Australia’s most unique hotels

YOU may have heard about some of the world’s more bizarre hotels, including a frozen Swedish palace with ice blocks for beds. When it comes to the unique hotels of Australia, we like ’em weird and wonderful too – but with a mattress.

A sense of adventure and a sense of humour are important things to pack on any holiday but no one said you can’t be outgoing and comfortable at the same time. Australia’s most exceptional lodgings are nothing if not eccentric, audacious, whimsical, quaint, daring and strangely beautiful. They also happen to be great hotels.

Where you sleep is a big part of any holiday. It’s your retreat within a retreat and there’s every reason to be choosy about where you bed down for the night. An interesting hotel can rescue a mediocre vacation and often resonates long after as the most memorable part of the trip.

Australia’s most striking hotels welcome guests on the land, sea and in the airy treetops but don’t let your imagination stop there. Some of our more interesting inns are actually below our feet.

The Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, outback South Australia, is a dugout-style hideaway and proudly claims title as the world’s only 4-star underground hotel. PJ’s Underground B&B in White Cliffs, New South Wales, boasts the only underground en-suite room and cheekily celebrates its 64-million-year-old ceiling. (It looks great.)

These places are more spacious than you’d imagine and specialise in peace and quiet.

Rising up to sea level, Mannum, SA plays host to a world-class floating hotel that seems to inspire the word “luxurious” in anyone who mentions it.  The 5-star houseboat tradition captained by Boatel (pictured here) includes panoramic windows in each room and sophistication in all details. In other words, luxurious.

If you’re looking for something from the only-in-Australia file, try the Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn, situated in the Northern Territory’s Kakadu National Park. The indigenous-owned hotel practices environmental energy-conservation strategies, operates an indigenous employment program and – get this – it looks like a crocodile from the air.

No hideaway provides the sensation of rising above the hustle and bustle of daily life quite like a treehouse. Tropical Queensland is the Australian headquarters for these foresty furloughs and our preferred playground for combining wilderness with pleasure.

The Canopy Treehouses is an eco-resort set in an ancient rainforest of the Cairns highlands that seamlessly fuses luxury accommodation with high standards of environmentalism. Six two-bedroom treehouses with all the amenities dot the premises.

An hour north of Brisbane, Secrets on the Lake offers unique treehouse getaways with an emphasis on intimacy and romance. Sculpted elevated walkways lead to 10 individually themed cabins tucked away in the woods.

For a more wellness-oriented approach to treetop living, visit the Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa. The Daintree offers 15 “bayans” nestled in the trees of what it calls the world’s oldest rainforest. Rejuvenating spa therapies and natural recalibrating are the focus of this pampering oasis.

Adding a little history to your holiday is a great way to expand your experience. (See Historic holidays.) And what better way to get a closer look at the past than to sleep in it? Australia’s historic hotels have stood the test of time for good reason.

Try the Old Mount Gambier Gaol in the southern tip of SA for a night in an 1866 prison. Checking out of the hostel was impossible until it transitioned to hospitality in 1995. Cell and non-cell rooms are available.

Tasmania finds its way onto our list, with Hobart’s Pendragon Hall Studio Apartment – an 1850s gothic-style church converted into fully-equipped accommodation. The interiors of the Pendragon are classic and stately. All the modern conveniences are available but somehow camouflaged in the time machine of a hotel.

Back to Adelaide for the last entry on our backwards timeline, The Fire Station Inn. The restored 1860s fire station features three luxury suites, including an irresistible fireman’s pole. (Shouldn’t every hotel have one of these?) Considering its utilitarian past, the inn is surprisingly swanky, complete with marble tiles, a Tuscan courtyard, leather furniture and a seven-metre sundeck in the penthouse apartment.