By NOEL MURPHY
THE GREAT Ocean Road’s iconic Lorne Hotel is on the market, tipped to draw more than $20 million.
The sale includes the hotel’s freehold and business with its 300-seat beer garden, sports bar, bottle shop and gaming machines.
Agent CBRE described the hotel as a “highly profitable business” with an “excellent upside”.
Nestled among eucalypts on Mountjoy Pde above Louttit Bay, the “true trophy asset” boasts a 4437-square-metre site including a first-floor bistro with panoramic views, a new top-floor functions area and more than a dozen accommodation rooms.
The hotel has been a Lorne fixture since opening in 1876.
The venue burned down in 1919 when a fire started during the night. Residents and furniture were saved but limited water pressure failed to save the building.
The hotel was rebuilt the following year when a two-storey establishment rose from the ashes with 40 bedrooms, smoking rooms, a dining hall, a kitchen, electric light, tennis and croquet lawns, a bowling green and a luxurious motor garage for up to 12 vehicles.
The hotel has changed numerous times in the intervening century, with insiders are tipping it could fetch a figure above $20 million.
