Barossa Valley wine mecca to get its first luxury hotel

The tourist market – hundreds of thousands of people visit the world-famous region each year, most of them day-trippers – plus midweek corporate and convention markets and weddings would sustain the hotel, due to open in 2028, Tripolone said.

While the Barossa was a destination “that truly has global appeal” because of its long wine heritage, it had not always a been region capable of supporting the investment such a development demanded, he said.

“Now is the right time,” Tripolone told The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday. “The region, and SA more broadly, is mature enough that they have that demand.”

Records show Strategic Alliance, owned by Adelaide-based directors David Cook and George Economou, settled the Hoffnungsthal Road site – close to the original 1840s German settlement in the valley an hour north of Adelaide – in December for $1.35 million.

Cook said the likely build time would be 18 to 24 months, and they hoped to start “later” next year.

But the project still had to clear the extensive approval processes needed to build a large hotel in a largely agricultural area, Cook said.

“When we talk environmental, it’s not necessarily just around contamination,” he said.

“This is a wholistic assessment which incorporates all facets of the building, from design perspective to immersing itself and nestling into the landscape, to how we manage services from sewer, power, water, runoffs.”

Funding for the project would come from a mix of private capital and a “tier 1” financier, Cook said, declining to provide more details.

The hotel will have a destination dining offering and a day spa open to the public, as well as its own working vines and cellar door tourism offering. Tripolone said IHG would partner with “a local group of note” to develop a tourism product.