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Holiday in a Shipping Container on Cockatoo Island
Nestled at the heart of Sydney Harbour, Cockatoo Island is a short-haul leisure destination for history buffs and those out for a good time alike. A new pop up container micro-hotel has just opened on the island, and for $305 per person per night Monday to Thursday, or $385 Friday to Sunday, you too can take a break on an island that was once home to the worst of the transported convicts that arrived in Sydney.
Cockatoo Island
For many years since Sydney was colonised, Cockatoo Island was used as a prison to house the most disruptive of convicts sent from the UK.
As Sydney’s purpose changed, so did the use of the island – it had spent some time as a shipbuilding and industrial centre, but recently has become a place where people come to chill out and rest from their stressful lives on the mainland.
Thanks to its important role in Australia’s history, much of the island has been designated a World Heritage Site – largely remembering the penal colony there. Visitors can now come and stay for the world-famous music festivals and to learn about the history of the island.
Contained pops up
Speaking to broadsheet.com.au, founder of the Contained entertainment complex, Atatoly Mezhov said, “I was reading an article one day in the newspaper and Cockatoo Island came up as a place you could go camping and glamping, I saw the island and its history and beauty and thought we could create a really compelling food and beverage offering there. So I sent them an email.”
Central to the entertainment complex is a two bedroom micro-hotel that is composed of two shipping containers, as well as plunge pools made of shipping containers for each room. Targeting adults who want a break from the hustle and bustle, each suite consists of a bedroom with a queen sized bed, sitting area and luxury bathroom. Outside is a shipping container swimming pool for each suite in much the style of those that the Gateway Gazette has covered in the past.
Food is semi-self catering. Guests can arrange for a barbecue for which food is supplied for them to cook on site. Another part of the entertainment complex is a “Don Tapa restaurant over from Fremantle, WA. It serves South American-inspired cuisine created with produce grown on the on-site farm. The farm is made up of high-tech food-growing containers.
“Being on an island, deliveries and logistics of supply are an issue,” says Mezhov. “So we wanted to establish an operation where we are more self-sufficient.”
Being transportable, Mezhov was able to simply drop the units on site and, should the project fail, can move them away from site. The micro-hotel has created a bit of a buzz among Sydneysiders as a great place to hide from their busy lives on the mainland and so far seems to have been quite a success.
However, one reviewer made the error of staying at the hotel during the winter months, and commented “The weather has done a typical Sydney number on us, transforming from grey morning to a stunning sunny afternoon, so we’ve not packed our swimmers (boo) but our neighbours in the container next door assure us it’s freezing anyway. I suspect when Contained launched in February there were sun-filled moments aplenty to take advantage of this luscious private pool oasis.”
Gateway Container Sales
You can see in the video above just how easy it is to set up the micro hotel for guests. Both luxurious and mobile, this is brilliant way to use shipping containers. Here at Gateway Container Sales we can supply shipping containers that could be reused just like this or in a variety of other ways. Drop us a line today to find out more, or get a free quote!
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