australia’s domestic and international borders staying open (and entry requirements remaining consistent) and we’re good to go…
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