Australia’s best destination hotels for dining in 2023
Forget the buffet brekkie, some of the most superior food and drink offerings in the nation are served out of hotels, homesteads and even this country pub... and it’s all worth travelling for | FULL LIST
There’s nothing quite like being one elevator ride away from your next gastronomic adventure, especially if it’s enough to get you out of the fluffy robe, slippers and the temptation of room service. Around Australia hotel dining has been busy lifting its game, becoming one of, if not the, reason to book certain hotels.
The gourmet edition of The Weekend Australian Magazine is published this Saturday
An influx of big-ticket hospitality brands — think the Capellas and Aces of the hotel world — can be thanked for this, opening fabulous locations for restaurants helmed by powerhouse chefs to call home. There’s the Sushi Room at the “urban resort” Calile Hotel in Brisbane, Atria at Melbourne’s high-flying Ritz-Carlton, Kiln at Sydney’s rock ‘n’ roll inspired Ace Hotel and more, all of which have helped revive the inner-city dining scenes in some of the country’s largest CBDs.
A little further afield, though, are a number of regional dining destinations offering unique opportunities one simply can’t refuse. Think farm stays at wagyu properties in Queensland with paddock-to-table philosophies and exclusive homesteads in South Australia where native South Australian ingredients shine. With that little taste sample, read on to discover our pick of the hottest dining destinations worth booking.
Victoria
Atria at the Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne
Chef Mark Best (ex-Marque, Sydney) knows exactly how to cater to a well-heeled, well-travelled clientele and has applied his discerning taste to the menu of the new Ritz-Carlton Melbourne’s Level 80 fine diner, Atria. Best, the hotel’s culinary consultant, has teamed up with executive chef Michael Greenlaw to create a Victorian-produce-forward menu filled with the likes of hand-dived sea urchin and ricotta tortellini with smoked mussels, and Victorian smoked eel tart with eel crème, potato, chive, grape and Osetra caviar. The food soars but the view, looking northwest over Melbourne, is the big-ticket item here, and you don’t have to stay at the hotel to dine in Atria. That said, if you can afford to stay, why not? Opened in March, the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne flies high in every way. The rooms are plush, the pool deck glamorous and the check-in, on Level 80 with a blue-water view of Port Phillip Bay, takes the hotel arrival to new heights.
South Australia
Arkaba Homestead, Flinders Ranges
This ultra-exclusive homestead, which sleeps 10, is a genuine slice of the Outback, albeit with modern luxuries. Built in 1851 in the shadow of Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range, the house has gorgeous heritage elements – pressed tin ceilings, flagstone floors, fireplaces, wide verandahs, stone walls – and sits on a 25,000ha wildlife conservancy. Guests can take walking or driving safaris to explore the property and its bounteous wildlife (roos, quolls, echidnas and masses of birds including emus, owls and rosellas), returning at night to drinks and feasts held in unique locations, including around a wool classing table, or beside an outdoor fire pit under the stars. The cuisine showcases South Australian produce, including bush foods such as bush tomatoes, quandongs and acacia pods.
New South Wales
Kiln at Ace Hotel, Sydney
Chef Mitch Orr has the kind of rock ‘n’ roll insouciance that’s perfectly in sync with Australia’s coolest new hotel, Ace Sydney. Part of the San Francisco-based brand’s chic international collection, this Ace brings a sense of Rolling Stones to the hospitality space. You’ll find rooms fitted out with orange felt carpet, terracotta tiles, record players and even acoustic guitars. And the addition in late 2022 of the new Kiln restaurant complements the property’s ambitious culinary program. Situated on the hotel’s 18th floor with a view over grungy Surry Hills, Kiln is Orr’s take on modern barbecue; expect dishes such as grilled coral trout with smoked bone sauce and dry-aged ribeye with sudachi ponzu. After dinner, head to the ground floor to slip into a leather banquette at the Lobby Bar for a well-mixed nightcap.
