The first Project Etico to open in Australia
A weekend in Mount Victoria Manor/Hotel Etico, NSW
The raggedy, verdant town of Mount Victoria is on the Westernmost rung of the Blue Mountains’ ladder of settlements. Up here, at 1,042 metres above sea level, the wind blows harsh in the winter and the mists settle in longer. Maybe the cooler climate attracted the 72-year-old, bushy-bearded, newspaper magnate John Fairfax, the founder of the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1876, he bought 13 acres of hillside and built a fine 2-storey residence, with floor to ceiling sash windows and umpteen fireplaces. He died the following year and the house passed to his two sons.
Original embossed leather ceiling in the hotel reception
The embossed leather ceiling, etched gilt mirrors and plaster frieze in the reception room of today’s Mount Victoria Manor are all that survives of Fairfax’s original house, but, boy, it’s lovely. We pitch up late on a Saturday summer afternoon and Katie, the friendly manageress, tells us that we have the hotel to ourselves. The Manor is to be leased to new management and the bar and restaurant are shuttered for now. Project Etico are scheduled to take over in March.
Upstairs balcony of Mount Victoria Manor/Hotel Etico
Originating in Italy, Project Etico provides in-hotel training for intellectually disabled people, allowing them to live on-site and independently. At present, 80 interns are in training and 184 have graduated. It all began with Niccolò Varese, a young Italian with Downs Syndrome, who started working as a waiter in his home town of Asti. He made a big impression on the two brothers who owned the restaurant and one day they asked him what he wanted to do with his life. Work in a hotel, said Varese. And so that’s what they set out to do.
The grown-up half of the family room
Today, Project Etico runs six hotels in Europe, all staffed with people who might otherwise have struggled to find employment. They are opening more hotels worldwide and Hotel Etico at Mount Victoria Manor is the first of its kind in Australia. The Italian restaurant is to be called Niccolò’s, naturally.
The current dining room
We’re in Mount Victoria for a Saturday night to have dinner with friends. Otherwise, we’d be parking our bums on the old-fashioned leather seats of the Mount Vic Flicks to watch the latest Art House movie with a cup of soup and crusty bread. The Australian Independent Cinemas Association voted it the best regional cinema in 2018. Owners Adam Cousins and Kirsten Mulholland have updated the technology, including 3D, and enjoy putting on special events and hosting fundraisers.
Our friends’ house is up the steepest driveway, but they boast a truly buena vista of the Kanimbla Valley. If the temperature wasn’t 39 degrees on the Sunday, we’d have filled our water bottles and gone to see the Fairy Bower. As described by the children of the local school in the Bushtrackers website (see below), this 2 to 3-hour walk sounds gorgeous and passes by a Toll House built in 1849. It is the second oldest building in the Blue Mountains and one of only two to survive in NSW.
As it stands, Katie serves us a cooked breakfast at 8.30am sharp (including fruit and croissants), and we figure we can nip in to the Botanic Garden at Mount Tomah before the heat gets too intense. In an hour, you can admire the water lilies in the Fountain Terrace, stroke the leathery fronds of the Wollemi Pines and the nubby tentacles of the Conifer species, gasp over the Proteas and the lurid blue of the Chilean Bell Flower, and listen to the rustle of the Australian Woodland. There are cool and shady spots in this beautiful garden even in the full heat of midday. I would bring a picnic if you have the wherewithall. Bear in mind that the restaurant is closed for the time being, and the kiosk sells not very appealing basics.
In light of this, we return to Sydney via Katoomba and Frankly My Dear Coffee. This natty joint serves up an iced brew that is refreshingly floral and their burgers and toasties are generous and juicy. After that, it’s on to the Great Western Highway and the short hop home. For all its sins, the new WestConnex route from Sydney to the Blue Mountains makes it a cinch for a weekend away.
EXTRA
We paid $300 for a family room for 4 with connecting rooms and one bathroom at Mount Victoria Manor/Hotel Etico; the beds and towels are good quality. There is, at present, no air con, but Katie has a supply of fans.
http://www.mountvictoriamanor.com.au/
You must reserve seats if you want to see a film at Mount Victoria Flicks.
Piccolo Deli in Mount Victoria has a Facebook page if you want to check the menu. Trip Advisor reviewers have recently praised its coffee and food.
Check these sites for walks in the area
http://www.pnc.com.au/~wells/Mt.Victoria.html
https://www.bushtrackers.com.au/images/pdf-guides/fair-bower-walk.pdf