Jun

Traveller deals: Seychelles bargain

All things Mexican are so hot right now, so why not join the locals and celebrate their dead? Otherwise, live (extremely) well in the Seychelles, escape winter in Dubai or our own Daydream Island, or embrace winter in Melbourne. Hope you find something your heart desires in this weeks’ international and domestic travel deals.

GO NOW
SEYCHELLES
Help Banyan Tree celebrate 20 years with its celebratory
three-night packages that serve up welcome cocktails, a 120-minute spa
treatment for two and 20 per cent off food and drinks until December 15.
Hillside pool villas at Banyan Tree Seychelles from $1490 a night. See banyantree.com
QUEENSLAND
Find your niche in the Whitsundays with a three-night winter
escape to Daydream Island Resort and Spa, with breakfast and a $20 spa
voucher for travel. Book by July 31 for travel until September 19. From
$339 a person, three nights. 138 833, sunloverholidays.com.au.

GO SOON
VICTORIA
Catch emerging artists at Melbourne’s The Windsor and save up
to $300 in a Victorian suite. The “Marvel at The Windsor” package
includes wine and cheese and a private tour of the exhibition, August 30
to September 14. From $399, deluxe room, save $100. Victorian suite
from $559. (03) 9633 6002, thw.com.au.
SWITZERLAND
Stay four nights and pay for three when you stay at The
Lodge, Sir Richard Branson’s mountain retreat in Verbier, until
September 29. Includes all meals and drinks. From $1075 a room, a night.
See thelodge.virgin.com/offers.

GO LATER
NSW
Celebrate winter in the outdoor hot tub of The Villa at The
Drawing Rooms of Berry. Stay two nights by September 18 and get a bottle
of sparkling wine, Belgian chocolates handmade in Berry, breakfast and
late checkout. From $700 for two nights. Quote “Get Going”. (02) 4464 3360, drawingrooms.com.au.
DUBAI
Save up to 28 per cent on a stay at the five-star Rixos The
Palm Dubai, on Palm Jumeirah island, until September 30. Breakfast and
Wi-Fi are included and you can deposit just $5 and pay the balance 28
days before departure. From $315 a room, a night. 1800 359 769, lowcostholidays.com.au.

Tourwatch

Day of the dead
From the macabre to the marvellous, join Mexico on the Day
of the Dead, when it celebrates the lives of those who have passed on.
The five-day tour includes a Day of the Dead ceremony, a Halloween
costume party, a visit to death-obsessed artist Frida Kahlo’s museum
and a trip to La Isla de las Munecas, an island full of disfigured
dolls said to be possessed by a drowned girl’s spirit. Departs October
30, 2014. Costs $760 a person. 1300 797 010, intrepidtravel.com.

DEAL
TOP DIGS FOR KIDS
Chic hotel booking group Mr & Mrs Smith has had a baby:
welcome little Smith & Family, a collection of hotels catering to
junior travellers, each road-tested by parents. Expect kids’ clubs and
menus, cots and toys plus the adult basics of great spas, kitchens and
to-die-for interiors. With 115 hotels currently on the list, book a
seven-night stay by July 15 for travel until December and get a week’s
free babysitting. Check out Tuscan villa Castello Di Casole, complete
with cinema, bikes, a croquet lawn and kids’ pizza-making classes. From
$390 a night. 1300 896 627, smithandfamily.com.

This travel deals column by Belinda Jackson is published in Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper every Sunday.

Jun

Bali’s newest club has ‘em screaming for more

The screams were ear-splitting, and they rang out through
the vast hotel lobby.

“I want to go back to kids’ club!” shrieked Mme Three, as we
attempted to check out of the hotel. Happily, the general manager was within
earshot (it wasn’t hard). At least
someone was smiling in the room.

We were test-driving the brand new kids’ club in the
Sheraton Kuta, in southern Bali. Traditionally the bastion of Bintang t-shirts
and bad cornrow braids, the hotel has carved out a chic niche within the most
maligned of Australians’ tourist destinations.

I’m not a kids’ club pro: my experience is limited to Fijian
nannies for very young babies (excellent, especially for new mothers who
haven’t slept in five months) and private nannies in the countries we’ve
travelled together, including Vietnam (where, in Hanoi, I came back to the room
to find the entire housekeeping division dancing to the cartoon channel along
with an ecstatic baby) and Sri Lanka (my older driver and de facto nanny would
have his afternoon nap along with Yasmine while I interviewed hoteliers and
chefs).

The Sheraton’s kids club appears to have the lot, from a super-shallow
swimming pool and sandy beach and little playground at the front, separated by
the interior of the Play centre, with its computer terminals loaded with games,
books, babies’ wooden toys, farmhouse animal sets and the pinkest palace to
house all the Barbies. Upstairs, the playstation den is also a crash pad for
exhausted clubbers.

