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Gibraltar Country Club Hotel and Spa in Australia's Southern Highlandsis a stylishly modern Sydney city escape, set amongst rolling greenery, sunlit lakes and lush pines. Of (golf) course - It also happens to be a golfers paradise!
Gibraltar Country Club Hotel & Spa is located in Bowral - an antique town, filled with arty people and scenic views. Annual flower shows bring yearly visitors to what is considered one of the prettiest café and garden communities in Australia. Gibraltar Country Club Hotel & Spa, easy to find, is enormous on sight. Perched majestically on a beautiful golf field, it's easy to see why not only golfers are attracted to weekends away here.
Quite modernly styled, Gibraltar Country Club Hotel & Spa has only recently opened - meaning everything in the vicinity is new and shiny. Friendly staff greet you at reception with a guided tour of the grounds. Adorning the walls is a collection of mostly Australian themed etchings, paintings and drawings - hand selected by the hotel owner. An owner, who clearly has design taste, for he played a large role in the entire hotel décor. Simple stylish elegance and comfort are designed into your stay. Spacious rooms face directly out to the golf course landscape, with artwork, heavenly bed, large deluxe spa bath, flat screen TV and all the typical modern trimmings highlighting your happiness.
Restaurant and bar
In-room dining is available, or dine at the Gibraltar Grill, where a perfectly cooked succulent steak awaits - if you choose, from the grill. Meet the locals at Harvey's Bar on weekends.
The Gym
New equipment is decked out in the gym, including exercise bike, treadmill and weights. Rolled towels and reclining lounge give that added hotel glamour, and an indoor heated pool is perfect if you've spent the day on the course. What a great way to unwind!
Weddings & Business trips
Enormously high ceilinged conference rooms are available for functions and weddings, if your trip is for this reason - you are in for a treat. All function rooms look out over the magnificent golfing grounds. Sip your tea, and watch the sun catch light from the duck's favorite lake, while your meetings are underway.
Day Spa
The hotel spa is appropriately named The Bowral Day Spa. Appropriate that is, because you will want to spend all day here. Walking into a low-lit lounge to fill in your information-form and sip detoxing tea, your therapist soon escorts you to a personal room for changing. It's the little details like a soft lux dressing gown and slippers which make such a difference! Treatments compliment natural surroundings by embracing ancient indigenous techniques and products, as inspired in the Australian LI'TYA range. LI'TYA uses mud powders, local infused oils like lemon myrtle or bush rose. Serenading your senses are ancient indigenous chants set to modern beats and piano sounds. At your choice, treatment will begin with a welcoming smoking ceremony from Australian bush barks. I tried the hot stone massage on my visit. Stones from the west of Australia's land have been hand crafted, and are heated to 38 degrees before the therapists glides them over my body, kneading away any tension and inducing a relaxed state of mind. Pure Bliss!
Nearby
Vineyards
The Southern Highlands region, being one of Australia's most picturesque tourist destinations, wouldn't be complete without quintessential romantic vineyards scattered throughout. I visited the Centennial Vineyards for a spot of wine tasting, with afternoon lunch at the Centennial Vineyards Restaurant. A dessert wine aptly named 2009 Autumn Late Harvest Chardonnay, (which yes, I selected because of my namesake!) won numerous awards and accidently found itself purchased by me for later consumption! Well, who could resist sweet wine offering a beautifully balanced palette of white peach, nectarine, and subtle caramel/vanilla aromas!
The Centennial Vineyards Restaurant offers European barn style elegance; with high beams, antique farming equipment and wagon wheel props embedded in the decor to create an amazingly charismatic ambience. Dine on fine delicacies, I recommend The signature Highland tasting platter, as you glance out a window showing baby lambs and sheep roaming sunlit vineyards.
