19 Mar 2026
Words Cameron Bates Townsville Bulletin

Motel Ingham on Bruce Highway leasehold sale attracts 176 buyers in three days

An accommodation broker said he was blown away by the near unprecedented response to the sale of the management rights for a modest motel on the Bruce Highway north of Townsville.

Townsville-based agent Steven Styles of nationwide ResortBrokers said he had received in excess of 170 genuine enquiries for the leasehold of Motel Ingham in Hinchinbrook, which was quickly snapped up by couple Matt and Dave Basnet-Fawcett for just over $1m.

“It was a 176 to be exact; it got listed on a Tuesday and we had the inspections on a Friday … and pretty much had it under offer by the Friday,” he said.

“It went really, really quickly; there was an abundance of enquiries from interstate, Queensland but pretty much all over the nation … I’m still getting calls for it now … the level of enquiry is extraordinary.”

He said the market between Mackay to Cairns was “red hot”.

Mr Styles, who is originally from Ingham, said he “truly believed that we could have sold Ingham Motel many, many times over”.

“The regions are very attractive for investors, your dollar seems to go a little bit further … as opposed to metropolitan areas like Brisbane and Sydney,” he said.

“But it’s a really good-sized motel as well, it’s got 19 rooms … about 20 rooms seems to be sweet spot for a lot of people, it can be run as owner-operator or under management.”

Mr Styles said the motel was strategically located opposite the Hinchinbrook Visitor Information Centre and Tyto Wetlands and boasted strong occupancy.

“So the financials really stack up and it offers a lot of stability … it was a really secure investment.”

The couple previously operated the award-winning Best Western Cattle City Motor Inn in Rockhampton.

Dave Basnet-Fawcett said the move north from larger Rockhampton was to be “more closely associated with the community”.

“We came up and had dinner here … we went to the markets that were there that night, people were so friendly, they’d come up and say ‘hello’ to you and have a bit of a chat.”

Matt said they were immediately impressed by the warmth of the locals.

“We got that welcoming feeling to the town without even knowing anyone.”

She said the couple would be based on a lifestyle block in Tully and the property managed on a daily basis by Rebekah Lindsay, who was well-connected to local tradies.

The couple said they were preparing to take the motel “to another level”.

“To improve on the actual business itself for tourism,” Matt said.

They said the first projects would involve upgrading individual rooms with a preference to employ local tradies to complete the work. END