What it's like running a business underground in the middle of nowhere

The hotel was built out of an old mine. Photo: Supplied

In June last year they took over running the business for its new owner, moving 333km from small town Cobar to tiny town White Cliffs, in north west NSW.

Foster says she was taken aback by how nice everybody was, coming in to chat and ask if they were ok while business was slow.

“It’s a full on job, we’re on 24 hours a day seven days a week, but it’s absolutely beautiful here. You get the best night’s sleep in the dugouts.”

They also have two backpackers who will stay for two months, and a local woman who helps with the cleaning and sorting out linen when it’s busy.

The motel, which opened in 1989, was built out of an old mine known as Poor Man’s Hill because of its lack of opals 

When full the motel can hold double the town’s population. Photo: Supplied

With its kitchen and 75 seat dining room the motel has also become a community hub, functioning as a kind of headquarters for different groups within the town.

“On Friday we have a group of women who will come and knit and talk about art and paintings, on Saturdays and Sundays we get our locals up here and they have coffee and cakes or a nice dinner. If you ever need a hand someone’s there for you.”

The population of White Cliffs fluctuates depending on how hot and which month of the year it is. During summer when it’s too hot to work and locals go to their second homes elsewhere, the population hovers around 100 people and once it cools down outside it more than doubles to about 250. 

The motel also plays host to a variety of community groups. Photo: Supplied

Temperatures can soar to 50 degrees outside but underground it’s a comfortable 22 degrees all year.

The flying doctors visit the town once a week from Broken Hill bringing a GP, a dentist and other specialists if they’re available. There’s a general store which also functions as a servo and a post office and further along the main street there’s a pub.

A truck with food and supplies comes from Broken Hill fortnightly in the summer months and weekly from April through to November.

The town dates back to about 1890, when a collection of opal miners set up shop there and it peaked in the early 20th century. 

There are no paper-thin hotel walls here. Photo: Supplied

While there is still money to be made in opal mines near White Cliffs, it’s a long way from the glory days and a lot of miners aren’t as young and fit as they were.

The opal industry is probably the strongest tourist drawcard, but Foster says people like to embrace the fact that there’s no wifi or phone reception, unless you stand in the motel’s entrance.

“We get people from Sydney and Melbourne who want to get away from it all, leave phones and laptops at home. We’re up on a hill with an absolutely amazing view of the landscapes and bushland and we try and get people up there with a drink and watch the sun go down and look at the stars.”

Mandy Foster and her partner Sean Auld manage the White Cliffs Underground Motel. Photo: Supplied

Foster says they’ve enjoyed publicity lately with visits from ABC’s Backroads program and Sydney Weekender, and social media has helped attract some further-flung and international guests.

The motel has 33 rooms and Mandy Foster says there’s nights when they’re booked out at 100 guests.

“When it’s quiet you might have two nights in a row with nobody. But in winter it’s quite busy you’ll have at least five rooms and when it gets more busy you’ll have a bus and a group per week.”

White Cliffs is one of three towns in Australia with underground motels along with Coober Pedy and Lightning Ridge.

“Everyone definitely knows everyone and there’s no riffraff in the town, it’s really peaceful, just a lovely place to be.”