With a decent exchange rate and a good supply of moderately priced places to stay, you can find both comfort and bargains throughout Australia. We also include some unique places to stay.
- North Adelaide Heritage Group (Adelaide, South Australia): It’s worth coming to Adelaide just for the experience of staying in one of these out-of-this-world apartments, cottages, or suites. Each of the 21 properties is fabulous. We particularly recommend the former Friendly Meeting Chapel Hall, once the headquarters of the “Albert Lodge No. 6 of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity Friendly Society, and the Court Huntsman’s Pride No. 2478 of the Ancient Order of Foresters Friendly Society.”
- Underground Motel (Broken Hill, New South Wales): Making the trip out to White Cliffs is worth the effort, just to stay here for the night. All but two of the rooms are underground; they’re reached by a maze of spacious tunnels dug out of the rock and sealed with epoxy resin. The temperature below ground is a constant 72°F (22°C), which is decidedly cooler than a summer day outside. Rooms are comfortable though basic, with shared toilets and showers. Turn the light off, and it’s dark as a cave.
- Freycinet Lodge (Freycinet National Park, Tasmania): We can’t praise this ecofriendly lodge enough. Comfortable one- and tworoom cabins spread unobtrusively through the bush, connected by raised walking tracks. The main part of the lodge houses a lounge room and an excellent restaurant that sweeps out onto a veranda overlooking the limpid green waters of Great Oyster Bay. The lodge is right next to the white sands of Hazards Beach, and from here it’s an easy stroll to the start of the Wineglass Bay walk.
- Reef Retreat (Cairns, Queensland): A low-rise collection of contemporary studios and suites built around a saltwater swimming pool in a peaceful grove of palms and silver Paperbarks, Reef Retreat has 36 units, including studios (which are much larger than the average hotel room and offer terrific value).
