The new gold rush
A new boutique hotel and an artisans’ campaign shine the spotlight on Ballarat.
“For a long time, Ballarat suffered from being too close to Melbourne,” says Simon Coghlan, a local boy and co-owner of a new boutique hotel in the Victorian goldfields city. “Now we’re really standing on our own two feet, with so much heritage but also a critical mass of artisans and entrepreneurs and a rich cultural life.”
Only 75 minutes by express train from Melbourne and 90 minutes (“on a good day”) by car, The Provincial Hotel is located opposite the city’s train station on historic Lydiard Street, making it a car-free getaway from the Victorian capital. Coghlan, his wife and TV host Gorgi, and business partner Drew Harry opened the hotel late last year after extensive renovation to 23 suites and a stylish ground-floor restaurant and bar named Lola, after the scandalous goldfields dancer Lola Montez.
Built in 1909, the hotel has a mix of Victorian and art nouveau features, with high ceilings and spacious rooms, many apartment-sized, styled with swathes of textiles and a mix of antique, contemporary and customised furniture.
In the open kitchen at
Lola, open all-day daily, is head chef Shaun Thomson, formerly of Quay, and Rockpool in Melbourne. He’s championing regional produce, the likes of Western Plains pork, Millhouse lamb, and Azzurri burrata from the Macedon Ranges. The wine list, meanwhile, is dominated by labels located within
100 kilometres of Ballarat. It’s been compiled by Coghlan’s old school friend Paul Ghaie, co-owner of independent wine stores Blackhearts & Sparrows, and local winemaker and sommelier Troy Walsh.
The hotel opening coincides with a campaign by Visit Ballarat to showcase the diversity of makers and artisans in the region with regular events and masterclasses (madeofballarat. com.au). Rooms from $160.
121 Lydiard St N, Ballarat,
Vic, (03) 5331 3399, theprovincialballarat.com.au