Aussie beach getaway
A funky boutique hotel on the NSW coast
Halcyon House has been turning heads since it opened in 2015 and it’s easy to see why. Deemed ‘Australia’s most Instagrammable hotel’, the personality-plus beach getaway stands out from the pack.
A former modest surfer motel, Halcyon House is a beautifully decked out boutique hotel on the beach in northern NSW, just 15 minutes’ drive from the Gold Coast airport and about two hours from Brisbane, where Air Niugini flies six times a week.
The hotel recently won Gourmet Traveller’s best service award, mainly thanks to the team headed by general manager Mauro De Riso. In January, it was named the best Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel and last year it won the 2016 Conde Nast
Traveller Hot List Award.
Design fans have been coming in droves to ogle over the luxe retro Hollywood-style interiors. A blue-and-white design theme lends a Mediterranean touch but this is at heart a truly Australian surfside retreat.
No wonder Brisbane designer Anna Spiro and architect Virginia Kerridge have won a plethora of awards for their work here. The retro hotel is the dream child of sisters Siobhan and Elisha Bickle who own several hospitality places in Brisbane, including Bunk backpackers hostel.
For those who like to stay in a unique property, Halcyon House’s 21 rooms fit the bill. Each overlooks the pool or ocean and is individually decorated with treasures from far and near.
Some vintage pieces were bought on a trip to the US while antique seascapes were collected from around Australia. The bedroom walls are decorated with beautiful English fabrics. Local craftspeople produced many of the lamps and restored the vintage pieces. The bathrooms have handmade floor tiles and marble washstands and, of course, everything is put together with a designer flourish.
The jewel in the crown is the ’60s California- style pool, framed by a terrace with striped lounges.
Extra little touches to win over guests include surfboards, bicycles (blue, of course) and an onsite Audi that can be hired on a daily basis.
One of its big drawcards is the picture-perfect two-hatted restaurant, Paper Daisy, right beside the beach and pool. Not only does it look pretty with its blue-and-white wicker chairs but the food’s excellent, too, thanks to Ben Devlin, who
The jewel in the crown is the ’60s California- style pool, framed by a terrace with striped lounges.
was the Brisbane Good Food Guide young chef of the year in 2014.
The 90-seater restaurant focuses on regional and coastal ingredients in keeping with its seaside location. The paperbark grilled fish, Merimbula oysters and kangaroo loin are worth sampling.
Cabarita Beach was an undiscovered gem before Halcyon House came along. It’s a sleepy beachside village on the shores of a great surf beach with no high-rise towers. Step out onto the coastal walk from the main beach around to Norries Headland past remnant rainforest for knockout views – also a good place to spot whales in the right season.