Hotel Forster on the Lakes Way, formerly Best Western Lakes Way Motor Inn is in the midst of a groundbreaking makeover.
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On Friday, the renovations reached an exciting milestone, with 100 cubic metres of concrete poured into the shell of the new resort style swimming pool.
Owner, David Swain, his wife Katherine and daughters Chloe and Abbie made the trip from Newcastle to oversee the process.
“This is a really big step for us, it’s all starting to take shape now,” David explained.
“It’s going to be a beautiful resort style pool, we are making the place into a little oasis where families can come and chill out for the day, book a day bed and relax by the pool.”
The finished product will have a beach entry, moving gradually from zero down to 1.7 metres deep, where children can safely get in and out of the water at a level that suits them.
The pool will also be surrounded by a tropical garden and there will be a barbecue area for guests to enjoy.
“Pouring the concrete was the one big noisy day, we just needed to get the concrete shell in.
“We are hoping the pool will be finished in August if all goes well with weather, and then finalised by mid to late September for a Spring into Summer opening.”
David explained the goal of the project was to continue to grow the tourism industry in the Great Lakes, with a lot of personal experience and preference used to design the hotel concept.
“I’m pretty excited about it, we’ve put a lot of effort into getting the place to the standard we want, us having two small kids ourselves we try to think about what we would want if we were travelling,” he said.
“I love Forster, I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, and I believe it’s a place as many people need to see as possible.”
Whilst David believes the new pool is going to be the biggest privately owned pool in Forster, he says it isn’t about the size.
“The design is something that will work very well for a broad range of people, families, corporate travelers, there’ll be a lounge bar too and we are hoping to have a kitchen that will be open all day so you can get something to eat too,” he explained.
“We bought the business in September, and so far it has been a really positive process, the community has taken to it very well, there’s always people walking past, stopping to have a chat and see what’s going on.”
