Tasmania

Top 10 Luxurious Adventures of 2010 -- And How to Perfect 'Em in 2011

When people ask me for luxury travel advice, usually along the lines of "I want to plan a perfect trip to XYZ," I have two responses: a) there ain't no such thing as perfect in this world, no matter how much money you spend; and, b) you always know exactly how to make a trip as perfect as possible after you get home.

Still, the following trips I made in 2010 pleased me greatly, which is basically what I count as sublime perfection -- and should you plan to follow in my footsteps in 2011, note the tips I've added for making terrific travel even better.

Tags: australia, BedAndBreakfast, bestof2010, chicago, cruise, FrenchPolynesia, melbourne, montreal, Morocco, NovaScotia, ontario, PaulGauguin, PuertoRico, shakespeare, sonoma, tasmania

Continue reading “Top 10 Luxurious Adventures of 2010 -- And How to Perfect 'Em in 2011”

Convicted Criminal Landmarks Become World Heritage Sites

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crime buffs, take note: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has just announced that several key landmarks in Tasmania, Australia have been added to the list of World Heritage Sites -- all of them key to Australia's convict history.

New sites include The Cascades Female Factory, in Hobart, where female convicts did laundry and needlework, The Port Arthur Historic Site, which was the Australia's most notorious prison, as well as sites relating to convict-related coal mining, farming and more.

Immerse in historic crime and punishment by booking the Tassie Convict Stop Over package, run by tour operator Goway. It's three days and includes an overnight in the historic Henry Jones Art Hotel.

Tags: convicts, history, tasmania

The Islington Hotel: Picasso and a Cat Named Chaos

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

I've been so busy sharing all that's new and exciting in Tasmania, Australia, that I've almost overlooked a place that's not new, somewhat tranquil but also fabulous: The Islington, in Hobart.

This hotel is in a Regency style house that was built in 1847. (In New World terms, this is practically ancient.) When you first pull up through the gated driveway, it seems you're in for something pretty traditional. But while the history has been preserved, the additions made to the building are contemporary, so you get that pleasant frisson that comes from the blend of the old and the modern. There's an impressive art collection for a hotel that's quite small -- which means your search for the Islington's sketch by Picasso will not be terribly time-consuming.

Gallery: The Islington Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania

The Historic Part of the Islington, Public Space

Contemporary Seating Area, Near Fireplace

The Open Kitchen, Where Breakfast is Made

Tags: breakfast, hobart, hotels, islington, tasmania

Continue reading “The Islington Hotel: Picasso and a Cat Named Chaos”

3 New Ways to Luxuriate in Tasmania

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

Tasmania, Australia's southernmost island state, is positioning itself for a luxury tourism boom -- at least judging by the number of new projects in the works.

I've already told you about two of Tassie's most prominent new projects: Saffire, a new boutique hotel and resort on the Freycinet Peninsula, and MONA, a new art museum that will be the largest private art collection in the southern hemisphere.

Another newcomer to put on your radar: Harmony Hill, a spa that's opening in Margate, which is just about 15 miles south of Hobart. Harmony Hill aims to be a wellness spa with a distinctive Asian flair. (Amie Nakamura, the owner is Japanese.) The spa relies exclusively on organic products, manufactured by Nakamura, and its eco-foot print will be small -- it uses solar energy, rain water, recycles grey water, and so on.

Gallery: Harmony Hill, New Day Spa in Tasmania

Tags: hotels, luxury real estate, spa, spas, tasmania

Continue reading “3 New Ways to Luxuriate in Tasmania”

The Henry Jones Art Hotel: Celebrate History, Art and Even Homelessness

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

The term "gibetting" doesn't often come up in hotel tours, but it did almost immediately at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, in Hobart, Tasmania.

The hotel is located right on the city's gentrified harbor and in the oldest part of this city -- the place where where convicts would land starting in 1804, the earliest days of Australia. Let's just say it wasn't a place for coddling, so as a warning to convicts who might be tempted to behave badly, the bodies of the executed who'd already behaved badly were hung from a gallows-like structure and allowed to rot right where new arrivals couldn't miss it.

Which happens to be right outside today's hotel, explained Warren Glover, the hotel historian. (Hotel history tours are free whether you're a guest or not, and Glover's an excellent storyteller.) He'd taken me outside to explain the area's history, and as I looked at the spot where the nasty business was once undertaken, a wedding party streamed around outside, taking advantage a sunny and crisp March day.