Mme Three played with happy little Indonesian and Chinese
children, united by a love of a pink world, pausing reluctantly only to eat
with her guilt-ridden mama (now sporting extremely beautiful orange nails). The
kids’ club is free to all guests (and anyone spending more than A$35 in the
hotel spa – clever marketing, eh?)

I always said I’d never do the big fun parks and razzed-up
amusement arcades, but I’m more than happy to become part of this club. Quite
frankly, both Mme Three and I were both upset to be leaving the hotel: I guess
we’ve just got to learn to say goodbye.

Yep, I was a guest of Sheraton Kuta Bali. (62) (361) 846 5555, sheraton.com/balikuta.

Mar

Tiaras and Tulle: Barbie does Melbourne

Barbie is 55 and let me tell you, she’s lookin’ good.

The real, live Barbie (looking 25 and very, very tall) popped in to Melbourne for a touch of high tea this afternoon and to promote her new movie, The Pearl Princess. The Langham, Melbourne, turned it on with a High Tea in Alto, the 28th floor of the Southbank hotel, with fabulous views across the city.

While the rest of the city is learning barista tricks, brewing their own cider or perfecting a sea urchin foam, a la the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, we were served up the Princess Menu, featuring pearl cupcakes, fairy bread, sparkling pearl pink lemonade, and popcorn cups.

Hand on my heart, I’m not a pink person. My attempts to program my Small Girl into thinking that orange is the coolest (cue to bedsheets so orange they could turn you Buddhist) have failed. The little girls soaked up the pinkness as though they were born to it.

The Langham Melbourne’s GM, Ben Sington, popped in for a photo with Barbie (I note he waited till it all started to wind down) and commented that everyone seemed very well behaved.

True, there were no tears and no screaming, but give a bunch of little girls a long table full of pink cakes, a movie, face painting and bunch of cooing (and quite possibly champagne-infused) mamas, and who’s going to complain?

There’ll be six Barbie Pearl Princess High Teas on March 29 and 30.

Feb

Sustainable Melbourne

EDIT: I am very pleased to note that this feature, originally published in Honda Magazine, has won the Australian Society of Travel Writers’ 2014 award for Best Responsible Tourism feature.

Little Hunter, 195 Little Collins St, Melbourne

Travel
can be a guilty pleasure for the green-minded, but Melbourne shows how to blend
ecology and exploration without stinting on the good times, discovers Belinda
Jackson.

SHOP SUSTAINABLY

For
clothes with karma, vintage clothing is the classic sustainable fashion option:
what goes around, comes around. Forget
fusty, Melbourne’s top shops yield fabulous finds. Check out one of Australia’s
largest vintage stores, Retrostar,
in the equally vintage Nicholas Building (1st floor, Nicholas Building,
37 Swanston St), while Shag finds all its clothing in
Melbourne (Centreway Arcade) and Circa
Vintage has fashion dating from the Victorian era (1st Floor, Mitchell House, 358 Lonsdale St).
Serious hunters, book your spot on a Melbourne Op Shop tour (0421 431 278

0421 431 278, melbourneopshoptours.com.au).

Don’t want to wear clothes made by small children or
workers in life-threatening factories? Melbourne’s Etiko sources eco-friendly range of footwear and clothing from
owner co-ops in Argentina and Pakistani micro-businesses, so you can look good
outside and feel good inside. Shop online or see etiko.com.au for stockists.

Lisa Gorman designs

You can go green with current fashion: each season, top
Melbourne designer Lisa Gorman releases her gorman organic range, which uses organic and sustainably produced
fabrics produced without pesticides or with non-chemical processing (GPO Melbourne, Bourke
St Mall, gormanshop.com.au).

Out of the CBD grid, make like a Melburnian and jump a
tram for the fashion label, shop and café that is Social Studio for limited-edition garments handmade from reclaimed
and up-cycled material (126-128 Smith St, Collingwood, thesocialstudio.org). On Saturdays, dig for handmade treasures at
the artists’ haven of Rose Street
Markets (60 Rose St, Fitzroy).

ON THE TABLE

You know organic
and sustainable production are on trend when the quest takes you to some of the
city’s top tables, including Vue de
Monde, for its salt-cured wallaby (Level 55, Rialto, 525 Collins St) and the signature smoked trout broth at Attica,
recently voted number 21 in the world’s top restaurants (74 Glen Eira Rd,
Ripponlea). Even old-school can go new school, as Italian dining staple Cecconi’s has demonstrated, becoming
the first restaurant to compost its food waste through the Closed Loop system:
the compost is used to grow vegetables on its Bellarine Peninsula farm (61
Flinders La).

