The River House
The Location
The property is in Dilston a small rural township located less than 15 minutes (15 km) north of Launceston CBD in
the Tamar Valley, a beautiful area of Northern Tasmania and a principle wine producing area with high-yielding, premium quality wineries; the Tamar Valley Wine Route has recently been awarded the top wine route in Australia by Australia Travel. The area is very picturesque with orchards, forests and pastures and is one of Tasmania’s loveliest car drives with many townships to explore and a multitude of attractions such as cellar door tastings, river cruises, enchanting walks along pretty waterfalls and gorges, lavender fields, penguin lookouts, strawberry farms, art galleries, historic settlements and great fishing spots.
The Property
The River House sits high on the banks of the scenic Tamar River on 1.9 hectares of mostly flat land (on two titles) with amazing views of the Tamar River and Valley. The private grounds have well established and attractive gardens, including a productive small orchard, and light Australian bush. The weatherboard home with tiled roof and wooden floor boards is in excellent condition throughout and has had its exterior recently painted.
The house is currently operating as a boutique bed and breakfast adults only retreat and comprises of a stylishly appointed guests wing, a separate and spacious owners wing, a 3 bay shed (9 x 6) with double lock up garage and workspace and a solar heated swimming pool.
The owners’ wing is accessed via a private vestibule through a private courtyard and consists of a large kitchen with a pantry, a meals area, a living area, a laundry, a large bedroom with Huon pine detailed open fire place and an ensuite bathroom with underfloor and towel rail heating.
The guests’ wing can accommodate up to 9 guests (3 queen size beds + 1 King with 1 sofa bed) comfortably and comprises of a reception and gallery, a guest Lounge with open wood fire place, a guest laundry, verandas and a large river deck with magnificent views.
The four guest rooms are all well appointed to a high standard (including underfloor and towel rail heating in the bathrooms) with contemporary-country furnishings. Each of the rooms offers different décor, configurations and inclusions but they all have access to the garden and BBQ facilities via the veranda or the river view deck. The Riverview Apartment (60m2) is self-contained with a full kitchen, open lounge with separate bedroom and spa-bath ensuite with double shower. The studio (30m2) has a kitchenette and a double shower ensuite. The Riverdeck Room (21 sq m) has spa-bath and single shower whilst the King Suite (30 sq m) has a loungette and double shower ensuite. Room tariffs include full served breakfasts for all guest rooms except for the Apartment where gourmet breakfast provisions are provided.
The Business
The business has been in successful operation since 2006 (with the addition of the King Suite in 2010). It operates at the upper end of the B&B market and is a multi-award winning business with 4.5 star rating from AAA. It is a regular finalist and winner of the People’s Choice Award for the Northern Region (run by the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania) and the TripAvisor Travellers’ Choice winner for Tasmania 2013, with regular Tripadvisor Certificates of Excellence. The business has a terrific reputation with excellent reviews and enjoys positive referrals and many repeat visitors.
The business is currently run by one operator full time with some help from his partner and a casual gardener. It is an easy business to run with easy to host adult guests. However, the business is run as a lifestyle business and occupancy is kept at around 30% per year to keep the desired life/work balance. Current turnover is $60K+. There is considerable scope to increase turnover by increasing room availability throughout the year and by investing in additional marketing initiatives.
The vendors currently use v-3 front desk and use channels that allow them to keep commissions no higher than 16%. They also use google adwords in a minor way and benefit significantly from tripadvisor.
The Offer
This is an opportunity to acquire a lovely house in the heart of the Tamar Valley located a short drive from the city of Launceston in an ideal location overlooking the valley with the added benefit of an easy income. The property is offered ‘as is’ with its furniture (except for a small number of private pieces and some art-work) to allow the continuation of the business without interruptions. Please contact us to arrange an inspection.
INSPECTIONS ARE STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT.
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