Notice of Kalbarri accommodation closure a ‘false alarm’, says agent

A Kalbarri real estate agent has described a closure notice for the Kalbarri Beach Resort as a “false alarm”. 

Saxton Pty Ltd, operating under the name of Kalbarri Beach Resort, manages a pool of around 20 privately owned holiday apartments within the Riverview holiday apartment complex in the coastal town.

This week the company sent a notice of its closure at the complex on June 30 to customers citing previous COVID-19 travel bans and mandate measures and Cyclone Seroja impacts as reasons.

More than 110 other apartments in the complex are separately owned and managed.

However, Ray White principal Ron Nachtweh said the close association of the Kalbarri Beach Resort brand and the apartment complex had left many customers worried their bookings would not be valid.

“We’ve got a lot of calls coming in saying: ‘What’s going on?'” he said.

“It only affected 20-odd units but it didn’t come across the way it should have.

“It’s a bit of a false alarm for most of the people coming to town.”

Mr Nachtweh said the 20 or so affected units would now be managed by other businesses, including his, but this would involve a transition.

“A lot of people already called for school holidays and beyond, so most of them will get their bookings,” he said.

“But we have to make sure that we get the people who own the units on board as well.”

Mr Nachtweh said most of those people would likely be accommodated if they still chose to stay in Kalbarri.

He said accommodation was in demand for the upcoming school holidays and he did not expect there would be any impacts on local tourism businesses.

“We’re still impacted by the cyclone more than anything else and the shortness of staff in town, that’s more of an issue than the beach resort closing 20 [or] 21 units down,” he said.

‘Unfortunate’ notice wording

The chair of both strata bodies in the Riverview complex, David Verryt, said owners had been concerned the Kalbarri Beach Resort notice might inadvertently impact their business.

“Three apartment owners have notified us of the release,” he said.

“They’re not happy with it but none of those were owners that used the Saxton pool [of properties].”

Mr Verryt said he had also seen a concerned reaction from holiday-makers but he said the complex was “absolutely not” closing to them.

“We’ve had a number of enquiries as to whether the complex is closing,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that they’ve released that in that format because Kalbarri Beach Resort is their company, which [was] previously the rental company for some 20 owners who participated in their rental pool.”

Saxton Pty Ltd declined to comment.

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