Head underground to a recent Melbourne edition, Little Hunter, tucked away beneath city
streets, and order up on beef from the remote Tasmanian locations of Cape Grim and Robbin
Island or tiny Chatham Island’s Blue Cod with seagrasses.
Chef Gavin Baker sources all produces from farmers committed to organic
production and humane treatment (downstairs, 195 Little Collins St)

Melbourne’s café
scene is justly famous: check out the winner of the 2012 Tourism Victoria
Sustainability award, Silo by Joost, a
café that doesn’t have garbage bin. Everything is recycled, renewed or
composted, including the bench you’re sitting at (123 Hardware St, 03 9600
0588). Meanwhile, newcomer Dukes
Coffee Roasters is pushing toward a carbon-neutrality with its emphasis on
minimising waste and off-set power, with organic and ethically produced
products. What does that mean for you? Seriously fine coffee (247 Flinders La).
And shoppers at Melbourne Central can grab a cuppa at social enterprise STREAT Café, which has so far trained
60 young homeless and at-risk kids into a hospitality career (Cnr Elizabeth
& La Trobe St and 5 McKillop St).

Kinfolk cafe, 673 Bourke St, Melbourne

Kinfolk is a rare bird: it is environmentally sustainable and also socially
responsible, its staff training volunteers to run serve local, organic,
good-tasting food. A private enterprise by young entrepreneur Jarrod Briffa,
its high overheads are eased by the generosity of its patrons: coffee is
donated by crop-to-cup pioneers Di Bella, while meat is from renowned Barossa
organic producer Saskia Beer (673 Bourke St).

And
finally, self-caterers can find local produce at Queen Victoria Markets, which also has a section devoted to organic
fresh fruit and vegies (513 Elizabeth St).

PLAY NICELY

A night
on the town can also be good for your conscience when you start (or end) with a
drink at Shebeen, Australia’s first
not-for-profit bar. All profits go back to the countries where their drinks are
sourced: think Chilean wines, Sri Lankan beer, South African cider, (36
Manchester Lane).

Melbourne is also a playground for ‘green’ brewers. Pope Joan pours beers from Victorian independent
breweries such as Victoria’s Secret Hoppy Wheat Beer from North Melbourne and
Moondog ‘Love Tap’ Double Lager from Abbotsford (77 Nicholson St, Brunswick
East). Get on your bike into the Mountain
Goat Brewery for real beer and pizza (Wednesdays & Fridays, 80 North
St, Richmond) or tram it to Monkey for local, organic and biodynamic wine, beer and
cheese (181 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North).

Alto on Bourke hotel

ECO-EXPLORE

Take a walking tour of the
city to orientate yourself (1300 311 081

1300 311 081, melbournebyfoot.com)
and uncover the city’s vivid street art scene (03 9328 5556

03 9328 5556, melbournestreettours.com) or to get under the city’s skin, through its literature and laneways
(0407 380 969

0407 380 969,meltours.com.au) Hit the shops with hunters of high quirk
(03 9663 3358

03 9663 3358, hiddensecretstours.com) or discover the city’s Aboriginal heart
(03 8622 2600

03 8622 2600, koorieheritagetrust.com)

SLEEP EASY

Alto on Bourke is Australia’s first carbon-neutral hotel
and winner of domestic and international sustainability awards. The 4-star
hotel uses 100 per cent renewable energy, harvests its rainwater, recycles and
uses energy-efficient cars. There are even beehives on the roof, as part of
Melbourne’s rooftop honey project: see the results on the breakfast buffet
alongside the fairtrade coffee (rooftophoney.com.au) There are 50 hotel rooms from petites to
three-bedroom apartments with full kitchenettes, employing the best environmentally
aware technology including LED lighting, low-water showerheads and an electric
Goget hire car on site, with free parking for all hybrid cars (1800 135 123

1800 135 123, altohotel.com.au)

GETTING AROUND GREEN
The best start to a green escape is to offset your airline flight, which
costs around $2 per flight. Melbourne’s CBD grid is a walker’s paradise: you
can cross the city by foot in about 20 minutes. Otherwise, it’s a short tram or
bus ride: the red Number 86 City Circle
tram does free tours, as does the Melbourne
Shuttle Bus (131 638, thatsmelbourne.com.au) If you need a car, consider a green car, which can be hired by the
hour from $15 (try flexicar.com.au, greensharecar.com.au
or goget.com.au) or go
luxe with an eco-limo (ecolimo.com.au) Melbourne
Bike Share hires bike for 30 minutes for free (1300 71 5901300 71 590, melbournebikeshare.co.au)

DIARY DATE

Keep a day free for the 2014 Sustainable Living Festival,
held annually in Melbourne. Expect fabulous fashion, thoughtful thinktanks,
green markets, gardening and art. Now on until 23 February, 2014, slf.org.au.

