Exmouth Boutique Hotel Set to Bring New Tourism Investment to Ningaloo Coast

A proposed boutique hotel on Western Australia’s North West Cape is a step closer to reality, with plans for a $15 million development near Exmouth receiving support from both the Shire of Exmouth and TourismWA ahead of a development assessment panel meeting.

Known as Hotel Sebatikel, the nine-suite project has been proposed by Perth-based partners Phil Smith and Mon Palmer and would be constructed on a 5.185-hectare site adjacent to Murdoch Park Golf Course, approximately 1.5 kilometres from Exmouth town centre.

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Positioned just beyond a sand dune and around 150 metres from the shoreline, the development aims to offer visitors direct access to one of Australia’s most celebrated natural environments, the Ningaloo Coast.

According to Smith, the project has been in development for five years and is driven by a long-standing personal connection to the region.

“I’ve been going up to Coral Bay, Exmouth, North West Cape since I was a kid,” he said. “I just love the feeling of when you get up there; you feel isolated but I just love the place and I want more people to enjoy it.”

Designed as a low-scale, high-end tourism destination, the hotel draws inspiration from the region’s military history. Palmer, a landscape and interior designer, said the nearby RAAF Learmonth base and the area’s shared Australian and American defence heritage informed the architectural response.

“That’s where some of our design intent has come from, that military-esque kind of bunker style, looking back on that history and having something that’s robust, cyclone-tolerant and sitting with the natural landscape,” she said.

The proposed rammed-earth structure is intended to emerge from the landscape, creating a resilient architectural form suited to the region’s challenging climatic conditions. Palmer noted that if approved, the project would represent the first major tourism development in the area in two decades.

Beyond accommodation, Hotel Sebatikel would include a 120-seat restaurant, swimming pool, health spa with sauna and plunge pool, tennis and pickleball courts, and a par-three golf hole. The owners also plan to partner with local tourism operators, offering guests access to experiences including whale shark encounters, reef exploration and marine wildlife tours.

Palmer said the site’s proximity to Ningaloo Reef was one of its defining qualities. Visitors can walk from the hotel to the beach, where turtles, sharks and migrating humpback whales are frequently observed, while nearby reef systems provide immediate access to one of the world’s most biodiverse marine environments.

Expected to be completed in early 2028, Hotel Sebatikel takes its name from a combination of the word “sabbatical” and the name of the founders’ son, Sebastian, reflecting its ambition to offer guests a place of retreat, restoration and connection to the natural landscape.

Images via The Urban Developer