So yes, things have changed quite a bit in the past two centuries.

The hotel opened in 2004, on the site of a jam factory which was once the biggest employer in Hobart. The jam factory closed in the 1970s, and in the intervening decades, it became something of a homeless squat. When architects Morris-Nunn and associates were transforming the space into a hotel, they not only kept original architectural details -- the structure dates to 1825 -- but they also preserved some of the more decorative damage done by the building's unofficial residents. A fire started accidentally by a squatter left a pretty pattern on the ceiling in one of the hallway's, for instance. But the art you'll find here is far more than just architectural.

Tags: art, australia, boutique hotels, contemporary art, homeless, hotels, tasmania

Continue reading “The Henry Jones Art Hotel: Celebrate History, Art and Even Homelessness”

Morilla: "A Subversive Disneyland" with Wine, Art, Beer and Atheists

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

"Apropos of nothing, it's nice to have you here and thank you we need the money."

I was standing in the living room in "Esmond", one of Morilla's winery's four new guest pavilions, and the black carpet with the red block letters only caught my eye after I'd admired the contemporary art on the wall, had gotten myself oriented to the in room control panel (lights, TV, window shades, music) and had gone out onto the balcony to take in the panoramic view of Tasmania's Derwent River.

Of course, the idea of Morilla needing money is entirely preposterous. This hotel/winery/brewery/event space and oh yeah, soon-to-open museum called MONA that will be the largest private art collection in the Southern Hemisphere -- is owned by a guy with deep pockets, a Tasmanian named David Walsh.

A math whiz, Walsh made his money gambling -- two years ago, he proposed that a story about him in the Australian newspaper AGE start with "David Walsh is a rich wanker." Morilla is one place where he's been spending some of those riches since he bought it in 1995.

Often, when a rich person gets the idea to go into the hospitality business as a lark, you end up with places that are on the bizarre side of idiosyncratic. But Walsh has not skimped out on hiring experienced staff, so as he's added on to one of Tasmania's most venerable wineries, the result is a place that definitely showcases his personality -- for instance, there's no bible in guest rooms, but there is a copy of The God Delusion -- but also meets standards of a well-run luxury accommodation.

Gallery: Morilla: "Subversive Disneyland" in Tasmania

Source
Source

Tags: australia, australian wine, contemporary art, hotels, morilla, museum, tasmania, tasmanian wine, tourism, travel

Continue reading “Morilla: "A Subversive Disneyland" with Wine, Art, Beer and Atheists”

Whisky's Next Stop: Tasmania

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spirits

Lark Distillery, Whisky Makers in Tasmania, Australia

On the day I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania's harbor-side capital, I was not expecting to hear much about Scotland and whisky.

After all, I'd just traveled about 10,000 miles from New York to Australia, and Scotland is just about the same distance in the other direction; if anything, I was prepared to hear about France because Tasmania has vineyards, and as every luxury traveler knows, wherever grapes grow, conversations about France flourish. But that evening, I gamely battled jet-lag to visit Lark Distillery's cozy downtown bar, and had a chat with owner Bill Lark, it was Scotland that we discussed the most.

Lark, a former land surveyor who bears an eerie resemblance to Kris Kringle, is Australia's patron saint of whisky. A decade or so ago, he realized that Tasmania had what it needed for whisky -- pure water, barley, even its own peat bogs. (If you're Australian, you'd giggle at this, since "bog" is slang for a toilet.) Anyway, the only trouble Lark faced was the law: a 1901 distillery law mandated very large stills, and he didn't want to run a giant whisky operation. So he successfully lobbied the Australian legislature to change its 1901 distillery law, and when he opened in 1996, became the first to open a licensed whisky distillery in 153 years. After that, Lark traveled to Scotland to learn the craft, returned to Tasmania, found a still-maker who could make one small enough for his purposes, and got cranking.

It all worked: the whisky's award-winning (more on that in a moment), Lark now runs a distillery school and is a distillery consultant. There are now five other whisky makers who have opened in Lark's wake, and another two getting started in Tasmania, which would very much like to be known as "Australia's Whisky Isle".