Illawarra Flyover
Imagine walking through the tallest of age-old trees at extraordinary heights!The Illawarra Flyover is a 45-minute walking track raised up in the air, set inside a beautiful tropical rainforest stretch. First take a peaceful stroll through the flora and fauna at land height, soaking in nature. Then embrace your innerCrouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for the ascent into the air. If you love views, climb the central tower to experience a magnificent sight of rolling green hills and leafy green forest, which stretches out to the distant ocean. Not for those who experience vertigo, as sometimes the footpath moves with the breeze...however all the more fun for the slight thrill-seekers among us!
Getting there:
The Southern Highlands are an easy hour and a half away from Sydney city; unless you're travelling at peak ‘weekend escape time' being 6pm Friday night, in which case definitely include traffic time in your itinerary. Or opt for the easy 2-hour train rides which stops in the heart of Bowral town.
Services spa, swimming pool, fitness equipment, parking, hotel restaurant, hotel bar, room service, business services, internet access, golf course, tennis courts, air-conditioning
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We were looking for somewhere nice to stay in Coolangatta on Queensland's Gold Coast, not far from the airport as we had an early morning flight to catch and found Mantra. The Mantra Hotel is an upmarket tower, right on the beach, so the location is fantastic and within walking distance of the main CBD. Restaurants, cinema, supermarket are all nearby. Plus it's only about a 10 minute drive to the Coolangatta International Airport.
Our three bedroom apartment (limit four people) featured self contained cooking with complete kitchen facilities, three tvs, two bathrooms (one ensuite) and a laundry. There were two King beds and one bedroom with two singles. It's always a bonus when traveling to be able to wash clothes without searching for the laundromat and it's awkwardness. Also an awesome balcony with a southern view looks out onto the beach on the 17th floor - and the views were just beautiful. The apartment was well laid out with privacy for each room, and is peacefully quiet. Some nice touches were detailed here and there in the decor. There is undercover secure parking and good security. The receptionist was very professional, friendly and informative and made us feel at ease. The hotel pool is positioned on such a superb beach with barely a soul in sight, making for a lovely private swimming day.
Coolangatta has a nice mix of upmarket meets olde worlde beach village. For a night out on the town, you'll find is a first class venue at the Twin Towns Club. Just a block from the Mantra, major international, and local artists play, along with heaps of local music around the clock. Coolangatta Hotel is a big rock venue and the local Greenmount Surf Club has a jazz band and cheap meals on a Wednesday night. There is excellent dining nearby. We chose the O Sushi Japanese restaurant and the food lived up to it's award winning reputation. The second meal we had was breakfast at Belakai which was also more than adequate, and right next door.
If you're exploring the main street there is a fascinating Antique market with a fascinating, quite mind boggling array of interesting olde worlde items well worth the view. Make sure you walk up to the lookout on the southern point, it's breathtaking and inspiring.
Recommended: All-in-all a totally satisfactory and good value stay. Loved staying at the Mantra and would like to book that room permanently!
Noosaville is a beach town with a river inlet, and the Villa Noosa Hotel is just two blocks back from the picturesque riverfront and restaurant precinct. Noosaville's main street Gympie Terrace, is right on the edge of the river with a host of restaurants and cafes looking out over the park and a wide stretch of water. The region's tourist hotspot is here, with a feeling of relaxed ambience, you can't help but linger over a coffee and Saturday paper.
The main part of the Villa Noosa hotel is a great big tavern style multi-function venue, with restaurant, games room and music venue and there's a comfy motel at the back. The guy on the check-in was friendly and helpful with directions to your room.The Motel itself has a very private feel and the rooms are a fine budget solution - functional, nothing awesome but with everything you would expect. Nice big bathroom, comfy queen-size bed, TV. There is a nice leafy feeling when you look out from the little balcony at the back and you looked down on an attractive pool area from the first floor when accessing the room from the front balcony.
There is certainly a fantastic choice for dining only two blocks from the hotel, and the sunset over the river was really spectacular. There is a classy affluent feel to the town. Our stay in the motel was delightfully uneventful and private, and we felt quite cosy.
