Top 5 Hotels In Australia That Are Near Tourist Attractions
UNDER CANVAS
Fancy camping? Well, the Longitude 131 is hardly your average camp-site really, it’s a five star tented hotel and it’s the most luxurious resort within reach of Uluru Ayers Rock. Described as a transcendent experience of discovery, located in the spirited heart of Australia, this extraordinary property offers spectacular views of the outback icon and World Heritage listed wilderness of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Dinner is served under the vast open skies; there are camel rides; everything is dominated by the mind-boggling vast redness of the rock itself. Situated in the lee of a red sand dune and set among desert oaks and spinifex, there is a lush outdoor pool and a terrace to enjoy sundowners with a unique difference.
REMOTE PARADISE
On Lord Howe Island, a 700 kilometre marine trip to the east of mainland Australia, is the Capella Lodge, with its views over the world’s most southerly coral reef as well as a magnificent pale-blue-green lagoon. This lovely island is just 11 kilometres long, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and maintains a restriction on tourist numbers only 400 are allowed on the island at any one time.
FRESH FISH
Down in Tasmania is the beautiful Freycinet National Park and almost completely hidden in its middle is the Saffire, a boutique luxury hotel deliberately and carefully planned not to impinge on the pristine landscape.
Located on the inside of the curving sandy coastline that joins the peninsula to mainland Tasmania, the property overlooks Great Oyster Bay, where migrating whales and dolphins come to play. Squid in-season spawn in the rocky outcrops; local farms produce fresh, succulent oysters in some of the world’s cleanest waters; and fishing boats and trawlers daily unload rock lobster, scallops and deep sea fish.
The view from the Saffire’s windows is dominated by the pink granite of the peninsula’s Hazards Mountains.
BLUE MOUNTAINS
The view from the Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort is also magnificent, across some of the best scenery of New South Wales ‘famed mountain range in Katoomba. Secluded, yet an easy drive from Sydney, this is a place to escape to, relax in and use as a base to tour this popular region.
BARRIER REEF
Another of Australia’s top tourist magnets is the Great Barrier Reef and there are many top hotels and resorts that offer access to the reef and tours around it. One of the best is Freestyle Resort at Port Douglas, voted one of the country’s top ten hotels.
Containing just 30 apartments, all luxuriously furnished, this property is classic North Queenslander, with wooden shutters, verandahs, overhanging roofs, all surrounded by tropical gardens. Apartments overlook a tropical reserve on one side and the lush gardens and salt-water pool and spa on the other side.