This article was published in Honda magazine.

Jan

Vintiquing in Melbourne: best vintage & antique shopping

CoteProvence, 433 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

It may be a 24-hour flight away but Melburnian Belinda Jackson says her home town holds rich rewards for antiques and design lovers holidaying in Australia.

‘Which do you like better, Melbourne or Sydney?’ It’s a question we Melburnians can’t help asking international visitors. Maybe we have second-child syndrome: founded in 1835, Melbourne is nearly 50 years younger than its glossy sibling. but despite Sydney’s glittering harbour and its first-city status, we also know that we have a great deal to rival what it offers. Who needs the harbour when you can walk the pier at St Kilda? Melbourne’s design scene is more exciting and, of
course, the coffee’s better down south. You’ve come a long way – but Australia’s
second-largest city definitely is worth the journey.

DECO DELIGHTS

Melbourne is one of the world’s great Art Deco cities,
thanks to a building boom leading up to its centenary in 1934. Many
architecture aficionados rate the Manchester Unity Building their favourite, but
guide and deco expert Robin Grow loves the Century Building
for what he describes as its ‘sleek, unadorned and uncompromising
verticality’(cnr Swanston St & Little Collins St). Join Robin on his Melbourne Art Deco tour, for $49, which takes place every
second Sunday of the month, meltours.com.au/architecture.htm

AROUND TOWN

Undoubtedly one of the city’s most exciting streets for design is Gertrude Street in Fitzroy. It’s only a couple of
blocks long, but packed with great cafes, restaurants and some of
the city’s best vintage shops (see below). Fitzroy’s sister hotspots
include its neighbour, Colllingwood, refined Prahran and the
street-art-spattered lanes and alleyways of the central business district. Forget taking a taxi, make
like a local and zip between these areas on the trams.

A word of advice for the serious hunter: the high-end antique
stores cluster around Armadale’s High Street. Here you will find the Armadale Antique Centre (1147 High St, armadaleantiquecentre.com.au),
the Francophiles at Capocchi (941/951 High St, capocchi.com.au),
the fresh and fun Fenton & Fenton (471
High St, fentonandfenton.com.au) and the master of quirkiness, Graham Geddes Antiques (877 High St, grahamgeddesantiques.com).

Kazari + Ziguzagu,
450 Malvern Rd, Prahran

MARKET CULTURE

See what Melbourne’s artist community has to offer at the Rose Street Art & Design market (rosestmarket.com.au) which takes place efvery Saturday and Sunday, or look for vintage reads in the weekly book market
at Federation Square, the city’s love-it-or-hate-it modern architecture statement
(fedsquare.com). You won’t find anything
shiny and new or mass-produced at Camberwell’s enormous Sunday market, but lots of lovely pre-owned and
handcrafted goods (Sundays, 7am-12.30pm). The 135-year-old Queen Victoria Market is an institution selling produce through
the week, before acquiring a gifty edge on weekends (qvm.com.au). Lunch on hot pide (Turkish pizza) from the
delicatessen hall or squeeze in with the hipsters for a caffeine hit at tiny Market
Lane Cafe (109-111 Therry
St, marketlane.com.au).

CAFE SOCIETY

Design Dispensary, 92 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

It’s said that if three Melburnians are standing
together, an espresso machine will soon turn up. This town has a serious speciality
coffee culture: aficionados hang in hip Proud
Mary ordering cold drip, pourover, syphon and chemex coffees. The ricotta
hotcakes are astonishing and yes, you can get a latte. (172 Oxford St,
Collingwood, proudmarycoffee.com.au) For some New
York love, everyone’s talking about Bowery
to Williamsburg’s pecan pie (16 Oliver Lane, City) while old
school vibes still resonate at oh-so Italian Pellegrini’s
Espresso Bar, said to be the first place to pour an espresso in this town and
still rocking its original working-class diner theme (66 Bourke Street, City.

DAY TRIPPING

An hour and a half south of the city, you’ll discover our
beloved beach getaway, the Mornington Peninsula. This is the ideal place to enjoy fish and chips
and a paddle at Safety Beach or indulge yourself with a long lunch at Merrick’s General Store (3460
Frankston-Flinders Rd, Merricks, mgwinestore.com.au) or indeed at one of Red Hill’s
many wineries. In Dromana, don’t miss Felix
which appropriately sums itself up as ‘unique, boutique, antique’ (167 Point Nepean Rd,
Dromana, felix.net.au) while Big Chair stocks Australian-made, upcycled
furniture and also pocketable gifts (119 Ocean Beach Rd, Sorrento, and 118 Main
St, Mornington, bigchair.com.au) andhe little town of Tyabb is an antiques and
vintage hub. Check out The Vintage Shed
(thevintageshed.com.au) and the vast Tyabb
Packing House at 14 Mornington-Tyabb Road (tyabbpackinghouseantiques.com.au) before heading back to the city.

