The only way to improve on World Heritage has been to build world-class, and as the O’Reilly family prepare for the initial opening of their 48-villa luxury eco village, they can reflect on perhaps their most ambitious achievement yet, in a proud 90-year history amidst World Heritage listed Lamington National Park.

The $34 million villa development, which includes a new conference centre and a Destinational Spa, represents an exciting new era for the O’Reilly’s, who successfully forged an ecotourism tradition in Australia and won Best Deluxe Accommodation at the 2006 Queensland Tourism Awards.

The development significantly expands the ecotourism appeal of the Gold Coast region, offering a unique premium standard of self-contained accommodation that captures the same priceless views that first captivated the original O’Reilly mountain pioneers all those years ago.

Ecotourism Australia CEO Stephen Pahl has lauded the development as a significant new addition to the Australian ecotourism landscape.

"O'Reilly's Mountain Villas is a major new development for ecotourism and brings a whole new style and standard of accommodation for the industry in Southeast Queensland,” Mr Pahl said.

"Guests are increasingly expecting higher standards of accommodation whilst experiencing our beautiful natural environment and this development perfectly caters for those wanting some luxury served up with nature."

"The size of the villas and their self-contained facilities will make them popular with families and couples traveling together and open up new markets looking for a rainforest experience both domestically and from overseas."

"The opening of O'Reilly's new Conference Centre and Spa next year will further attract new markets and cement O'Reilly's reputation as an ecotourism icon."

"This development responds to growing demand in the ecotourism sector as people's environmental awareness and appreciation continues to mature.”


Strong buyer and guest interest

Designed for owners and guests who like their creature comforts with nature, the two- and three-bedroom villas are ideal for families, groups of friends and couples travelling together, and have already proved a huge hit with travel wholesalers and visitors who’ve previously enjoyed O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

Generations of guests to the iconic O’Reilly’s Guesthouse have dreamed of living the ‘impossible dream’ by turning the rainforest retreat experience into a lifestyle, and from October 15 that dream will be a reality when the Mountain Villas welcome their first guests, followed by opening of the Lifestyle Conference Centre & Lost World Spa in March 2008.

As the finishing touches are completed, all but 10 of the exclusive freehold villas have already sold, with a diverse range of new owners appreciating the once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a permanent stake in the O’Reilly’s tradition and secure spectacular views that literally go on forever.

With sales so strong, it’s not surprising that an early wave of guests have also anticipated the villas appeal, yielding significant pre-bookings even before an opening promotional push, including a number of international reservations and excellent take-up into travel wholesale programs.

Marketing Director Bernie Cochran believes the Villas have been so strongly backed because of their unique location and style, along with their inherent value.

“We’ve been picked up by leading wholesalers like Sunlover and Qantas who have really been crying out for new ecotourism product with a point of difference – O’Reilly’s Mountain Villas fill an important niche in the market,” Mr Cochran said.

“The Villas deliver spacious and luxurious private accommodation in a pristine location, and with the two-bedroom villas sleeping up to 7, and the three-bedroom villas accommodating up to 9 people, they represent great value.”

The development received significant international exposure during the Australian Tourism Exchange, held in Brisbane during May, when O’Reilly’s hosted more than 50 leading travel industry delegates for pre-opening tours.

“We attracted representatives from our high yield markets of the US, UK and Europe, including a high profile group from one of Britain’s leading travel wholesalers, and the visits have already translated into bookings,” Mr Cochran said.

With the World Tourism Organisation and the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) reporting growth in ecotourism at three times the rate of tourism as a whole in 2004, and predicting strong future expansion, the Mountain Villas will open at a time when interest in environmentally friendly holidays has never been stronger.

According to TIES, more than two-thirds of U.S. and Australian travellers, and 90% of British tourists, consider active protection of the environment, including support of local communities, to be part of a hotel’s responsibility – O’Reilly’s enjoys both national Advanced Ecotourism Accreditation and benchmarking accreditation with the prestigious international Green Globe organisation, recognising its strong environmental sustainability.

O’Reilly’s Managing Director Shane O’Reilly believes the development offers owners that rare combination of natural escape and exciting investment, in an unsurpassed location, while introducing luxury into the Gold Coast ecotourism product.

“The development is the largest and finest in the Gold Coast hinterland and really takes the ecotourism experience in the region to a new and exciting level,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“Our occupancy rates in our 72 retreat rooms and suites have been on the rise over the past few years, and the Mountain Villas provide a great opportunity to keep up with this growing demand, especially from international markets, and to capitalise on the growing ‘green change’ phenomenon,” Mr O’Reilly said.

