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Your guide to the best accommodation around Australia for every type of traveller

Whether you’re after the perfect family holiday or after something a little more romantic, Accor has the stay for you.

Nothing sets the tone of your holiday quite like the accommodation you’ve chosen. After all, who can imagine a wellness retreat without an on-site day spa, or a sprawling family resort without a kids’ club (or babysitting service)? The truth is there are as many ways to holiday as there are types of travellers – but happily, there’s accommodation for every type of traveller.

Fun family holidays

A successful family holiday requires plenty of space – not to mention essential amenities, like a fully equipped kitchen and laundry, a central location near plenty of activities and attractions, and those all-important beaches. The following properties all fit the bill and were designed with kids in mind.

1. Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas

inside room at Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas
Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas is perfect for a family getaway.

Will it be a day of snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, horse riding along the golden sands of Cape Tribulation, or trying your hand at watersports at Four Mile Beach? For those checked in at Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas, the correct answer can only ever be ‘all of the above’ – but only if you can convince the kids to get out of the hotel’s lagoon-style swimming pool.

Featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments (some with private swim-up pool decks), the hotel is also conveniently located moments from the town centre.

2. Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour

Novotel Sydney On Darling Harbour
Send the kids to Kid’s club, and head to the restaurant.

Kids’ club: the two words most parents of little ones long to hear. With Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour, however, that’s only the beginning. This eco-friendly hotel (which is famous for its spacious rooms) pulls out all the stops, serving up a 10-metre outdoor pool, tennis court and a signature restaurant, The Ternary.

Located in the heart of Sydney’s vibrant Darling Harbour precinct, the hotel is steps from WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and the Australian National Maritime Museum.

3. Mantra on Salt Beach Kingscliff

Mantra On Salt pool
The Tweed offers the best of both worlds.

When the kids are screaming ‘Gold Coast theme parks’ but your body needs a little Byron Bay downtime, the answer arrives in the form of Mantra on Salt Beach Kingscliff, an airy resort located in The Tweed. Some of Queensland and New South Wales’s top beaches and attractions are only a short drive away.

Featuring one- and two-bedroom suites, a tennis court and a lagoon-style pool (plus a children’s wading pool), guests also have the option to rent a bike, book a treatment at the onsite day spa, or organise child-minding for date night.

Couples getaways

Remember those candlelit dinners when you first got together? Or what about those long walks along the beach and lazy sleep-ins – complete with room service?

If you’re still searching your memory, it’s time to hit reboot on romance by booking a hotel geared around good food, good times and more than a little privacy.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

AI Prompt

1. Sofitel Melbourne On Collins

inside room at Sofitel Melbourne
Soak in the gorgeous view.

Located in the heart of Melbourne’s shopping and theatre districts, there’s every reason those checking into Sofitel Melbourne On Collins will want to head out and explore. A night in, however, can mean a champagne or signature cocktail (or two) at The Atrium Bar on 35 before an intimate feast at No35, where French gastronomy reaches new heights.

Top tip? Book the Romance Getaway Package, which includes a bottle of French champagne, breakfast in bed and a leisurely 2pm check out.

2. Mondrian Gold Coast

inside a room at The Mondrian
Enjoy classy surrounds at The Mondrian.

The Gold Coast suburb of Burleigh has all the ingredients needed for a romantic escape. And the best place to explore it all from is the stunning beachfront lifestyle precinct, Mondrian Gold Coast.

Stay in one of 208 accommodation options, including studios, suites, homes and houses. Taste your way through the levels of dining options, from authentic Italian and surf-to-plate seafood, and dive into the lively pool club. Or relax with a restorative treatment together at the spa.

City escapes

Nabbing a front-row seat to urban life (and momentarily feeling like a local) is as easy as checking into a city hotel and letting the streets around you set the pace for your next holiday.

Laidback retreats and coastal getaways will always have their place, but here you can step straight into galleries and boutique stores, roll into restaurants and tumble out of bars – all before watching the sun rise across a gleaming skyline.

A convenient location, of course, is key.