Alanna Sapwell-Stone at Eltham Hotel, Eltham
Halfway between Byron and Lismore in NSW’s Northern Rivers region is Eltham, a village with a very approachable 120-year-old pub. The Eltham Hotel’s classic Aussie exterior belies its recent metamorphosis into a laid-back yet wildly fashionable, gastronomically worthy destination. This is all thanks to its purchase in 2019 by the Mosey On Inn Group, which also runs the notable Byron Shire venues Ciao Mate and You Beauty. Locals and visitors alike have become accustomed to good food and good times here, and this winter things will hit another level due to the three-month residency of talented chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone. Having picked up accolades at Sydney’s Saint Peter, Brisbane’s Urbane and her own ARC Dining, Sapwell-Stone is settling in to turn out classic counter meals and specials with a sniff of the Women’s Weekly about them (think soft rolled meringue with mandarins and bay leaf custard, or roast chicken and leek quiche with apricot HP Sauce). Runs June-August.
Queensland
Beechmont Estate, Binna Burra
Escape the city blues with a farm-stay on this wagyu property in Queensland’s Scenic Rim. Take a long walk through the gorgeous Lamington National Park, located on the Estate’s doorstep, and return to executive chef Simon Furley’s The Paddock restaurant, where the food comes directly from the kitchen garden. Go for dishes like dry-aged steak cooked over coals for 12 hours or Tommerup’s pork with smoked plum and house salami. The accommodation has a country luxe vibe; choose between pavilions, cabins, or the “owner’s residence” – a 400sqm house with four bedrooms and an infinity pool.
Sushi Room, Calile Hotel, Brisbane
Opened in 2019, the Calile Hotel remains Brisbane’s hottest venue, with daylight coming in second. The cluster of top-shelf restaurants sprinkled inside and around the hotel in Fortitude Valley certainly add to the appeal. Latest in the culinary stakes here is Sushi Room, restaurateur Simon Gloftis’ high-end rice bar helmed by sushi master Shimpei Raikuni. Go for the dinner set ($140) or sashimi Moriawase, a 15-piece sashimi plate. Then stumble back to the hotel for a cocktail at the luxe SK Steak & Oyster.
Western Australia
Burnside Organic Farm, Margaret River
City-slicker sensibilities meet wholesome, rural life – complete with waddling geese and clucking hens – on this working biodynamic vineyard in Margaret River. With 25 years’ experience farming and living self-sufficiently, owners Lara and Jamie McCall have planted their 15ha slice of the good life with zinfandel and vermentino grapes, a caper plantation, market garden and avocado orchard. You can lean right into the agrarian fantasy by staying the night in the lovely one or two-bedroom bungalows (starting at $499 a night), which have full kitchen facilities and barbecues. Guests and day visitors are invited to free-range through the 30-minute farm walk or neighbouring Wooditjup National Park, taste the farm’s capers and wine, and generally skip through the meadows. If you can’t stay the night, book ahead instead for wine and produce tastings, and a shorter slice of the good life.
Premier Mill Hotel, Katanning, WA
Sometimes extraordinary places can be found in the least likely places. Such is the case with Katanning’s meticulously restored Premier Mill Hotel. The heritage of this property in Western Australia’s Wheat Belt dates to 1891, when merchant agriculturalist Frederick Henry Piesse built it as a three-storey electric-powered flour mill. After the mill closed in 1977, it stood vacant until Nigel Oakley bought it in a near-dilapidated state for $1 in 2017 and then splashed a couple of million on its restoration. Now hosting 22 five-star rooms, many of which feature heritage milling equipment, the hotel is a magnet for tourists in the Great Southern region. You’ll want to eat onsite: the basement bar and cafe, which runs day and night, is built into the bowels of the old factory where pieces of milling equipment retain pride of place. This is a one-of-a-kind heritage experience.
The gourmet edition of The Weekend Australian Magazine is published this Saturday June 24.