Visit: The Provincial Hotel, Ballarat

ele HOME visits The Provincial Hotel in Ballarat, and chats with founder and former owner, Gorgi Coghlan.

How did you come to take on the Provincial Hotel?

It fell into our laps serendipitously, the owners wanted someone to take over the venue and give her some much needed love. My husband and I wandered through the building and we could immediately see her potential. Despite knowing how much work it was going to be, we both instantly fell in love.

What sort of state was the Provincial Hotel in when you took over?

The building needed a lot of work. We had to start from scratch with interior design and we did a compete overhaul with texture, style and colours. We completely redesigned and rebuilt the restaurant, we added eight new hotel rooms and we injected love, texture, femininity and warmth.

What is the philosophy behind the Provincial Hotel?

My husband and I were traveling in Paris with our daughter, and we were reflecting on how much we love spending time in hotels where you feel like you’re visiting someone’s beautiful home. When there’s attention to detail, passion and love poured into everything, you never want to leave. We wanted to create that same feeling for our guests in our boutique hotel in Ballarat. The best compliment we receive is that people notice all the little touches that we’ve spent time refining. I love it when people say that they feel as though they have spent time in our home because it really is an extension of us, and what we love in life. People leave feeling nourished and want to return. She’s sophisticated but playful.

What drew you to Ballarat as a destination?

My husband is a Ballarat boy, and we live on a farm just outside of town. It’s the best of both worlds, a close-knit community with excellent health, education and culture and we have the serenity of the farm and connection to Mother Nature. We’re also only an hour and 20 minutes from Melbourne. Ballarat’s hospitality scene is so exciting and dynamic and we’re seeing more and more people want to start up restaurants and bars which is wonderful to see.

Who designed the fit-out of Lola and your hotel accommodation rooms? What was the inspiration behind the design?

I had a really clear vision of what I wanted the hotel and the restaurant to feel and look like, it needed to reflect the Victorian heritage, so I was keen to inject antiques and warm wood, but I also wanted stunning contemporary fabrics and standout upholstery pieces. I visited several properties in Australia and overseas and built a great design team with Kath Mills and Genevieve Wallis. We all bounced off each other and drew on each other’s skills to create the look and I’m super proud of what we achieved. People love it and feel like they’ve landed in Paris when they arrive.