Plan A Stay at These 3 Dreamy Hotels Around Australia
Travel writer Lee Tulloch has checked in to some of the world’s most incredible hotels but on her next trip, she wants to discover the best of Australia. Here, she shares her wish list.
Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge
Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
After months of isolating inside, a walking holiday through the wilderness of Tasmania’s Central Highlands is top of my travel agenda. The launching pad will be this brilliantly situated rustic retreat, on the border of the Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park, a World Heritage area and one of Australia’s most pristine landscapes, with its deep glacial lakes, ancient rainforests, waterfalls and craggy dolerite peaks. I’m looking forward to hiking some of the 20 walking tracks accessible from the lodge, taking afternoon tea by a blazing log fire and wallowing in the private outdoor tub of an expansive King Billy Suite.
Pictured top. Image credit: Paul Pichugin
The Louise
Barossa Valley, South Australia
This bucolic Relais & Châteaux gourmet retreat is a founding member of Luxury Lodges of Australia. Its fine-dining restaurant, Appellation, has long been a destination itself but a bright young executive chef, Daniel Murphy, and a sensitive renovation, which opens the restaurant (and new casual eatery Three75 Bar + Kitchen) into the surrounding vineyard, have considerably upped the ante. I can’t pretend the exceptional cellar of Barossa wines isn’t a drawcard, as are the modern suites, all with private terraces.
Lake House
Daylesford, Victoria
Warm human interconnections are what I miss most about travel. I don’t think there’s a hotel in the country that’s more nurturing than Lake House, thanks to the legendary hospitality of chef Alla Wolf-Tasker. The location, on an often misty lake fed by mineral springs and set among art-filled country gardens, is exquisitely romantic. And cosily decorated waterfront, pool and lodge suites open up to the natural environment. There are classic guesthouse touches, such as a tennis pavilion and wonderful stilted spa houses where “taking the waters” is an unforgettable experience. But best of all is the cooking, which manages to be both elevated and homey, drawing on fresh produce from the farm as well as local providores.
