Australia Travel Guide
Hotel Opening Rates / Hotel Renovations / Sydney Hotels / Park Hyatt Hotels / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Park Hyatt Sydney Will Reopen March 1 at $855 a Night
We knew the big, big revamp of the Park Hyatt Sydney was going to be a big deal. But deal is not a word you're going to hear in any other capacity when it comes to this harbour-front icon.
Apparently the hotel is on track to re-open in mid-February but is taking reservations from March 1 onwards. And the starting rate for a night on March 1st? $AUD 855 a night.
Before you think, but hey, that's Aussie dollars. It's got to be cheaper when you convert it, right? --check out how strong that Aussie dollar is. The rate converts to $893 US dollars. Ouch.
Hotel Contests / Hotel Art / Melbourne Hotels / Art Series Hotels / → All Tags
And In the Flash of an Eye, A Banksy Got Stolen
Two weeks ago, we found out about a contest going on at Melbourne's Art Series Hotels (The Blackman, The Olsen and The Cullen). Per the contest's rules, anyone who was able to steal a Banksy painting from one of the hotels, and not get caught in the act, could rightfully claim it as their own.
Well, someone's done it.
Last week, @stealbanksy alerted us to a spectacular heist pulled off at The Blackman by Maura Tuohy and an accomplice by the name of Megan Aney. Apparently, quite a few attemps were made at stealing the artwork, including dismantling the hotel's CCTV cameras, wiring the Front Desk with a listening device, and overloading the housekeeping team with menial tasks to keep them distracted. But the winning scheme was much simpler than all that.
Read below to hear how Maura got away with it!
Hotel Art / Art Hotels / Melbourne Hotels / Hotel Contests / Twitter / → All Tags
For Once, A Hotel Is Actively Encouraging Guests To Steal Something
Over in Melbourne, a trio of hotels known as the Art Series Hotels (The Blackman, The Olsen and The Cullen) are running a rather bizarre contest that rewards the burgling abilities of its guests. Which is probably something The Carlyle or The Ritz-Carlton wouldn't consider in a million years.
Hidden somewhere inside one of the buildings is an authentic Banksy painting titled "No Ball Games" (above). The guest who manages to find it, grab it, and of course, not get caught, gets to go home with the $15,000 prize.
The most important part? You gotta be cool. Among the contest's rules: each participant must "be a polite, respectful and sophisticated art crook."
Australia Hotels / Photo Gallery / Hilton Hotels / Hotel Openings / Queensland Hotels / → All Tags
What It's Like in Paradise, The Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel in Australia
Nothing beats a new hotel, especially when it is in a town called Surfers Paradise. Hilton's house got a little too tight and they had to build a whole new tower to attract new guests. The two-month old Orchid Tower of the Hilton's Surfers Paradise Hotel is not only designed beautifully on the outside, but boasts some of the best service and amenities on the Glitter Strip.
Hilton's new tower soars above one of the most iconic beaches in Australia, aptly named Surfers Paradise, and is just one block to the beach. This new tower is home to the Executive Rooms for the hotel and private residences. Celebrity chef, Luke Mangan, has also made this hotel a new outpost for his culinary delights with the first Salt Grill available in Oz. Not only does he offer his expertise, he has ventured to set the menu for all aspects dining in the entire hotel.
Sydney Hotels / Hotel News / Park Hyatt Hotels / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
The Park Hyatt Sydney Will Be More Luxe Than Ever When It Reopens Later This Year
Floor-to-ceiling windows GALORE at the newly-reopened Park Hyatt Sydney
Luxe travelers to the Land Down Under were dealt a blow when the iconic Park Hyatt Sydney closed its doors almost a year ago for an Extreme Hotel Makeover. After being stripped and redesigned nearly from scratch, the hotel is set to open later this year and promises to be more extravagant than ever. With all of the major nips and tucks it's received, you'd swear it doesn't look a day over its 21-years.
Hotel Club Lounges / Intercontinental Hotels / Sydney Hotels / → All Tags
Inside the Club Intercontinental Sydney
Over on Jaunted, you can get our inside looks at some of the world’s best airline lounges, so we thought we’d do something similar here and start talking about some of the hotel lounges we’ve frequented lately for our new series on Hotel Club Lounges. Today, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen takes us along with him to the Sydney Club InterContinental.
During our last stay Down Under, we spent a few days at the Intercontinental Sydney, and spent a fair amount of our time hanging around the hotel’s Club Intercontinental lounge, which has to be one of our favorites in Australia.
