http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2008-10-10T20:21:49Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Australia%20Hotel%20Reviews http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/4/4/6555/58691 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/dubbo_pericoe.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>Drive inland nearly 300 miles north-west of Sydney and you'll find the town of Dubbo, and with it, one of the nicest sounding bed and breakfast accommodations we've seen for a while. The <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Pericoe+Retreat/local/1172"><b>Pericoe Retreat</b></a> gets full marks just for including the word "retreat" in its name, because that's what a holiday out on the land should be like, we think.</p><p>A recent <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/short-breaks/beat-this-retreat/2008/03/27/1206207279535.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> review was very enthusiastic about Pericoe. It's a purpose-built B&amp;B with four suites, a swimming pool and a tennis court, and according to the reviewer:</p><blockquote><p>It is a benchmark by which other B&amp;Bs should be measured: unpretentious elegance; down-to-earth hosts; meticulous attention to detail; and it's free from the usual B&amp;B amandak 2008-04-04T12:00:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/21/95250/4440 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/augusta_hotel.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>Starting out in 1912--that's pretty old for an Australian hotel--the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Augusta+Hotel/local/589"><b>Augusta Hotel</b></a> has been housing holiday-makers on the south-west tip of Australia for almost a century. The town of Augusta has quite a big geographical claim to fame, since it's at the very spot where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. Therefore the Augusta Hotel makes quite a big deal about having views "where the oceans meet":</p><blockquote><p>Almost all rooms and suites have outstanding views of the ocean at Flinders Bay or the Blackwood River.</blockquote></p><p>But do note that they only say "almost". The hotel has a number of different rooms, suites and self-contained cottages with a range of prices from A$85 to A$125 (US$70-$105). Apart from amandak 2007-05-22T09:29:53-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/18/5652/57543 <![CDATA[<p> <i>Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? <a href="tips@hotelchatter.com">Send the story our way</a>.<p> In this episode, Hotel Maven <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/user/amandak/stories">Amanda K</a> plans her Western Australia holiday. Enjoy.</i><p> <p> <img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/yallingup_luxury_resort.jpg" class="imgborder"> <p>I'm based in Perth, Western Australia, right now, and with a amandak 2007-05-18T09:22:10-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/3/14/102931/209 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/thala_beach.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>While checking out our recent coverage of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/3/1/162117/8868/hotels/The_Honeymooners_Down_Under_Hayman_Island_Resort_Part_Two">hotels Down Under</a>, a tipster passed along this suggestion, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Thala+Beach+Lodge/ian/184809"><b>The Thala Beach Lodge</b></a> located on a private beach between Cairns and Port Douglas.<p> The lodge won the 2006 TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice for Best Luxury in the South Pacific and it's not hard to understand why. From our tipster:<blockquote><p>Each room is a private bungalow on stilts, with meandering paths to the main building housing a restaurant and a lounge. There no doors, no windows (on the main house) Great pool area.</blockquote></p><p>The reviews on TripAdvisor are also stellar with several saying the pool are is one of the best they have ever seen. And there's actually two pools here. The main juliana 2007-03-14T10:37:47-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/1/31/35817/6671 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/australia_google.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>With <i>The Australian</i> newspaper still dragging out the "it's the start of 2007" articles, their Travel and Indulgence section just produced a report on the hottest tips for <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21118286-5002031,00.html">Australian destinations and accommodation</a> for the year.</p><p>Something that sounds like a good weekend away from Sydney is a stay at the <a href="http://www.mirvachotels.com.au/hotel_detail.asp?hotel=29"><b>Quay West Resort Magenta Shores</b></a> on the New South Wales Central Coast (1.5 hours from Sydney)--play golf, jump in the spa or explore the nearby national park. But if you have enough time to get much further away from it all, they also tip the <a href="http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/qld/pd/bloomfield/home.html"><b>Bloomfield Lodge</b></a>--a two hour journey from the northern town of Cairns, using a light plane, offroad vehicles and a boat! But juliana 2007-01-31T05:08:32-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/