Hotel Jackalope to open on the Mornington Peninsula
Introducing the Hotel Jackalope – named after the mythical animal of North American folklore depicted as a jack rabbit with antelope horns – will be opening on the Mornington Peninsula in April.
And more to the point, it means the popular holiday spot will have a prize luxury hotel.
It will be located on Willow Creek's 11-hectare vineyard n Merricks North - between Red Hill and Balnarring - and it will be surrounded by another 50 cellar doors and three of Australia's top-10-rated golf courses.
The Jackalope is owned by the vineyard’s proprietor Louis Li who studied film at Swinburne who then picked up an MBA at RMIT.
The story goes that Li first discovered the jackalope in the form of a sculpture in a Berlin antique store. He thought it looked so unusual, so out there and rebellious, that it would be a good name.
“My desire was to merge art and hospitality, taking them to another level," Li told the Australian Financial Review.
Li is no stranger to hotels. After buying Willow Creek in 2013 for $9.5 million, he bought the 1911-built Maria George Building at 181 Flinders Lane for a reported $11.4 million in 2014 and Melbourne's Prince of Wales Hotel for a reported $45 million in 2015 through his family company JKLP Group.
The hotel will have 46 designer rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces. There will also be larger rooms or “Lairs”. They will feature loft ceilings, a large terrace overlooking the vineyard and a double-sided indoor/outdoor fireplace. Every room in the hotel will have rain showers and custom-made bath
It will have two restaurants. First, there will be a fine dining room, Doot Doot Doot. Add to that a more casual, standalone restaurant and cellar door, Rare Hare.
Both restaurants will be run by executive chef Guy Stanaway. Stanaway was previously Executive Chef of Amankila, a resort in Bali.
by Leon Gettler, January 20th 2016
