Queenscliff Hotel relisted for sale with $3.5 million plus hopes

The Queenscliff Hotel has been relisted for sale.

The striking 1887 Queen Anne-style building has 16 rooms with ensuites, sitting rooms, library, bar and dining room and a breakfast room.

There is a commercial kitchen and a manager’s residence.

Abercromby’s are selling the property on a walk-in, walk-out basis at its 20 March auction, where expectations are $3.5 million plus.

The hotel is still taking guests, but the restaurant served its last meals on Christmas Day, following the death of owner Johann Schuetz.

John Schuetz and his wife, Theresa bought the property at 16 Gellibrand Street in 2002.

The 1887 built Queenscliff Hotel on the western tip of Port Phillip bay was designed by Melbourne architects Reed, Henderson & Smart, the same architects responsible for the State Library of Victoria, Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne Trades Hall and a number of Melbourne university buildings.

It was built by NW Frogley in the English Queen Anne style for Martha Nugent and Joseph Goslin, wealthy local citizens at the time.

Heritage documents describe its polygonal tower, with its coned roof and bellcast profile and gables, as a reflection of northern European Renaissance architecture, particularly from countries as such France and the Netherlands.

The Schuetz family acquired the property in 2002 from restaurateur Patricia O’Donnell, sister of the late Mietta O'Donnell, who ran the hotel as a fine dining hotel for a number of years. The hotel was first restored for modern use in 1978.

Queenscliff became a significant tourist destination in the late 19th century with holiday-makers taking a two hour paddle steamer journey from Melbourne.

The influx continued with the 1879 opening of the Geelong railway line, which coincided with the construction of a number of luxury hotels including the Palace Hotel, the Baillieu Hotel and the Vue Grande Hotel.