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Qualia Does Spa Treatments for the Typical Aussie Bloke

| June 27, 2009 at 2:14 AM | 0 Comments

The idyllic Hamilton Island resort off the Queensland coast Down Under, qualia, is ramping up the Aussie factor. Of course, it's been Aussie all along, but they're now cashing in on it with a bunch of Australian-themed spa packages at the Spa qualia.

Since spa treatments are really a pretty new thing to Australia, none of the offerings are truly Australian in any way, but at least some of them sound authentically Aussie. For example, there's the It's A Man's World spa menu which, they say, is "inspired by the Australian man, particularly the type who is likely to spend time sailing or playing golf" – you can get some "individual guy time" and a steam scrub treatment called the Cup Defender, or the Lifesaver facial for dry, too-long-in-the-sun skin.

It's not just for men, of course. There are a collection of Li'tya treatments which have taken their inspiration from Aboriginal dreamtime stories, along with the Heart Reef Ritual which includes body brushing and just the right colors to make you think of the Great Barrier Reef.

Prices aren't exorbitant (you're already paying enough to get to qualia and stay there) – for example, the 105 minutes that your man spends getting the "Cup Defender" treatment will cost A$200 ($160). We're not sure that making spa treatments sound more Australian is really a marketing winner, but there are plenty of other reasons to check out the qualia luxury anyhow.

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Live Out Your 'Australia' Fantasy at the Moonlight Head Private Lodges

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 35 Parkers Access Road, Yuulong, Victoria, Australia, 3237

| May 21, 2009 at 4:37 PM | 1 Comment

Inspiring overworked citizens and spouses of the world to escape the rat race and head down under, the movie "Australia" featured Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat who arrives in Australia to sell off her husband's poorly performing ranch, just as the rest of the world is preparing for World War II. She ends up falling in love with hunky cattle driver Hugh Jackman amidst the beauty of Australia’s landscape. Not to mention, she falls in love with the Outback and its people too.

As if a hit movie weren't enough (the film earned Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, a $26 million campaign courtesy of Tourism Australia has helped boost Australia’s global image in a major way. Wooed by the hospitality and friendliness made famous by Paul Hogan of “Crocodile Dundee” fame, coupled with the country’s natural beauty, more tourists than ever are heading down under.

Oh yeah, and if you're regular readers of Jaunted then you would know about the Down Under Air Fare War that's currently going on between Virgin Australia, Delta and Qantas. This means airfare to Oz is cheaper than ever. And the hotel scene isn't looking too shabby either.

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Canoodle With the Dolphins at Australia's Tangalooma Resort

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Moreton Island, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

| May 15, 2009 at 9:54 AM | 0 Comments

Some say an ex-whaling station is a strange place to build a resort — but we have a feeling that it's a great place for the Tangalooma Island Resort off the coast near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

Ironically, Tangalooma used to be the biggest whaling station in the southern hemisphere, but now it's all about being nice to big fish (and mammals). For example, there's a pod of dolphins who seem to call Tangalooma home now, routinely comin' around to be fed and have even brought gifts of eels to their feeders.

But if dolphins aren't your creature of choice, you can also go jet skiing to check out some turtles and dugongs, or snorkel around 15 different shipwrecks where there are plenty of colorful fish. And in the right seasons, there's even whale watching; uh, obviously the whales have erased the memory of what used to happen to them at Tangalooma.

There's a variety of accommodation styles within the resort, including hotel rooms starting at A$290 ($220) for doubles (just a short sprint to the beach), and there are also fancier beachfront apartments if you're traveling with friends; a two-bedroom place (which can actually sleep six if you include the sofa bed in the living room) starts around A$660 ($500) a night. You also have to get out there — remember it's an island — so you usually need to add a A$70 ($50) transfer fee. Unless you can arrange to hitch a ride on a dolphin.

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Nobody's Heard Of Australia's Best Hotel

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 55 Frome Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 5000

| May 8, 2009 at 4:47 PM | 0 Comments

Expedia gave Australian hotel-goers a bit of a surprise this week when they announced that their top 1000 hotels list included an Adelaide hotel as the best Aussie representative.

