Sails in the Desert
14 September 2026
White-sailed pavilions that look more like a Sydney yacht-club wet-dream than a desert resort. Aboriginal art everywhere, retro desert glamour, and a sunset bar that knows it.
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Heavitree Gap
14 September 2026
A MacDonnell Ranges foothill lodge with proper outback bones — wallabies on the lawn at dusk, a pool that's a relief in October, and a road train passing through every…
Hotel Kurrajong
14 September 2026
A 1920s Art Deco gem near Parliament House. Carved fireplaces, decorative cornicing, the room where Ben Chifley died — and a back garden where the lobby goes out to read…
Forster Motor Inn
14 September 2026
Lakeside originals on the mid-coast — 28 rooms, a kidney pool, kitchenettes, and a five-minute walk to Wallis Lake and a perfectly fine fish-and-chip shop.
The Clairfield
14 September 2026
A humble 80s motel reimagined in 2024 as a 57-room country retreat with a farm-to-table dining room and a wellness wing where the laundry used to be.
Halcyon House
14 September 2026
When Siobhan and Elisha Bickle bought a tired '60s motor inn five minutes from the NSW–QLD border, they kept the bones, the pool, the open-air corridors and the easy seaside…
The Pink Hotel
14 September 2026
A Barbie-pink '60s motel resurrected on the Gold Coast beachfront with hand-painted neon, Scandinavian interiors and a Santeria-flavoured rooftop bar that goes very late, very pink.
The Mysa Motel
14 September 2026
A salmon-pink '60s sanctuary with a kidney pool, fibreglass loungers and original breeze-block. Owners Eliza and Jason rebuilt it room-by-room and run the whole thing on solar.
Motel Molly
14 September 2026
A Mediterranean-pastel rebirth of a '60s beachside motel one street back from Mollymook's crescent. Hand-painted tiles in every room. A breakfast hatch instead of a reception desk.
The Isla
14 September 2026
Palm Springs glam meets South Coast retro: a '70s motor inn reopened in 2024 with hand-painted rooms, Scandinavian edges and a speakeasy-style cantina behind the laundry.