NEED TO KNOW

WHERE TO STAY Artist and architect Maggie Fooke has created an
artistic haven at Brooklyn Arts Hotel (48-50 George St, Fitzroy, brooklynartshotel.com.au) which is just off Gertrude Street.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK Enjoy old-world glamour at The Everleigh bar (150-156 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, theeverleigh.com) Euro-cuisine at Moon Under Water
restaurant (211 Gertrude St, Builders’ Arms Hotel, buildersarmshotel.com.au) or modern Australian gastronomy at Saint Crispin’s
(300 Smith St, saintcrispin.com.au).

To find out which are Melbourne’s top eight vintage & antique shops, click here.

This feature by Belinda Jackson was first published in British magazine Homes & Antiques

Dec

Six of the best: hotel openings in 2014

The Shard, London. Soon to be home to Britain’s first Shangri-La hotel.

It’s that time of year again, when the wrap-ups are wrapped, the forecasts are cast and we all enjoy a little panicking to get it all tied up neatly in time for a beach Christmas. I’m absurdly interested to see Hayman Island’s reincarnation, and, having just arrived back from London, have renewed a love affair with that city and all that’s glitzy and good in it.

SHANGRI-LA,
ENGLAND

The first
Shangri-La hotel in Britain will have London’s best address, at the Shard,
Western Europe’s tallest building, designed by starchitect Renzo Piano. Set in
the London Bridge quarter, each of the 202 rooms come with butlers and
floor-to-ceiling views to St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the Tower of
London. Level 52 is the domain of Hong Kong’s darling architect Andre Fu (of
Upper House fame), where you’ll find Gong, London’s highest cocktail bar, and a
sky-high infinity pool. Word on the street is it’s to open summer 2014 but
there’s no official date from the hotel yet and prices are still to be
released. See shangri-la.com.

The much-anticipated Peninsula Paris.

PENINSULA
PARIS, FRANCE

It’s
taken more than four years of work but The Peninsula Paris has finally declared
it will open on August 1, 2014. Expect 200 rooms, a rooftop bar and underground
spa and hey, because this is Paris, a cigar lounge as well. The wraps are now
off the 100-year-old Beaux-Arts building in the fancy 16th arrondissment, with
views to the Arc de Triomphe, as befits the group’s first foray into Europe.
For your gastronomic pleasure there’s Cantonese being dished up inside, French
fare on the roof and a Chinese tea counter. Rates have not yet been released. See
peninsula.com.

SOFITEL
SHANGHAI JING’AN, CHINA

Shanghai’s
already fabulous hotel scene gets a new player when the city’s third Sofitel
opens just off the iconic shopping strip of Nanjing Road. In keeping with most
Chinese hotels, it’s big: we’re talking 503 rooms, with a cocktail bar at the
top of the 68-storey art deco-inspired building and French-meets-Chinese
cuisine being talked up. There’s already been a two-year delay in its launch
but the group is planning a grand opening of what will become the city’s new
flagship Sofitel in September 2014. See sofitel.com.

CROMLIX,
SCOTLAND

Fancy
angling for trout, stalking deer or wearing someone else’s tartan? Wimbledon
champ and local lad Andy Murray has taken over this classic country house and
opening is set for April 1, 2014 (yes, really). Built in 1874, Cromlix has just
15 rooms and suites, each named after a great Scot, and is close to Gleneagles,
which hosts next year’s Ryder Cup. You won’t starve: the kitchen is under the
deft hand of Albert Roux, responsible for Britain’s first three Michelin-star
restaurant. Cromlix is just outside Andy’s home town, Dunblane, and less than
80 kilometres from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. From £200 ($350) a night. See cromlix.com.

Hayman Island’s iconic pool shot.

ONE&ONLY
HAYMAN ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

It was the
talk of the town when it was announced that the uber-luxe hoteliers of
One&Only Resorts, who play in all the best addresses including the Bahamas,
Maldives and Dubai, are taking over the iconic Great Barrier Reef resort.
Thankfully, the pool wing will be carved into new all-suite accommodation
including private pool terraces; that much-photographed lagoon pool will be hit
with cabanas and daybeds and there’s also a new adults-only pool and chill-out
lounge. And forget foreign backpackers spinning up fishy tales, your guides to
the reef will be dive experts and marine biologists. The new Hayman opens April
2014 (actually, make that July 1, 2014: BJ), from $730 a night. See hayman.com.au.