The South Australian capital city doesn't get too much attention from either vacation or business travelers, but at least according to this survey it's got the best hotel in the whole country: the Majestic Roof Garden Hotel. The 120-room Majestic rated 24th best in the world, even though it's only been open for five years.

As you'd be guessing from the name, this place does have a pretty cool roof garden. It's also in a good location near the main shopping area of Rundle Mall, and since two thirds of its guests are business travelers, it's obviously well-placed for them as well.

And the big bonus is that you get the apparently best hotel in Australia for a pretty cheap rate. For example, they've got an autumn special (that's now in Australia) with a Deluxe King room plus breakfast for A$165 ($125) a night and there are last-minute rates around that are even cheaper.

[Photo: ellieannef]

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Chahoya Spa Opens at Australia's Tropical Cable Beach

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1 Cable Beach Road, Broome, Western Australia, Australia, 6725

| April 6, 2009 at 8:56 AM | 0 Comments

Tourist season is just starting up in the northwest Australian town of Broome, so it's great timing for the Cable Beach Club Resort to be officially opening their new Chahoya Spa.

We've been dreaming about this spa's Buddha Sanctuary for a while, where you can take a yoga or tai chi class, but the whole wellness experience has got a lot bigger with the April 1 spa opening. Along with some regular massage and body wrap services, the Chahoya Spa people have put together a Himalayan Rejuvenation Therapy package. There's nothing mountainous about Broome but the treatment sounds good anyway, with two hours of steam inhalation treatment, massage, steam tent and Shirodhara relaxation to make you into a new person.

So far there don't seem to be any hotel and spa combo packages, but even the separate prices are not too bad. The entire two hours of Himalayan treatment costs A$270 ($190), and you can get a basic studio suite for A$319 ($230) a night. Getting to Broome might be the most expensive part, although Virgin Blue has cheapish flights from Perth these days.

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Kinglake, Australia Gets New Resort, Post-Fires

| April 3, 2009 at 10:55 AM | 0 Comments

In scenic rural Victoria, not too far out of Melbourne, they're still cleaning up after February's horrific fires. One of the worst hit towns, Kinglake, has just found out it will be home to a new 4.5 star resort which will pretty much "rise from the ashes" of a town that lost not only most of its houses but many of its citizens too.

The as-yet-unnamed resort is the brainchild of local developer Bruce Thomas who has planned a luxury resort with a pool and conference facilities to be built at Pheasant Creek on land that was partly damaged by the fires. They hope the resort will bring back the tourists and provide a financial injection into the local community.

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Perth To Get A New, Old Six-Star Hotel

Where: St George's Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 6000

| February 24, 2009 at 2:46 PM | 0 Comments

The Western Australian capital of Perth has its share of high-end hotels, but nothing that's claimed to be six-star luxury--until now. Well, until soon, because it's just been announced that Aman Resorts and friends are in talks to redevelop a key city site into a luxury hotel.

The Old Treasury Buildings are an historic part of downtown Perth and they've been empty for more than ten years now while everyone agreed on what should be done--being a heritage-listed site always makes it tricky. Now it looks like a slim tower will be added on to the back of the building and that will become the six-star hotel with up to 90 rooms.

The older part of the building will include shops, restaurants and apartments, and the most historic parts will be open to the public. No date set yet for when we'll be able to get a six-star night in Perth; in any case, we're six-star skeptics so we'll believe the luxury when we see it.

[Photo: redarbuts]

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Accor Tempting Us With Three-Day Sale in Oz, Kiwiland and Asia

| February 17, 2009 at 10:31 AM | 0 Comments

Accor Hotels in the Asia Pacific are getting ready for a three-day sale--they say there'll be a million rooms in 250 hotels up for grabs at rates discounted by more than 75%. The sale runs from February 24 to 26 and is for stays between April and July.

This region includes Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and includes a bunch of hotel chains that are all branded to Accor: Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and All Seasons are among them.

Right now at the super sale website all you can see is a tantalizing "Coming soon", but we'll be there early on February 24. We're after an Adelaide hotel room in May and we'll let you know what kind of bargain we snag.

