The new nature-based luxury is exclusive, not expensive

The Baillies’ high-end travel lodges are both intimate and opulent.

Baillie Lodges founders James and Hayley Baillie.

When James met Hayley in 1998, something magical happened, and not just in a romantic sense.

For James Baillie, then managing director of P&O Resorts, and expedition cruise leader Hayley Smith (daughter of famed Aussie businessman and explorer, Dick), it was a meeting of minds and the discovery of a shared passion for conservation and luxury travel on a small and meaningful scale.

For them, it meant marriage and four adventure-loving sons. For us, it meant the birth of Baillie Lodges in 2003 and accommodation in this country that took luxury to a new and meaningful level.

Longitude 131 at Uluru-Kata Tjuta in Central Australia.

Almost two decades later and Baillie Lodges is involved with seven top luxury properties. In Australia, the portfolio spans ­Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island, Southern Ocean Lodge on South Australia’s Kangaroo ­Island, Longitude 131 at Uluru-Kata Tjuta in Central Australia, Silky Oaks Lodge, which opens in tropical north Queensland’s Daintree Rainforest in the coming weeks, and The Louise, a 15-suite retreat in the Barossa Valley.

On the international scene, Huka Lodge in New Zealand and Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge on Vancouver Island in Canada have recently joined the list.

“The sweet spot for Baillie Lodges is 20 rooms,” says James.

“The lodges need to feel intimate and exclusive but also value for money.”

In the December holiday edition of WISH magazine, out on Friday with The Australian, we sat down with the pair about what they are planning for the future.

Capella Lodge on NSW’s World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island.

“It’s never been about vast growth but acquiring properties with the right DNA,” says James.

The past few years have not been easy; Southern Ocean Lodge burnt down during the 2020 bushfires and the spread of Covid-19 has meant lodge closures for months at a time. But despite the destruction of the fires, James says there’s now a “silver lining” to improve on the original by considering new ideas and advances in building materials. Major work is expected to start on the rebuild in February, with the launch slated for the first half of 2023.

In terms of the state of luxury tourism in Australia, Hayley says Australia is well placed to capitalise on travellers’ desires for wide, open spaces, access to nature and products that offer rich connections to place and country.

She adds there’s a clear trend towards the notion of luxury being redefined in the marketplace as a privileged insider experience rather than mere five-star indulgence.

She says clear-thinking investors such as Andrew Forrest, who bought Queensland’s Lizard ­Island, value the advantages of ­conservation and of promoting Australia’s natural environment.

WISH is available in most metropolitan editions and on all digital platforms