Cool Hotel Jobs / Green Hotels / Australia Hotels / Eco Resorts / Wildlife Hotels / → All Tags
Green Hotel Jobs: What It's Like Overseeing A 4,000-Acre Reserve In Australia
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen will be talking with the people who perform some of the coolest Green Hotel Jobs out there. He reached out across the globe to talk to the dynamic folks who do everything from breeding fish to teaching indigenous survival courses, and everything in between.
Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa in Australia’s picturesque Blue Mountains is the world’s first certified carbon neutral luxury resort, so naturally when we were thinking of the coolest Green Hotel Jobs out there, we thought we’d say g’day to the resort’s Senior Field Guide, Ben Boothby, whose job it is to basically oversee every living thing on the 4,000-acre reserve.
Australia Hotels / Wild Australia / Eco Hotels / Free WiFI / → All Tags
Splendor in the Treetops: Queensland’s Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen lets us tag along as he explores the wild, far reaches of Australia, visiting some of the most untouched landscapes down under, and bringing you inside looks at some of the continent’s most distinctive hotel experiences.
For the final stop on what I’d decided to call my “Wild Australia Adventure,” I flew off to Queensland, not to spend a day diving the Reef (though I did that, too), but to explore a little-known corner of the state that is home to the world’s oldest living rainforest, and a truly unique hotel that sits among the treetops: the Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa.
Australia Hotels / Wild Australia / Eco Hotels / → All Tags
Wet 'n Wild at Australia's Wildman Wilderness Lodge
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen lets us tag along as he explores the wild, far reaches of Australia, visiting some of the most untouched landscapes down under, and bringing you inside looks at some of the continent’s most distinctive hotel experiences.
So far, I’d been to a lush tropical island, a real-life sheep station, and the wildlife wonderland of Kangaroo Island. Next stop on my Australian perambulation was the lush billabong country of the Mary River Wetlands, about 90 minutes southwest of Darwin to live out my Crocodile Dundee fantasy at the all-new eco-luxe Wildman Wilderness Lodge.
Australia Hotels / Wild Australia / Hotel Video Tours / Photo Gallery / → All Tags
Hopping to Kangaroo Island: Southern Ocean Lodge
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen lets us tag along as he explores the wild, far reaches of Australia, visiting some of the most untouched landscapes down under, and bringing you inside looks at some of the continent’s most distinctive hotel experiences.
Since I first read about the Southern Ocean Lodge opening in March 2008 and took a look at the gorgeous settings and fabulous rooms, it’s been at the top of my all-time list of fantasy, must-visit hotels.
Just a couple weeks ago, my wish came true when I was asked to visit on assignment for several travel publications. I flew from Adelaide to Kangaroo Island (about a 20-minute hop) and drove across the island via Seal Bay to the southern coast where the Hanson Bay reserve meets Flinders Chase National Park. There I found the 21-suite lodge perched dramatically along the cliffs among native bushland, and facing the Southern Ocean stretching across to Antarctica.
I’d arrived.
Glamping / Australia Hotels / Wild Australia / → All Tags
Glamping in The Outback: Arkaba Station
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen lets us tag along as he explores the wild, far reaches of Australia, visiting some of the most untouched landscapes down under, and bringing you inside looks at some of the continent’s most distinctive hotel experiences.
Though we’ve told you about Arkaba Station before in a previous installment of our Glamping Series, I actually got the chance to travel to the dramatic red hills and ancient rock landscape of South Australia’s Flinders Range and stay at the historical homestead myself…and the experience did not disappoint one bit.
Australia Hotels / Wild Australia / Lord Howe Island / → All Tags
Wild Australia: Lord Howe Island’s Arajilla Retreat and Spa
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen lets us tag along as he explores the wild, far reaches of Australia, visiting some of the most untouched landscapes down under, and bringing you inside looks at some of the continent’s most distinctive hotel experiences.
Before last month, I’d never even heard of Lord Howe Island, then there I was on a two-hour flight east of Sydney to the tiny, World Heritage-listed island (one of only four island groups in the world to achieve such a listing) watching the dramatic peak of Mount Gower come into view through the plane window.
As soon as the tiny plane arrived, friendly representatives from my hotel, the Arajilla Retreat and Spa, stepped forward to take the luggage in hand and drive me and my fellow guests to the hotel, a short way away (well, everything is a short distance on the flyspeck of an island) though it took a few minutes since the speed limit is just 25 kilometers per hour.
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