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From top-class hotels in the cities to budget hostels almost everywhere, Australia has a wide range of accommodations to suit every traveler.
The best luxury hotels
The big cities offer the high-end chains as well as boutique hotels. The resorts on the Great Barrier Reef, both onshore and on their own islands, are gorgeous and loaded with amenities as well as natural beauty.
- Park Hyatt Sydney (Sydney): This artistically curving property on The Rocks foreshore is the best-positioned hotel in town. It's right on the water, and some rooms have views across the harbor to the Sydney Opera House. Each of the 33 executive suites has two balconies equipped with a telescope.
- Sebel Reef House (Cairns): This is one of the most romantic and gorgeous hotels in Australia. The white walls are swathed in bougainvillea, and the beds with mosquito netting. Airy interiors feature rustic handmade artifacts and white wicker furniture. The Verandah Spa rooms, which have Jacuzzis on the balconies within earshot of the ocean, overlook the pool, waterfalls, and lush gardens.
- Longitude 131 (Uluru/Ayers Rock): You can find this African-style luxury safari camp, with perfect views of Uluru, in the sand dunes a mile or two from the main complex. It offers 15 top-class air-conditioned tents, each with a private bathroom and a balcony overlooking the Rock. A central facility, Dune House, holds a restaurant (with superb food), bar, library, and shop.
- Hayman Island Resort (Whitsunday Islands): This is the most luxurious and glamorous resort in Australia. Check-in is done over a glass of bubbly aboard the resort's sleek launch as you travel from Hamilton Island Airport. You soon find your way through the open-air sandstone lanais, cascading ponds, and tropical foliage to the fabulous hexagonal complex of swimming pools by the sea. Every room, suite, villa, and penthouse has a balcony or terrace, bathrobes, and valet service (and butler service in the penthouses).
The best moderate and alternative accommodations
With a decent exchange rate and a good supply of moderately priced places to stay, you can find both comfort and bargains throughout Australia, as well as unique places to stay.
- North Adelaide Heritage Group (Adelaide): It's worth coming to Adelaide just for the experience of staying in one of these out-of-this-world apartments, cottages, or suites. Each of the 21 properties is fabulous.
- Underground Motel (Broken Hill): Making the trip out to White Cliffs is worth the effort, just to stay here for the night. All but two of the rooms are underground; they're reached by a maze of spacious tunnels dug out of the rock and sealed with epoxy resin. The temperature below ground is a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit, which is decidedly cooler than a summer day outside. Rooms are comfortable though basic, with shared toilets and showers. Turn the light off, and it's dark as a cave.
- Freycinet Lodge (Freycinet National Park): This ecofriendly lodge offers comfortable one- and two-room cabins spread unobtrusively through the bush, connected by raised walking tracks. The main part of the lodge houses a lounge room and an excellent restaurant that sweeps out onto a veranda overlooking the limpid green waters of Great Oyster Bay. The lodge is right next to the white sands of Hazards Beach, and from here it's an easy stroll to the start of the Wineglass Bay walk.
- Reef Retreat (Cairns): A low-rise collection of contemporary studios and suites built around a saltwater swimming pool in a peaceful grove of palms and silver Paperbarks, Reef Retreat has 36 units, including studios (which are much larger than the average hotel room and offer terrific value).
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