Tips: Where to Stay/Australia
By OCinSite At-Large on January 22, 2011 4:21 PM
Quay West Resort & Spa
By Andrew Bender | Laguna Beach Magazine, Oct./Nov. 2010
Kangaroos: Check. Koalas: Check. Opera House, outback, Great Barrier Reef: all must-dos on a first trip to Australia. For my second trip I wanted a deeper dive. Australia is known for wine, of course, but who knew it had such a gourmet scene? My culinary journey through greater Sydney and the state of Queensland led me to sea pearls and sea planes, a Spirit House and a rainforest retreat—and dining experiences to last a lifetime. ...read full story.
Here is where I stayed and can unequivocally recommend to anyone embarking on such an adventure.
Sydney:
Hotel Shangri-La
Chinese-inspired geometric patterns and nubby silks fill this Hong Kong-based hotel. Book a room on the upper floors, where the Horizon Club offers breakfast, afternoon tea, snacks and unparalleled views from the Opera House to the Harbor Bridge (shangri-la.com).
Noosa:
Quay West Resort & Spa
This new resort a quick drive from Hastings Street boasts modernist apartments of white-on-white-on-white, looking onto a conservation sanctuary—quite dramatic when it rains (mirvachotels.com).
Queensland hinterlands:
O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat
This historic resort welcomes day-trippers, but it’s worth staying over to go on staff-led night hikes to a glowworm forest or morning bird watching. In O’Reilly’s new two- or three-bedroom villas, watch shooting stars of the southern sky from your private hot tub (oreillys.com.au).
Look, no jet-lag!
Californians think nothing of jetting off to Europe for a week yet make a big deal of getting to Australia. Time to wake up! They’re about the same hours in transit from LAX, but in Europe, Californian body clocks want to sleep until mid-afternoon. In Oz, I was up and at ‘em, especially after the best airplane sleep of my life in business class on Qantas’ A380.
