Inspired by the cinematic
visions of Stanley Kubrick
and Wong Kar Wai, the
founder of Jackalope Hotels
has fashioned his début
hotel on the Mornington
Peninsula with more than
a touch of the surreal.
Louis Li
I was brought up in Kunming in southern
China, which is also known as Spring
City because of its weather. It’s such a
pretty place to live. Lots of film directors,
writers and dancers live there. It’s not
a major city like Shanghai or Beijing,
but it has poetic elegance.When I arrived in Melbourne in 2007 to
study filmmaking at Swinburne I was
struck by how creative and grungy the
city is. It’s a very intimate city, with
close connections between the worlds
of design, architecture and hospitality.The most significant trip I ever took was to
Berlin six years ago. I was there for the
film festival, and it was on that trip
I encountered a sculpture of a jackalope
hanging on the wall of an antique shop.
I asked the owner what it was, and he told
me about this mythical creature. I became
completely obsessed with it. That waswhere the idea for Jackalope came from.
A creature so rare it exists only in myth
is the perfect symbol for my hotels.Three years ago I was having lunch at the
Willow Creek vineyard on the Mornington
Peninsula and the winemaker told me it
was on the market. I thought immediately
that was what I wanted – to create a
surreal hotel in a rural landscape, a real
destination.My family are hotel developers, so I know
the formula for creating a good luxury
hotel. I wanted to go further, however,
to merge my artistic exploration from
filmmaking with this formula to create
an unexpected product. It was a risk, but
Jackalope is a fearless brand. You have
to be a dreamer. If you think about the
consequences too much you compromise
the vision.Travel for me is not a relaxing experience.
I travel for inspiration. I take an intense
trip and look for the unfamiliar, to get
out of my comfort zone. My favourite
hotels all have a daring vision. They’re
almost the product of obsession – a
summary of the owner’s inner life and
lifestyle. I look for a place that’s not
copyable, that can exist only at that site.My ideal kind of trip is a combination of
food and art. I’ll book 20 restaurants
when I’m going somewhere like LA for
two weeks, and I will definitely travel just
to see an exhibition or a gallery. The most
important thing I take with me is a book
filled with my personal notes.Luxury these days has become something
of a meaningless term. People are looking
for memories, not just for a two-night stay
or a fine-dining restaurant. I always say
luxury is defined by rarity. We’re all so
technology-obsessed that solitude has
become luxury. You know yourself so
much better when you can have a
conversation with yourself.My favourite travel quote is “We don’t
take a trip. A trip takes us.” It’s from
John Steinbeck, and to me it sums up the
wonderful things that can happen if you
leave a day unplanned and just wander. ●Just back from...
Los Angeles and
Hong Kong, visiting
galleries and
restaurants.Next up... Two
weeks in Tokyo and
the art island of
Naoshima in the
Seto Inland Sea.TRAVELLING WITHGOURMET TRAVELLER 39INTERVIEW LARISSA DUBECKI. PHOTOGRAPHY JULIAN KINGMA
How I travel