After 30 years this luxury beachside hotel is reaching legendary status
Like Venice’s Harry’s Bar and New York’s The Carlyle, it may well be one of those iconic places that just keep getting more famous with the years.
Before even opening your eyes, the first thing that strikes you upon waking up at Raes on Wategos is the sound of the waves pounding against the shore.
The sound is gentle, insistent, rhythmic; distant enough to not be troubling, near enough to remind you that the water is at your doorstep. Perhaps it has infiltrated my dreams in the night, in fact, for waking up here feels almost like being marooned, happily so.
In the world of hotels, it is a hot ambition these days to offer an “authentic experience” and a “sense of place” that grounds guests in the location they are visiting. The theory is that nobody wants to feel they are staying in just another chain hotel when visiting exotic destinations. It’s not always easy to achieve, and often involves the introduction to rooms and shared spaces of superfluous trinkets redolent of the “local culture”. The sound of waves in your head at daybreak? This is the sort of authenticity that most hotels can’t buy.
This year marks 30 years since Raes on Wategos opened, the hotel inhabiting what was a quirky Moroccan-style bungalow built on the dune on the beach. The building was constructed in the 1960s, with the hotel the creation of party-boy hotelier Vincent Rae, who bought the place for a paltry $1.375 million in 1994. (By contrast, the hotel, sold in two parts in 2013 and 2014, was said to be worth $20 million in 2017).
Rae had the clever idea of introducing to Australia the concept of the boutique hotel. He played on the property’s all-white exterior and Moroccan vibes to polish it into a lodge of sophistication and edge. Each of the seven rooms was afforded beautiful, exotic fit-outs, complete with marble bathrooms, white linen and even white orchids (all extravagances back in the day) and if the room rates were exorbitant, that created an aura around the hotel that made it legendary – it was the place everyone wanted to stay, from rock stars to billionaires. Exclusivity and indulgence were part of the contract.
Fast-forward three decades and while hotels across the country have come and gone, Raes has remained, glorying in its beachside location and somehow improving with age. These days it is less brat, more grande dame, and the attitude change is for the better; rarely has it felt so grown up, so comfortably refined, and so luxe.
I have stayed at the hotel several times over the years (in fact, I had my 30th birthday here in a time now lost in history), and have seen changes come and go.
In recent years, there have been subtle improvements: an interior refresh by Sydney design queen Tamsin Johnson in 2017; the installation of chef Jason Saxby in the restaurant in 2019, the same year the cellar bar on the entrance level was founded; and in 2022 a Raes Spa partnership with Melbourne brand Rational, all of which have added to the offering in intricate ways that have built a better, sharper package for today’s travellers. Even the coffee cart that operates from a Kombi out the front feels right.
Now in the hands of media and property identity Anthony Catalano, and run by his son Jordy Catalano, the 2024 Raes has a comfortably run-in feeling that feels perfectly right for Byron. Relaxed yet lovely, it isn’t shiny and new any more, but it is in every way fabulous.
You could easily come here and not bother leaving the property, except to go to the beach. By the time you’ve done everything there is to do on site – from having a massage in the cosy little day spa to lying around at the pool to dining in the restaurant – there’s barely any time for anything else. Besides, why would you want to leave the room when the view of Wagetos beach is so astonishingly lovely? Wategos to me ranks in the pantheon of best beaches in Australia; and the best part of staying here is that you don’t even have to fight for a parking spot.
Next month, Raes enters a new chapter, with the opening of 10 new rooms as part of the hotel, located in a building across the road from the original. In August, the Catalanos made a snap decision to purchase the old Victoria’s hotel, a rundown ’80s property about a 50m walk away, with Johnson again employed to effect a design overhaul. The expansion makes sense: it’s a shame that more people can’t stay here. But soon they can.
You get the sense with Raes that it is already a legend in the making. Like Venice’s Harry’s Bar and New York’s The Carlyle, it may well be one of those iconic places that just keep getting more famous with the years. It is indeed one for the ages.
Checklist
Getting there: Wategos Beach is a 30-minute drive from Ballina Airport.
Stay: Raes on Wategos, 6-8 Marine Parade, Byron Bay, offers seven rooms in the original building, with 10 additional rooms in the new space available from mid-November. From $1200 (original rooms) and $750 (new rooms), a la carte breakfast included; raes.com.au
Do: Walk from Wategos beach to the Cape Byron Lighthouse. Step outside the door of the hotel, head down the beach and follow the path about 15 minutes uphill until you reach Australia’s most easterly point. The views are glorious and you will probably see whales and dolphins. From the hotel, you can also walk in the opposite direction, towards Byron township, to reach Clarkes Beach. Pick your beach depending on the way the winds are blowing. Back in the hotel, the day spa offers a luxurious sanctuary and place to sink into relaxation.
Eat: Raes Dining Room offers contemporary Australian dining; dishes include spanner crab and squid ink agnolotti and honey-glazed duck with native ginger and cinnamon myrtle. The dining room with its coastal views is a fabulous space; breakfast is also served here. Elsewhere in Byron, Light Years (lightyearsasiandiner.com.au) is a lively mod-Asian venue on Jonson Street. Go for dishes such as miso caramel eggplant and coconut-lemongrass mussels. The cocktails list is breezy and fun.