24 Apr 2020
Words Jessica Brown The Advertiser

Underground motel in Coober Pedy offers buyers a rare jewel

Buy this underground motel in Coober Pedy and you’ll strike gold – or opal, in this case.

The Comfort Inn on Crowders Gully Rd was once a mining site so opal can still be spotted in its walls.

The property has hit the market for the first time in more than 30 years and is offering prospective buyers several business opportunities.

The motel features 16 rooms, an Aboriginal art gallery, historic opal room and shop as well as a cafe.

It also has an underground function room, the only one of its kind in Coober Pedy, that can accommodate up to 80 people.

The site has come a long way since its humble beginnings as an opal mine, which was established in 1918.

It was mined up until the 1960s then almost three decades later Deane and Valerie Clee, who moved from Adelaide for work, bought it to use for church meetings in late 1988.

The couple’s daughter Debby, who currently runs the establishment, said they slowly transformed it into a motel using sea shells and ancient corals missed by miners decades earlier to fund construction.

“I went up in 2007 and that was to help them out for 12 to 18 months,” she said. 

“I’ve been there from 2007 until now.

“There’s something about being underground – the peace, the quiet and the coolness.

“You can sit there and read a novel in absolute silence.”

Ms Clee held fond memories of both the business and town but said it was time to move on so she could spend more time with her family interstate.