In an example of things going full circle, Lark's now a consultant to and an investor in a Kingsbarns Farm Distillery in Scotland, in the beginning phases of start up, just a few miles from St. Andrew's . "I can't teach the Scots how to make whisky, they taught me," Lark says. But Scotch tends to be brewed on a large scale, and Lark's developed expertise in distilling on a smaller scale. In fact, Kingsbarns is buying its stills from Lark's Tasmanian supplier. More on Lark and Scotland here.

Want to taste Lark's whisky for yourself?

Source

Tags: australia, scotch, scotch whisky, ScotchWhisky, scotland, tasmania, whisky, whisky tasting, Whisky Tours, WhiskyPeats

Continue reading “Whisky's Next Stop: Tasmania”

Saffire Soon to Open on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Sunset on Tasmania's Freycinent Peninsula, Australia

It's been in the works for a very long time, but Saffire, a new ultra-luxury hotel on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula is about to open, on June 1st, 2010.

Let's get oriented first. Tasmania is Australia's southernmost state, and it's actually an island, separated from the mainland by the 150 mile wide Bass Strait. But it's not at all wee -- twice the size Switzerland, about the size of Ireland -- and is widely considered one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. (Check out that sunset, above!)

The Freycinet Peninsula juts off right around the middle of the island's eastern shore, and is home to national park, which is popular for its hiking particularly to the white sand, turquoise to cobalt waters of Wineglass Bay. Freycinet, by the way, is pronounced as you would in French -- the first Europeans on this part of Tasmania were from France.

There's a lodging concession in the park, Freycinet Lodge, and it has some more upscale accommodations in addition to the more basic -- but it's nothing compared to what's being planned for Saffire. (The same company owns both properties.)

I was in Tasmania a couple of weeks ago, and had a chat with Matt Casey, general manager, and Hugh Whitehouse, executive chef. The main point they got across about Saffire is that it is going to be intimate. There are just 20 suites all together, with a high staff-to-guest ratio, says Casey -- plus they're not expecting to be running at full capacity at first. The rooms themselves, however, won't be small: the smallest are 860 square feet and the four largest premium suites are just over 1500 square feet. (Chef Whitehouse will prepare custom meals for premium guests in the suite's kitchen.)

And what about the suite rates?

Gallery: Saffire in Tasmania

View of the Hazard Mountain Range from Saffire

Saffire Resort's Dramatic Architecture (Rendering)

Tags: australia, hotel, hotels, new hotels, new resorts, resorts, tasmania, vaccine

Continue reading “Saffire Soon to Open on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula”

Saffire Resort Planned For Tasmania

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

A new resort called the "jewel of Tasmania" has been given the appropriate name of Saffire. Saffire is located on the Freycinet Peninsula which in addition to being a spot of great scenic beauty, just happens to have one of the only deposits of natural sapphires in Tasmania. This five-star retreat will have six luxury suites, 10 deluxe suites and four premium suites with rates s ranging from AUD $1,000 to AUD $3,000 per suite, per night. Suites will have ocean views, private decks, lounge areas and the latest electronics. The premium suites will have plunge pools. The resort will also have a day spa, gym, guest lounge and meeting facilities and will showcase local produce and exceptional wines in the fine dining restaurant. The resort is poised for a December 2009 opening.

Source

Tags: resort, saffire, tasmania

Luxury Bottled Rainwater from Tasmania "Never Touches the Ground"

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

Tasmanian Rain, the premium bottled rainwater from Tasmania, is now available for home delivery and at certain luxury hotels here in advance of its official U.S. launch next year.

The remote Australian island where it originates has the cleanest air on the planet according to the World Meteorological Organization, which is important since Tasmanian Rain never touches the ground.

The company says that gives it an edge in purity over any spring water, which can contain contaminants as a result of human byproducts that cannot be completely filtered out. Furthermore, Tasmanian Rain is a carbon neutral company, and only bottles their water in 100% recyclable glass.

So far it's been picked by several Ritz-Carlton hotels for their VIP suites, the Trump International in Chicago and Las Vegas, the Tides and The Biltmore hotels in Miami and the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole.

Tasmanian Rain is also about to launch in Dubai at the Jumeirah Hotel Group. Home delivery prices are $60 for a case of 12 750 ml bottles and $75 for a case of 24 375 ml bottles, available for order here.

Tags: Australia, Bottled water, BottledWater, Dubai, Four Seasons, FourSeasons, Ritz-Carlton, Tasmania, Tasmanian Rain, TasmanianRain

Tasmania

Featured Galleries

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular

Also on AOL