Visit a luxury hotel, built around the skeleton of a historic flour mill in a country town.
The town of Katanning is located 280 km south-east of Perth and was founded in 1898. The population was 3621 in 2021. Sheep grazing was the first industry in the area and the earliest Merino studs were founded in the Katanning-Broomehill-Gnowangerup area. Sandalwood cutters followed along with the Great Southern Railway. Wheat, oats and barley farming also appeared in the early 1900s. https://lostkatanning.com/early-history/
The powerhouse associated with the Flour Mill provided electricity for the district from 1904 until 1961. The Premier Roller Flower Mill was established in 1891 by Frederick Piesse. His interests also extended into aerated waters and cordial manufacturing along with viticulture and fruit processing. You can still drink cocktails based on the local cordials today in the Premier Mill Cocktail Bar!
By the late 1900s the Mill began to become less viable and subject to deterioration. After encouragement from the Shire, the Mill was purchased for the sum of one dollar. The development of the Premier Mill Hotel thus began in 2008. The refurbishment of the Mill saw it transformed into a luxury hotel, built around and featuring parts of the actual mill equipment.
It is a pleasant 3.5-hour drive from Perth to Katanning, winding through green pastures and spectacular yellow fields of canola (the time of our visit was September). Katanning is a tidy and quiet town and the Premier Mill Hotel is centrally located.
On the ground floor is a Dome Café serving coffee and meals from 6 am to 9 pm daily. The 22 hotel rooms are on the first and second floors and a quirky cocktail bar showcasing the old mill machinery is located in the basement. The four air-conditioned room types (22 rooms in total) are Boiler Rooms, Silo Rooms, Packing Rooms and Purifying Rooms – featuring the original timber beams and uprights. All rooms are well-appointed and have large screen TVs with access to a suite of movies.
What To Do?
In a clever master-stroke, Premier Mill supplies half a dozen brilliant short books for guests (yours to keep). The most useful one being “Day Trips To Explore The Region”. Contained within are 9 detailed guided day trips varying between 2.5 and 4 hours in duration. What a great idea! We settled on #6 “A Stirling Mountain Drive” which involved a one-hour drive to the Stirling Ranges, one hour on the 50km Stirling Range Drive (a wonderfully maintained gravel road suitable for 2WD vehicles) and then a one-hour drive back to Katanning via a different route. The views and scenery along this drive were splendid!
Nice post!