The travel writers and editors over at Conde Nast Traveller (read: the travel pros to pay attention to) dropped their ‘The Gold List 2023’ late last year and it’s all we need for our travel inspo for this year.
It’s a list of the best hotels and resorts in the world as picked by its global editors based in seven cities across three continents. On it, you’ll find just one Australian property which, surprisingly, isn’t a big-name brand hotel in Sydney or Melbourne. It isn’t even in Queensland or Perth. In fact, it’s in Tasmania — and it’s a relatively small hotel, with just 19 rooms and suites.
That hotel is the adults-only Pumphouse Point, located in UNESCO World Heritage-listed wilderness a 2.5 hour drive from Hobart.
“This lost-in-time forest frames moody Lake St Clair and the incongruous ArtDeco lines of a former hydroelectric pump station marooned offshore,” writes Helen Anderson, one of the editors of the Gold List.
Six of the rooms are in the property’s Shorehouse, while nearly all the others are in the three-story Pumphouse, which is connected to land by a 240m jetty. CN Traveller’s pick of the suites is The Retreat, which features Tasmanian-designed and handcrafted furniture and ceramics.
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Weekend stays are a three-night minimum, while mid-week is only two nights. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in the room rate, as well as e-bikes, row boats and some drinks. Prices start at $750 per room per night.
So, what else made the publication’s Gold List, you ask? Well, over the ditch, New Zealand’s Lake Hawea Station, a ranch 1.5 hours drive from Queenstown, was also a top pick.
“Part working farm, part high-design retreat in New Zealand’s high country, Lake Hāwea Station’s draw seems to be its intersectionality between the rugged Kiwi farm culture visitors want and the sophisticated taste that defines the country’s luxury-lodge circuit,” editor Erin Florio writes.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet, Ceylon Tea Trails in Hatton, Sri Lanka, and The Leela Palace Bengaluru in India also made the cut, as well as Raffles Singapore, Nihi Sumba in Indonesia, and Hoshinoya Kyoto in Japan.
In Europe, London’s The Savoy, Santa Marina, on the Greek island of Mykonos, and Deplar Farm in Iceland are also named.
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