The Timothée Resort is loaded with luxury and the best kind of retro-charm.
You know those drab motels you stayed in as a kid? A new wave of design-savvy folk are buying them up and turning them into your ultimate retro-vacay fantasy.
This trend has finally hit the seaside town of Busselton, with one of its original motels getting a Mediterranean makeover worth the road trip. Holidaymakers, meet The Timothée Resort.
Owners Jamie and Alice Brady bought the old Comfort Inn Busselton River Resort back in 2022. The couple transformed the dated building into a resort-style wonderland, starring everything to love about retro motels, plus all the tech and planet-friendly features expected from a thoughtfully crafted getaway.
Jamie says telling a story was an important part of getting the motel makeover just right.
“Telling a story is really important to us because, without the story, we’d be a nicely renovated regional motel, but nothing more,” he says.
“These days people are looking for authentic and unique experiences when they travel, so telling our story has been important in every decision.”
This sense of story is woven into every part of The Timothée, from the bespoke clothing rails, bent and powder coated by Alice and her dad in the resort’s signature green, to the refurbished vintage furniture, which adorns each and every room. The resort itself is a pastel dream, with peach and avocado hues that pay homage to the arches and old-school architecture of the original building.
“We’re Palm Springs with a Mediterranean, retro twist,” says Jamie. “You see a number of motels [over East] picking up on a similar vibe, because it was big back when the motels were built originally.”
Jamie grew up in caravan parks owned by his family, before buying and running two parks in Yallingup with Alice. The pair loved the communal good vibes of the parks, and wanted to bring this to their new venture.
“We wanted to blend those things and add our own flair, which is the social side of it,” Jamie says. “We built a camp kitchen with a fire pit area and a barbeque down by the river, so people could get that social experience meeting other guests. Then they can go back to the luxury of their room, rather than a caravan or tent.”
Meeting cool people, then getting away from them when you need to, sounds like the perfect kind of holiday. Especially if you’re thinking about heading Down South with a group of mates, or that special someone.
This year the Timothée Resort is sponsoring the CinefestOZ Film Festival, which happens every year in September and attracts some of the most talented filmmakers in Australia. A handful of crew and talent will be lucky enough to stay at the resort during the festival.
Inside, each room is tastefully styled with luxe amenities, like mid-century furnishings, premium mattresses, custom joinery and artworks by Mia Laing, commissioned especially for the resort. Alice says they went all in with refurbishing the rooms.
“We’ve ditched single-use plastic bathroom amenities and replaced them with a refillable Australian skincare range, drip coffee from the local legends at Margaret River Roasting Co, and we’ve even sourced recycled plastic homewares from Margaret River Precious Plastics,” she says.
To lower their carbon footprint, Jamie and Alice consciously chose to renovate an existing structure, rather than build something new. They also have Electric Vehicle charging stations and 85 solar panels, which power the rooms and outdoor pool.
There are plenty of things to do that preclude leaving the premises. Like the pool, which is the perfect locale for a lazy dip and nonchalant chit-chat with like-minded resort revellers. Then, kick back on a sun-lounger under a retro-cool umbrella by the fabulous breeze blocks.
When you’re done getting wet, head to the Curry Port, an authentic Indian restaurant that lives onsite, known for its world-class curry game. In the AM, have breakfast, delivered to your room in the resort’s original eighties breakfast hatches
If you want to leave (and it’s okay if you do) town is an easy twenty-minute amble along the Vasse River, which also happens to be the resort’s namesake. (Head here for the tea on this ill-fated fella.)