Guest numbers are expected to double once the Mountain Villas come on line.

Strong Environmental Credentials

The pristine location of the Mountain Villas was always going to dictate the highest environmental standards of design and construction.

The site itself was originally cleared as a dairy farm, so in many ways the development actually brings the property back to nature, with extensive re-vegetation (more than 40,000 plantings) knitting the site back into the rainforest and the environmentally friendly villas nestled unobtrusively into the sloping landscape.

Mr O’Reilly said extensive planning had gone into ensuring sustainable construction to complement and protect the beautiful natural setting.

“My family have been custodians of this spectacular natural area since 1911 and we’ve been dedicated to protecting the local environment and totally committed to ensuring that this new development continues this proud record,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“Appreciating the luxury of spacious and comfortable accommodation, guests can be secure in knowing that the environment has not be sacrificed to create their creature comforts.“

“Before a sod was turned we underwent a stringent environmental planning and approval process, working with independent consultants to manage every aspect of the development and implementing a comprehensive Environmental Management Plan.”

“The site’s flora and fauna were assessed first to ensure minimal disruption to furry and feathered neighbours and to retain significant trees. Earthworks were minimised and we followed previous tracks and the natural contour of the land for our roads, and to locate the specific sites for each of the villas.”

Stormwater and wastewater treatment have been upgraded to cater to the development, with water saved through recycling for toilets and outdoor use, while each villa has its own rainwater tank and water-efficient taps and appliances are installed. Energy efficient lighting and appliances are also featured.

“O’Reilly’s has teamed up with innovative water recycling company EcoNova to cut per-guest water consumption by up to 85% – so effectively we’ll be accommodating double the number of guests as we currently do when the Mountain Villas come on line, but using only 10% more water overall, and less energy providing that water,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“An environmentally sensitive covenant prohibits domestic pets and prevents the introduction of new plants, and in planting out the landscape we’ve chosen endemic species and bird attracting plants so the development provides a habitat for our wildlife as much as a holiday home for our guests.”


Where luxury lives alongside nature

Getting close to nature certainly doesn’t have to mean pitching a tent – with O’Reilly’s Mountain Villas proving luxury accommodation can be both unobtrusive and eco-friendly.

Designed to subtly resemble birds perched high amidst the trees and built from natural and lightweight materials, the villas offer stunning mountain and rainforest vistas.

“Stylishly appointed, each villa features an outdoor spa on an expansive timber deck, a gas fireplace, contemporary kitchen, air conditioning, ensuited bedrooms and undercover parking,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“Sitting up to 8 metres above the ground, you really get the sense you are floating in the forest.”

Architects have utilised a design approach and materials such as corrugated iron, eco-ply and polished redwood floors to create a synergy and empathy with the environment.

Architect Tony Macksey said the villas sit ‘lightly on the earth’, with interior spaces that are light and airy.

“They have an intimacy with the surrounding landscape, creating a tree-house effect,” Mr Macksey said.

“Inside the soaring cathedral-like plywood ceilings in the living areas give a real sense of warmth and space.”

Nature was always going to provide the inspiration for the light and open interiors, and the furniture and finishings have brought the beauty of the rainforest indoors, while never trying to compete with the spectacular views.
Modern in design, the furniture is warmed by the use of Queensland Maple and botanical prints in cushions that reflect the rainforest canvas with furnishings and layout promoting relaxation.

For relaxation with rejuvenation, the Lifestyle Conference Centre & Lost World Spa will offer seven treatment rooms, including two sublime couple’s suites, and a Relaxation Room warmed by a fireplace and magical mountain vista. Retreat-style conference and meeting facilities offer the same breath-taking backdrop, with the facility also including a 25-metre lap pool and separate adult and children’s pools.

Named after the rugged wilderness valley ‘The Lost World’ to the southwest of the retreat, O’Reilly’s Lost World Spa will deliver an escape experience to a tranquil world of relaxation, surrounded by nature, with a focus on unique treatments utilising local indigenous plants.

The Spa will also introduce Vino-therapy, which offers anti-aging benefits from all the anti-oxidants in the grapes!

“It will be the only facility of its type to act as a draw-card for showcasing Australia’s world-class subtropical rainforest,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“The spa not only opens up a whole new market, but caters to the growing expectations of existing guests looking for relaxation and wellness experiences to complement their rainforest escape. “

“O’Reilly’s is creating this new market opportunity at a time when international demand for Spa experiences is booming and when ecotourism is one of the fastest growing niche sectors of the Australian tourism industry. O’Reilly’s cleverly capitalises on the convergence of these two key trends.”