1. 25hours Hotel The Olympia

25hours Sydney Atrium
Book into Sydney’s newest boutique spot.

Hotels are all too often about retreating from the city they’re located in, but at Sydney’s newest boutique spot, 25hours Hotel Sydney The Olympia, a stay is all about immersing yourself in the area. Channelling the energy and creativity of its Oxford Street location, the hotel’s bold and playful design is a nod to the building’s arthouse beginnings as West’s Olympia Theatre. Guests can choose to stay in either a light and airy Dreamers room or the more dramatic Renegades option.

This is home to two stand-out bars (one of them on the rooftop) and a cafe serving Lune croissants, as well as The Palomar, a hot dining spot that serves as a love letter to the Mediterranean.

2. Hyde Melbourne Place

Hyde Melbourne
Be steps from Melbourne’s best attractions.

Some of Melbourne’s finest restaurants might be on Hyde Melbourne Place’s doorstep, but there’s no need for guests to venture out the front door for a bite to remember. The innovative brand’s first Australian offering is not only home to three distinctive venues (including an atmospheric rooftop restaurant), but is also the winner of a Michelin Key 2025.

Conveniently located in the east end of the city’s CBD within moments of the city’s iconic laneways, accommodation ranges from a soothing General Admission Queen to the spectacular Headliner Suite (many with balconies overlooking the city buzzing below). A high-end fitness space and Peach Pilates streamed straight to your in-room tablet are available too. Our top tip? Call ahead for a Sonna Brightening LED Face Mask and say yes to winding down with a meditative ritual designed to support skin health, clarity and calm.

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Tranquil retreats

There’s no question 2026 is going to be your year, but it would be foolish to hard-launch this new and improved you without first taking some time to relax, rejuvenate and reflect on how you can find better balance in the year to come.

It’s time to treat yourself to a wellness getaway that’s designed around peace, natural beauty and more than a few spa treatments.

1. Pullman Bunker Bay Resort

Pullman Bunker Bay pool
Relax into Pullman Bunker Bay Resort.

Kangaroos at dawn, Margaret River wineries at noon and a long evening of life-affirming massage treatment come the late afternoon; there’s a lot to love about a stay at Pullman Bunker Bay Resort. And that’s without even touching on the resort’s secluded beachfront location.

Whether you check into a studio villa or a three-bedroom, three-bathroom villa, the views stretching out over the lake or garden will help you hit reset as you ponder the important questions: should you take a drive to nearby Geographe Bay to enjoy the dive of a lifetime, settle in for a long and lazy day in the resort’s heated infinity-edge pool, or make booking after booking at Vie Spa to try its extensive range of massages, facials and treatments?

The cherry on top? The resort has a complimentary – albeit seasonal – kids’ club, too.

2. Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge

couple in spa at Peppers Cradle Mountain
Connect with yourself and nature at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge.

Welcome to the ultimate alpine wellness experience, a luxurious lodge nestled in the lush peaks of Tasmania’s World Heritage-listed Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, where ‘forest bathing’ takes on a whole new meaning.

Offering quick and easy access to some of the region’s most iconic walking trails (not to mention a window to our most striking flora and fauna), every cabin and suite at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge – some with their own fireplace – is designed to help you exhale.

Say yes to a wealth of included activities, such as an evening wildlife safari, a guided Crater Lake mountain walk or the Aboriginal Heritage & Bush Tucker tour. Unwind by retreating to the famous Waldheim Alpine Spa, where treatment rooms overlook rugged mountains and ancient forests.

Wellness has never looked – or felt – so luxurious.

Learn more and plan your next escape at All.com.

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Dilvin Yasa
Dilvin Yasa is a freelance journalist, author and TV presenter whose travels have taken her from the iceberg graveyards of Antarctica to the roaring rapids of Uganda. Always on the lookout for that next unforgettable meal, wildlife moment or 80s-themed nightclub, she is inexplicably drawn to polar destinations despite detesting the cold.
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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe Cann Chloe Cann
    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington, like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours. While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.

    Part of From seaside to city