SEA
SENTOSA ECHO BEACH, INDONESIA

It hasn’t
even opened yet and already this Balinese beachfront resort has won world’s
best apartment at London’s International Property Awards. Located just north of
Seminyak on Canggu’s legendary surf beach, the 68-apartment resort features
“living walls” or vertical gardens by French botanist-designer
Patrick Blanc, a lagoon for your front yard and views straight out onto the
Indian Ocean. If looks are anything to go on, its two beach restaurants,
complete with sand beneath your feet, are set to rival those of Ku De Ta and
Potato Head when the resort opens come July 2014. From $175 for a garden
studio. See seasentosa.com.

By Belinda Jackson. This article first featured in the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age Traveller.

Oct

52 Weekends Away: food and wine in Gippsland

Temptation personified. Photo: Belinda Jackson

On a break from Cairo, here’s a little number from beautiful East Gippsland. If you’re in that neck of the woods (think Lakes Entrance way), make a beeline for this little beauty.

BAG END AT RIVENDELL

926 Stephenson Road, Tambo Upper, Vic
Phone: (03) 5156 4317 or 0419 302 074
Web: arkenstone.com.au

The location
Tambo Upper is an East
Gippsland hamlet located amid rolling farmland off the highway between
Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance. Rivendell is a 44-hectare property built
on the hilltops; you can look out to the spectacular Gippsland Lakes, a
favourite spot for boaties, fishermen and birdwatchers.

The place
Rivendell is a working Angus beef farm with two self-contained cottages that have also been named after things or places in The Lord of the Rings
– Arkenstone, a wheelchair-friendly, three-bedroom cottage, and the
one-bedroom Bag End, which we stayed in. In an earlier incarnation, Bag
End’s bedroom was a concrete water tank; it’s still circular, but now
it’s filled by a comfy bed and lined with racks of wine, available for
purchase. Both cottages have well-equipped kitchens and there’s a spa
tub in the garden. The farm is home to peacocks and guinea fowl, sheep,
hens and horses.

The experience
Start the day with
owner-chef Josh Thomas’s excellent breakfast and end it with a
three-course dinner. In between, there’s always lunch: the nearby
Nicholson River Winery serves platters that complement its renowned
Gippsland pinot noirs. Rivendell hires canoes and mountain bikes to
enable visitors to explore the picturesque Tambo River and the East
Gippsland Rail Trail.

Don’t miss
East Gippsland’s vibrant
villages. Bruthen is at the start of the Great Alpine Road and here you
can sink a local brew at the Bullant Brewery before popping into the new
Bruthen Bazaar. Metung, on the water’s edge, has a thriving cafe scene
and breakfast at The Metung Galley is highly recommended. There’s also a
farmer’s market on the second Saturday of each month.

Need to know
Cost: From $240 a night.
Distance: 3.5 hours’ drive (310km) east of Melbourne.
Children: Yes.

This story, written by Belinda Jackson, is part of 52 Weekends Away, published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

Sep

Junior suites: best kids’ hotel rooms

The Plaza, NY, USA

From fire
trucks to cats, hotel rooms appeal to the senses of youngsters by ditching the
boring beige and daring to dream.

Accosted
by pirates and knights or wading in a sea of frothy pink: waking up in the
stomach of a Nintendo game may be your idea of hell … or heaven.

Kids may
not be holding the purse strings, but canny hotels know that thinking small can
make a big difference.

While interconnecting rooms are a given, you’ll now
find alcoves stacked with bunks and stuffed with toys and books that remodel
the room from red-eye traveller to pint-sized revellers.

Here are six of the best.

The Fire Station Inn, Adelaide.

RED HOT

Adelaide, South Australia

Got a wannabe firefighter on your hands? Book a
night’s stay at the Fire Station Inn, Adelaide’s first fire station built in
1866, now a boutique hotel in swish North Adelaide. There’s a fully restored
1942 fire truck at the end of the queen-size bed, a fireman’s pole, lights and
costumes for dress-ups. The room has a king bed and a double sofa bed. Costs
from $275 a double plus $45 for children over two years. adelaideheritage.com.

DREAM BUILD

California, United States

Lego-mad kids can choose to be a pirate,
adventurer, or perhaps a knight at the new 250-room Legoland hotel in Carlsbad,
California. The hotel is made up of millions of Lego bricks and guests get
early entry to Legoland’s rides and attractions. The best thing is you don’t
have to pick up all the Lego pieces. Rooms comprise a queen bed and a separate
sleeping area for up to three kids. Kids stay and play free when booked by
September 30 for stays until November 21. From $179. legoland.com.

EMPIRE OF THE CAT

Jeju Island, South Korea

She’s super kawaii (cute) and pink to the
gills: Hello Kitty hits new highs in the five-star Lotte Hotel on Jeju Island.
Off South Korea’s southern coastline, Jeju is the country’s party island thanks
to its beaches and warm summers. Being Korean, the activities include sauna,
karaoke and hunting, but if your focus is a white kitty cat with a pink flower
in her hair, who appears on the duvets, the carpets and the walls, maybe that’s
not quite your game. Suites from $726. lottehoteljeju.com.