The Villa Noosa Hotel has a big Dan Murphy's bottle shop attached, thus there is that certain Aussie "Tavern" feel about the main hotel area. Definitely the whole establishment is focussed on being an entertainment destination, featuring a major music venue for the region, with a lot of big name acts performing.
Popular with the locals, the hotel boasts a function room, and a typical pub bistro. Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, and all the usual tavern attractions such as big screen TVs showing live sports (including UFC - I have to confess I'm am addict, so I noticed the ad), TAB facilities, gaming machines and it advertised some great live music on weekends.
It's handy that you have lots of food and entertainment options right on hand in the adjoining hotel, though we chose to get out and explore when we got hungry. A supermarket right across the road on one side for some impulse buying, and cheap snacks for the room.
If you're a business traveller, the Villa Noosa has a private function room for meetings, and offers 3 course packages, and caters for conventions and even suggests "cocktail parties"!
We made a quick weekend visit to Noosaville to play my Johnny Cash Show at the Tewantin-Noosa RSL Club, so was able to spend some time in the town of Noosaville.
Things to do in Noosaville
A few minutes from the Noosa Villa Hotel you will find Noosa Marina on the peaceful Noosa River. The river is the main feature of the town and there are plenty of boating activities available at the Marina, including deep sea and river fishing, or crab tours, cruises, ferry services and self-drive hire boats and craft.
The Villa Noosa is also only 5 minutes drive from the hub of Hasting Street and Main Beach Noosa, where you can dine upmarket alfresco, shop, and if you're a surf freak - the waves looked incredible. You can also explore the Noosa National Park and its walking tracks. Noosa Main Beach is a very protected beach with quite gentle surf conditions and is a great spot for beginners to learn how to surf.
On Gympie Terrace there is a Kayak business and that's a great way to get out on the water. They do "Dolphin Adventures" which was a highlight of our stay.
Directions
The Villa Noosa I can be found at 18-22 Mary Street, Noosaville, behind the Dan Murphy’s Bottleshop, or also via Gibson Road .
The Villa Noosa has undercover parking for overnight guests and also plenty of off street car-parking.
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Looking for some olde world Australian charm. Don't hesitate to take the turn to Bellingen when your heading up old highway one. Bellingen is one of the nicest little towns you'll find when driving from Sydney up the Pacific Highway towards Queensland. It's about a half an hours drive from the highway (just before you reach Coffs Harbour) through beautiful dairy farms and lush bush. Bellingen has retained the olde worlde charm of an Aussie country town and is set right on the pebbly, pristine Kalang River.
There's some great old heritage buildings, fabulous coffeeshops and cafes and a timeless feeling if you go for a wander down the main street. Around the centre of town you'll discover the Federal Hotel, the locals watering hole.
The pub has been given the total gentrification on the ground floor level and, while they have retained the essential Aussie Pub feel, it's been brought way upmarket.
A nice verandah to one side is where the locals hang out, was packed when we arrived. They have a central bar at the front with a stage where they put on live acoustic, jazz and blues music on weekends. A pub with live music always wins me over. All the usual gaming rooms etc and very posh toilets, and out the back they have a humming restaurant which serves excellent meals, a cut above your average pub fare by a long shot, but not cheap. Obviously very popular - it was packed, and you line uo for your order and take a buzzer. I enjoyed great fish of the day and my friends found the steak cooked to perfection. The rooms upstairs are pretty ordinary however, not up to the standard of the downstairs renovations, ...still the old style, but quite acceptable nevertheless and cheap at $80 a night if you don't mind wandering down the hall to the bathroom.
Bellingen is well worth a visit for it's beautiful scenery, the charm of the old town and if you head on up the valley you can take an awesome rainforest drive over the hill to Dorrigo, which is some of the most beautiful rural scenery in Australia.
If you happen to be in Bellingen on the Sunday of the month when they hold the Bellingen Markets make sure you check it out - it's fantastic with all that a country market should have, awesome choice of food, old wares, plants, clothing, a really nice vibe, plus great music.