AUSTRALIA’s first accessibility friendly houseboat is set to sail on the Murray River in Mildura today.
Purpose-built with the all abilities community in mind, All Seasons’ newest commercial houseboat, Elevate Luxury, combines high-end luxury with accessibility.
Having been two years in the making, All Seasons’ operations manager Lucy Bromley said they are excited to see the “revolutionary” boat hired out for it’s first trip of many today.
“To have it floating on the water is an incredible feeling,” she said.
“Because we have launched in winter, we have had a little bit of a slower uptake of it, but our summer is nearly fully booked, which is incredible for something that no one saw photos of, no one had any idea of what it was.”
The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom floating accommodation is the first houseboat in the southern hemisphere to boast an elevator, ensuring both levels of the craft are accessible to anyone.
Other features and modifications include wider corridors, a lower height of the kitchen island bench, as well as making certain areas bigger to ensure better access for wheelchair users.
“The accessibility nature of it, people have been a little bit hesitant worried that it wouldn’t be luxurious,” Ms Bromley said.
“So that is something we have really prided ourselves on, making the accessibility side of it just as luxurious as the other aspects of it.
“Everything about it we have tested the limits on to try and make it different, revolutionary.”
All Seasons’ construction manager Brad Hallam said attention to detail on the vessel is second to none, particularly when it comes to making the accessibility features feel modern and opulent.
“It’s not one of those things were it feels a bit hospital grade, it feels nice, it feels homey, and it feels warm,” he said.
Mr Bromley said company staff can already see the importance in bringing a unique vessel like this into the tourism market.
“We had a phone call about two weeks ago, and it was a man who is wheelchair-bound but accessible, and he has two friends who are wheelchair-bound but not as accessible, and he broke down in tears, just saying how we has always wanted to do it, he’s always wanted to be on the Murray, but there is just nothing for him,” she said.
“He just broke down in tears, and it made us break down in tears. We can see the impact that it is making.
“Before we were kind of like is it going to take off, is it going to work, and now we can see we are really bringing families together.”
While it was designed for the disability sector, Ms Bromely it is not limited to those with a disability either.
“You can throw your groceries in it and not have to walk up the stairs 100 times, or you could use it for that person that has knee issues, or you could use it for a wheelchair, it’s really fitted for everyone’s use,” she said.
Seven days aboard the luxury vessel can be anywhere between $5000 to $12,000, with the price based on seasonality.
Construction of the houseboat cost about $2 million, including $500,000 from the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund.