Wanderlust, Singapore

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Little India, Singapore

Step out of the madness of Little India and into a
madness of a different kind at Wanderlust, a super-cool Design Hotel whose two
fabulous space rooms feature a red space rocket and a few friendly aliens. The
kitchenette and bathroom are downstairs, then climb up to the loft bed and
watch the stars as you orbit into sleep. Costs from $298 a double, includes
breakfast and Wi-Fi. Extra beds from $85. wanderlusthotel.com.

THINK PINK

New York

The Fifth-Avenue home for stylish little girls is
the Eloise suite at the Plaza Hotel, dreamed up by fashion designer Betsey
Johnson. As they say: “Think pink and lots of it”. Saucy Eloise, the
heroine by Kay Thompson, who lived at the hotel, was modelled on Thompson’s
goddaughter, Liza Minnelli. The two-bedroom suite is a swirl of zebra print,
sparkly pink and neon lights. The Eloise ambassador will escort guests to the
suite, get their autograph and take a portrait, before presenting you with a
monogrammed Eloise bathrobe and a $100 gift card to the Eloise shop. From $1395
plus taxes. theplazany.com.

CAPITAL KIDS

Canberra

Canberra’s top hotel is currently the swish East
Hotel. Its Kids Cubby connects with the East Apartment for a chic, two-bedroom
option. The cubby has bunks, kids’ furniture, a little dining table and an Xbox
360 as well as other games. Book their Questacon package and get admission for
two adults and two kids into Questacon (the National Science and Technology
Centre), as well as a free in-room movie and popcorn, parking and a half bottle
of wine. From $380 (room only), $410 (Questacon pack). easthotel.com.au.

FIVE MORE COOL KIDS’
ROOMS

SWISSOTEL, PHUKET, THAILAND


	Legoland, California

Set by Kamala beach and a favourite with families,
the hotel can redesign the kids’ room, with age-relevant toys, food and games
for kids two to 17 years. From $154, two-bedroom suite, until November 1. swissotel.com.

FANTASYLAND HOTEL, EDMONTON, CANADA

Sleep in a pick-up truck, stylishly, in truck theme
room. There’s a queen bed in the back, a futon in the cab and fire-engine
toddler bunks. The igloo room has an icy-cool fitout. From $368. fantasylandhotel.com.

SHERATON MACAO HOTEL, MACAU

The largest Sheraton in the world’s two-bed,
two-bathroom suite has a kids’ room with craft tables, games, a Wii and bunk
beds. From $299. sheraton.com/macao.

THE PALMS, LAS VEGAS

For girls, as well as the girlish at heart, The
Barbie Suite is a very grown-up affair that sleeps six, and parties for 40.
From $3000. thepalms.com.

NOMAD XPERIENCE, GRANADA, SPAIN

Sleep in a yurt, a tipi or a gypsy wagon at this
property in the Sierra Nevada. €35 ($51) a person, €25 children three to 16
years. nomadx.es.

Source: Belinda Jackson,
Sun-Herald newspaper

Sep

The big six: west Bhutan lodgings

The richly decorated Zhiwa Ling Resort, Paro
Photo:Belinda Jackson

Looking for digs in western Bhutan? Here’s six of the best, from farmhouse to five star.

Note that the
government of Bhutan requires Australians and other foreign visitors to pay a
daily tourist tariff which varies on the group size, and covers meals and
3-star accommodation. Pay extra for luxury hotels. The tariff, based on two
people travelling, costs $US277 a person a night, through Bhutan & Beyond, bhutan.com.au.

ZHIWA LING RESORT, PARO

The country’s first Bhutanese-owned five-star hotel is built
in the traditional style from local stone. It’s a wildly colourful showcase of
Bhutanese artwork, spectacular knotted rugs and handmade furnishings. The views
from its 45 suites are of blue pine forests and layers of mountain ranges. It’s
located near the trek to the iconic Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest) Monastery, and a
lookout to the sacred Jomohari mountain. From US$184 a person a night plus
the daily tariff of US$277 a person, including all meals. See zhiwaling.com.

AMANKORA RESORT

PUNAKHA VALLEY

Walk across a chain-metal bridge over a glacial river and
you’ll come to a traditional Bhutanese farmhouse that is the centrepiece of
Amankora’s eight-room luxury lodge. The rooms are classic Kerry Hill designs:
warm timbers, hero baths and big picture windows overlooking the orchards and
rice terraces of Bhutan’s royal family. This is the smallest of Aman’s five
Bhutanese lodges, 10 minutes from the Punakha Dzong, one of the country’s most
photogenic fort-monasteries. From US$900 ($1006) a person a night, plus the
daily tariff of US$277, including all meals, beverages and laundry. See amanresorts.com.