A new era in a proud history

Creating the Mountain Villas as a freehold development was a major step into the future for the O’Reilly’s – effectively a selling off of the family farm that was originally cleared by Herb O’Reilly, one of eight O’Reilly pioneers who settled on the rugged McPherson range mountaintop in 1911 to carve a living out of dairying.

The five brothers and their three cousins paid 35 shillings an acre for approximately 100 acres of land each, as the first and only selectors, setting to work with axes and brush cutters to clear some of the lush landscape they soon came to love.

It was a hardworking, bucolic and lonely existence, before they were isolated even further when Lamington National Park was declared in 1915.

Even as early as 1914 hardy souls started visiting, lured to make the arduous trek, then a two-day journey from Brisbane, by the same natural beauty that attracts visitors today.

They stayed in one of the family’s slab huts, where air-conditioning came through the cracks in the walls, and were escorted to scenic spots, generally on horseback, on trails especially cut for the purpose.

Dairying was a difficult living – milking cows by hand and carting the cans of cream by packhorse to the dairy on a rough and rugged 15km Stockyard Creek track – with typical Irish luck sometimes the cream had churned to butter by the time they got there!

In comparison tourism seemed a much easier option and the O’Reilly’ reputation for serving up nature with legendary hospitality was officially established with the opening of the first guesthouse in 1926.

But setting up a guesthouse was no simple prospect – building materials had to be transported 25km up the Stockyard Creek track, with horses used to drag an engine up the steep incline to drive a sawmill, so timber could be cut for the new building. Everything else – roofing iron, windows and furniture had to be carried in by packhorse.

The modern-day construction challenge certainly wasn’t that easy either.

Principal Contractor Hutchinson’s had to bring up to 90 workers to the site during the peak building period, with some accommodated onsite and others brought up daily in troop carriers.

Eco-sensitive construction meant minimising site movements of heavy machinery and they chose a staged approach to minimise the amount of scaffolding and equipment that had to be set up on the sloping site, while rain and the resulting mud made things very slippery at times.

Hutchinson’s very experienced construction manager Len White was up to the job - after 34 years with the company he’d already faced some large and unusual construction challenges, including building a giant $2.5 million refrigerated ‘shed’ made of round earth walls to cover an archaeological dig site containing more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints!


Why Mountain Bowers?

Each villa is affectionately called a ‘Bower’ after the courtship arena of the Bowerbird, the icon bird of Lamington.

The male Satin Bowerbird is a natural show-off and playboy – and he’ll go to great lengths to attract females to his bedroom – otherwise known as a Bower.

Like other bowerbirds, including the vibrant yellow and black Regent Bowerbird that is well known as O’Reilly’s logo symbol, the Satin Bowerbird male builds his love nest on the ground to entice the girls.

While the more retiring Regent Bowerbird relies on his distinctive and colourful plumage to lure the ladies, building a fairly austere and functional Bower, the blue Satin Bowerbird appreciates that the female of the species is into home decorating.

They will build quite elaborate structures and decorate them with blue ‘trophies’ – kids cars, sunglasses, pens, toothbrushes, blue and purple flowers – anything blue or shiny qualifies to set off the décor of a Satin Bowerbirds courtship arena.

“We’ve designed our Bowers to be spacious and stylish havens for our guests to enjoy good times and great holidays,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“But we do urge guests to beware of leaving small blue items on their balconies!”

Pre-opening rates for a two-bedroom Bower start from $360.00 per night, subject to conditions. For further information and bookings, please contact O’Reilly’s on 1800 688 722.

Prospective buyers wanting to find out about making World Heritage their heritage, can arrange inspections by contacting Jane O’Reilly on 1800 008 939 or email jane@oreillys.com.au. More information is available on this exciting development at www.oreillys.com.au/mountain-villas.

O’Reilly’s is located a scenic two hour drive from Brisbane and 90 minutes from the Gold Coast.

ENDS.

Further information on the O'Reilly's Mountain Villas.

MEDIA:
For further information on this press release, please contact:
Amanda Tidmarsh
Phone: 07 5502 4900
Fax: 07 5502 0988
E-mail: amanda@oreillys.com.au
Or
Kathy Bourke
Phone: 07 5539 9883
Mobile: 0419 757 622
E-mail: kathy@articulatecommunications.com.au