### [A Hotel in No Hurry to Please the Camera: How The Whale Narooma Slows Time Down](https://01des.com/en/project/625) **Published:** 2026-08-30T02:28:33 **Author:** 01DES Editor **Excerpt:** The Whale Narooma retains the soul of a coastal motel, … HOTEL · NAROOMA, NEW SOUTH WALES Some hotels are designed for the camera. The Whale Narooma is shaped around slower acts: sitting, lingering and allowing a day to remain unplanned. ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 01](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022126-b5L433lA.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 02](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022143-X36xybSj.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 03](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022145-VWibPIul.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 04](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022148-FT261Np8.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 05](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022150-kKWj0BTT.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 06](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022152-4mxGRnyK.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 07](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022155-wM5aHi8M.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 08](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022157-0WNCBrti.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ## Keeping the motel soul Located in Narooma on the far South Coast of New South Wales, the project was led by design director Nasim Koerting and Merivale’s in-house Design Studio. Rather than erase the coastal motel, the almost three-year transformation retains its character and layers it with earthy finishes and the relaxed spirit of 1970s Ibiza. The original pool keeps its form while becoming a magnesium pool, and the former carpark is now dense with palms, frangipani and hibiscus. Arrival unfolds through vegetation, light and water rather than a single photogenic gesture. ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 09](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022159-PgjPatMQ.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 10](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022201-wQwNUDHy.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 11](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022204-2oECe0S9.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 12](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022206-AdNO91mz.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 13](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022208-o1lmwd4j.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 14](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022210-GxO0T1i9.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 15](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022212-UqImiNqG.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ## Rooms assembled rather than specified The rooms resist a repeated template. The Palm Room combines Japanese tiles, a custom tapestry and lighting by Lana Launay; the Double Sea Grass Rooms introduce hand-woven Indian rugs; and the Mountain View Rooms bring Moroccan knitted lights, Italian terrazzo, Indonesian woven bedheads and art from Papua New Guinea into one setting. This maker-by-maker approach makes furniture, textiles, ceramics, murals and bespoke finishes feel accumulated over time. Refinement comes not from uniform luxury surfaces, but from carefully controlled tension between distinct crafts. ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 16](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022215-O05YPZ0t.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 17](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022218-2q5KQleF.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 18](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022219-wVRehNAm.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 19](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022222-JWqllnbw.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 20](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022225-c2fcVAVr.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 21](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022228-l0Z0XE4Z.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ## Designing for doing nothing The Ocean View Penthouse opens to a rooftop garden, layered with a wall-hanging tapestry, a hand-crocheted Canadian light and a curved vintage Featherston sofa. Beneath a circular skylight, the hexagonal lava-stone basin turns daylight into a measure of passing time. A sauna and ice bath face the water, while Queen Chow’s sunroom invites guests to linger over board games. A sunken lounge rediscovered during construction now holds new seating and a record player. There is plenty to do, yet the project’s real luxury is permission to do nothing. ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 22](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022230-JLmFDu2F.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 23](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022234-JHbPxd5u.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 24](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022236-ktqqm9Iu.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 25](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022238-0yDeG5on.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy ![The Whale Narooma hotel interior 26](https://cdn.01des.com/uploads/2026/08/20260830-022241-XO2tAhPG.webp!dis) Photography — Sean Fennessy > The Whale Narooma does not rush to create an instant impression; materials, craft and the coastal rhythm turn the act of staying into the design itself. **Project credits** Project — The Whale Narooma Interior design — Merivale Design Studio Design director — Nasim Koerting Photography — Sean Fennessy Images courtesy of — The Whale Narooma Original feature — Yellowtrace Editorial adaptation — 01DES **Tags:** Merivale, Nasim Koerting, Resort Hotel Design, Sean Fennessy, The Whale Narooma **Categories:** Hotels ---