GANGTEY GOENPA LODGE

GANGTEY VALLEY

Bhutan’s newest luxury lodge is perched above the
16th-century goempa (monastery) from which it takes its name. The Gangtey
valley spills out through the picture windows, a rich curve of farmland hemmed
in by the Himalayas. The 12-room lodge had its soft opening in June and is a
short walk to the important Gangtey monastery and its beautiful village. The
monastery holds a large tsechu (religious festival) each September/October. The
Gangtey Nature Trail (1½ hours) is an easy amble through spectacular
countryside. From US$273 a person a night, plus the daily tariff of US$277 a person,
including breakfast, easternsafaris.com.

GANGTEY FARMSTAY

GANGTEY VALLEY

Potato farmers Nangay Pem and her husband Phob Gaytshey got
electricity only 18 months ago in their two-storey traditional farmhouse. There
are four guest bedrooms and an altar room upstairs, while the family lives on
the ground floor. Join the family for dinner in the kitchen, seated on the
floor around the bukhari (wood stove). The couple’s daughter, Sonam Wangmo,
speaks good English, but you don’t need a guide to translate how to play
archery or to watch Phob Gaytshey, a lay monk, performing his morning prayers.
It’s polite to bring a small gift: perhaps kids’ books or a bag of
groceries. Included in the daily tariff of US$277 a person.

HOTEL PHUNTSHO PELRI THIMPHU

Set off the main street of Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, it
seems like everyone in town is staying at this well-run, three-star hotel. Snag
a corner room for warm sun and views up to the hills behind the city. There’s a
great little salon at the entrance, good for soothing pedicures using local
herbs, and a Thai restaurant is coming, thanks to an influx of Thai tourists.
Meals are buffet-style Bhutanese food and its Turkish spa soothes weary hikers’
bones. Nearby, Cousins restaurant specialises in excellent momos (steamed
dumplings). Included in the daily tariff of US$277 a person.

HOTEL YUOLOKE

GANGTEY VALLEY

With raked ceilings and more timber than a pine forest, this
three-star hotel serves good local food, including the classic red rice and ema
datse (sliced chili with white cheese). Set in front of its flashier sister,
Dewachen Hotel, it overlooks the valley which is a haven for endangered black
necked cranes, which winter here October to March. Out of season, the nearby
Crane Information Centre will get you up to speed on the revered birds, which
are celebrated with and a festival every November. Included in the daily
tariff of US$277 a person.

The writer was a guest of Bhutan & Beyond, bhutan.com.au

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age

Sep

Big wheels keep on turnin’ in Paris, Auckland and Ipswich: deals & kids’ gigs, September 1, 2013

The Workshop Rail Museum
in Ipswich, Qld

Right. Instead of leading with a lovely pool shot or something pleasingly ethnic (think old Indian man or a Vietnamese cyclist), I’m appealing to the trainspotters amongst you. Specifically, trainspotters in Ipswich. With kids. That’s Ipswich, Australia. I know you’re out there. If I lost you at trains, never fear, shack up in style on North Stradbroke Island or go five-star glam in Auckland or hit the moveable feast that is Paris, staying in your own apartment.

KIDS

Build your own railway empire, get behind the wheel of
the big engine or just let off steam at the award-winning Workshop Rail Museum
in Ipswich, 40km from Brisbane. For more big, loud fun, take a ride on the
monthly Steam Train Sundays and roar through Brisbane’s main drag on a steam
train. Open daily. General entry costs $20 adults, $11.30 kids 3-15 years,
families $59, theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au.

GO NOW: NEW
ZEALAND

Stay
four nights at the five-star Langham Auckland and save 20 per cent and get free
wifi until September 13. Score the ‘Linger Longer for Less’ offer at Langham
hotels including London and Sydney. Auckland costs from $149 a night. +64
(9) 379 5132, langhamhotels.com.

The pool shot we had to have: North Stradbroke Island, Qld

GO SOONER:
QUEENSLAND

Wrap up winter with three nights on family-friendly North
Stradbroke Island off Brisbane. Stay in a self-contained beach shack amongst
the dunes with return vehicle transfer, midday check-out, a meat tray for the
barbie and wi-fi until September 18. From $600, (07) 3415 0000, allurestradbroke.com.au.

GO LATER: PARIS

Enjoy la vie simple
with family holidays in Paris: this kid-friendly two-bedroom apartment in the
Marais is ideal for discovering the city by foot. Sleeps four or five and
includes breakfast. Usually $415 a night, from $355 a night until 31 January,
2014. petiteparis.com.au.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun-Herald newspaper

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