MACq 01 Hotel to open on Hobart’s waterfront

Hobart’s waterfront, the site of so many arrivals in Australia, with people coming here carrying stories from far away, will now be the precinct for Hobart’s newest hotel.

The MACq 01 has positioned itself as a waterfront storytelling hotel.

Located in the Hunter Street precinct, connecting Hunter Island to Hobart’s shore, the ultra-exclusive $45 million, 114-room establishment threw open its doors to the media to sample, giving them the first taste of the exclusive hotel.

So 20 of Australia’s top travel writers and “influencers” were the lucky ones invited to be the first to sample what the place had to offer.

It wasn’t just reporters. The guest list included lifestyle, airline and travel magazine writers and social media and online influencers. Hotel management wanted to make sure it has started off creating a real impression on the Tasmanian market.

The guests were treated to a Tasmanian e-bike Adventures tour of Bangor Farm on the Forestier Peninsula and then a trip to Iron Pot by Rob Pennicot.

That’s where they heard the stories of the place, courtesy of a MACq 01 storyteller who told them of the wrecks and history of the area.

They also saw the Aboriginal artefacts made by the Mina-nina group which are displayed in the “yarning lounge” of MACq 01.

As part of the story telling tradition, every room in the hotel is named after a Tasmanian historical character.

That means guests can learn about such historical figures as Aboriginals Fanny Cochrane-Smith, Manalargenna, Truganini, Lucy Beeton, Dolly Dalrymple, William Lanne and Woretemor Teyenner.

And at the story bar, they will be find perspex copies of front pages of the Mercury dangling over the bar.

It’s an upmarket hotel with prices ranging from $305 for a room facing Hunter St, $460 for a waterfront room and $1200 for a corner waterfront suite.

by Leon Gettler, June 2^nd 2017