[Photo: Wikimedia]

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Chimes Retreat Is Adults Only, But That's A Secret

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 457 Mt Shadforth Rd, Denmark, Western Australia, Australia, 6333

| February 13, 2009 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments

When you head to a luxury spa retreat, reading that it's going to be adults only is usually a positive thing: but at the Chimes Spa Retreat in Denmark, Western Australia, they got themselves in a bit of hot water over it (and that's not the hot water you'll find in the spa).

Owner Kane Randle has been trying to get the local Equal Opportunity Commission to allow him to advertise as "adults only" but they've called it discrimination and he can't. Despite that, most guests to this wine-region property have been adults, and have been impressed. With the owners being involved in a really hands-on way, service is attentive and the peaceful location certainly helps for the relaxation side of things.

There are 11 different suites, some with ocean views, and prices range from A$255 to A$390 a night ($165 - $255). If you're especially rich, you can buy the whole property at the moment--if you have a spare A$3.95 million ($2.5m) lying around.

[Photo: Getzaround]

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Sydney Hotel Rates Not Dropping Yet

| February 6, 2009 at 9:16 AM | 0 Comments

With ever cheaper flights down to Australia, we figured it was time to check if hotels in Down Under's tourist hotspot of Sydney were getting cheaper or not. Apparently room occupancy rates dropped a bit over the last year so we hoped this might mean hotels will drop rates.

However, the global economic crisis hasn't hit Australia quite so hard to date--they're not even in a recession (yet). Perhaps that's why we can't see too many fantastic Sydney hotel bargains.

For example, one of our faves, the Shangri-La Hotel, is still starting their room rates at over A$300 ($200), which ain't a price dip. We checked a couple of others like the new-ish Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park (non-package rates go down to A$243 ($160)) and Darling Harbour's Holiday Inn (lowest advance purchase rates start at A$180 ($115)) and were also disappointed.

One set of stats is even predicting room rates will continue to rise around Australia this year--not because there are plenty of people with money, but because hotels have to break even somehow with their falling occupancy rates. Come on guys, we'll stay if you make it cheaper, we promise.

[Photo: manarh]

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Pearls Plus Japan Equals Broome's New Resort

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 10 Murray Road, Cable Beach , Broome, Western Australia, Australia, 6725

| February 2, 2009 at 10:40 AM | 0 Comments

Way up in the far north-west corner of Australia--a long way from any big city--the town of Broome already has a great reputation for its gorgeous Cable Beach. This May, a new resort is opening and with cheaper flights up there just taking off, we're tipping the Pinctada Cable Beach Resort could be a big hit.

Apart from the nearby Cable Beach Club Resort there's not really another resort alternative up in Broome, and Pinctada is already promoting itself as being the finest accommodation in town. It will be a 71-room resort with architecture influenced by the old pearlers' homes that once littered Broome. There are also smaller studio rooms named for the Japanese influence, like the "Shinju" or "pearl" studios. Nice combo of history and culture here, and we approve.

One of the few ways to get to Broome is a flight from Perth, and this distance means we're not talking a stop on everyone's Aussie itinerary. Not yet, anyway. But we've got our eye on Pinctada. They're now taking bookings from May onwards, with no opening specials to speak of--nightly rates starting from A$420 ($265).

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Hamilton Island's Lower-Cased qualia Turns One

| January 8, 2009 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

The luxury qualia resort on Australia's Hamilton Island is not afraid to bring attention to its birthdays. A while back they reported in on the success of their first six months and recently they started distributing press releases wishing themselves a happy first birthday.

But as far as new kids on the resort block go, qualia--and yes, that's qualia with a small Q, because the lowercasing shows "the relaxed, understated nature of the property"--must have reasonably proud parents. In the second half of qualia's first year of life, a few cracks have been showing on this resort that we used to think was perfect.

More recent TripAdvisor comments point to plenty of lapses in service quality, like unstocked supplies in the rooms, slow service in general, and a toddler at this supposedly over-18s escape. Quelle Horror! Apparently looking under the beds is not advised either because they're a bit on the dusty side.

Everyone still agrees the resort is beautiful and with good service would be perfect, so all is not lost at qualia. Yet before we're prepared to hand over the minimum of A$1,450 ($1,050) a night, we'll be expecting a bit more.

[Photo: samyoyoyang]