Central Queensland’s First Five-Star Hotel is a Coastal Gateway

Peppers Gladstone proves its worth its salt, blending five-star comfort with access to the Great Barrier Reef.

Peppers Gladstone is the first five-star property to open within the Gladstone region. Full stop.  Whether you want to base yourself in the town itself or head out on day trips to some of the neighbouring islands or beaches in central Queensland, the hotel is right in position.

I hadn’t been to Gladstone since I was about 11, one of four kids in the back of a VW kombi van on our annual summer holiday down south. My Dad, an English subject master, encouraged us to make up a sing-song of the place names as we bounced along the Bruce Highway to Brisbane. And Gladstone was both part of the chorus line – Gladstone, Miram Vale, the sun breaks through, Gin Gin and Bundaberg we’re coming for you – and an engaging geography lesson. The staccato tune has stayed with me ever since.

Decades on, the prospect of returning to Gladstone made me nostalgic for the carefree East Coast road trips of my childhood. Peppers Gladstone opened in Gladdie, as the town is affectionately known, in February 2025.

Location

the Port of Gladstone Harbour as captured from above — The hotel’s location offers convenient access to the Great Barrier Reef. (Image: Mark Fitz/Tourism and Events Queensland)

You can’t tell the story of Gladstone without acknowledging its role as a major export hub for billions of dollars’ worth of coal and liquid natural gas. While the Port of Gladstone Harbour Tour is one of the most popular tours in town, visitors to the region should also widen that circle to include its abundance of pristine beaches, untouched islands and subtropical hinterland. Gladstone is right now caught in the crosshairs of being a major multi-commodity port and a jumping-off point to the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef.

Gladstone is about a six-hour drive north of Brisbane and hour-long flight from the state’s capital.

the Tannum Sands as captured from above — Stretches of golden sand at Tannum Sands. (Image: Mark Fitz/Tourism and Events Queensland)

Staying at Peppers Gladstone gives visitors access to Heron Island and Lady Musgrave Island at the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s also a launch pad to pristine beaches like Agnes Water, 1770 and Tannum Sands. Green thumbs will also enjoy a jaunt to the 83-hectare Tondoon Botanic Gardens, which has 3000 plant varieties, a Japanese tea garden, sculptures, herbarium and lake.

General manager Craig Conley is somewhat of an evangelist for the area’s attractions and says the Peppers property is a great example of the area’s evolution.

Peppers Gladstone shares its footprint with Mantra Gladstone and marks the first new-build hotel to open in the region in more than a decade. It is, says general manager Craig Conley, a clear sign that the Capricorn Coast town is evolving as a place to linger.

Style and character

the lounge in Peppers Gladstone — The interior is awash with earthy tones.

Accor, in collaboration with Yaralla Sports Club, launched the five-star hotel in early 2025 to provide a five-star accommodation option for visitors in town for business or leisure.

“Peppers Gladstone has helped put the town on the map," says Conley. “And, being a dual-branded property, it offers guests a choice between the familiar comforts of a Mantra property and the elevated experience of Peppers," he says.

The property speaks to its locale. And each room is themed – Outback, Coastal, City, Rainforest – reflecting the diversity of the surrounding landscape. We’re in an Outback room, which is all earthy tones and textured wallpaper, and a reminder that we’re deep in the agro-industrial Queensland countryside.

“The Peppers experience is about community and connection. It feels like a hub for the local community," says Conley.

Given Gladstone is a town built around heavy industry, the Accor property is designed to accommodate some of the executives who are visiting the town on business.

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Facilities

the pool at Peppers Gladstone — The magnesium swimming pool beckons for a relaxing dip.

The outdoor terrace includes a heated magnesium swimming pool with complimentary drinks at the pool deck bar (during select hours). Guests are also invited to access an eight-seater cinema room and well-appointed nearby gym. There’s also secure undercover parking, wi-fi and an indoor-outdoor space near the pool and terrace designed for all seasons. Guests staying at Peppers Gladstone can also watch their favourite sporting team on the big screen at the adjacent Yaralla Sports Club.

Rooms

Designed by BSPN Architects and constructed by Mettle Projects, Peppers Gladstone offers a range of different accommodation options, from King Studio Rooms to Superior Two-Bedroom Apartments. All guestrooms feature fully equipped kitchens, king-sized beds, large flatscreen TVs with screen-casting capabilities and a minibar stocked with complimentary non-alcoholic drinks.

a look inside the bathroom with a tub at Peppers Gladstone — Each suite comes with spacious bathrooms.

Peppers Gladstone is essentially a 32-room hotel. But the dual-branded hotel concept means the property itself can accommodate more than 150 guests, thanks to an additional 60 rooms as part of Mantra Gladstone, making it perfectly suited for weddings and large gatherings.

Food and drink

the on-site bar at Peppers Gladstone — Pull up a chair at the on-site bar for a drink or two.

Onsite restaurant Encore is open for breakfast and dinner.  Breakfast is served between 5.30am and 9am and includes a live cooking station for omelettes and eggs cooked to order and includes buffet favourites like fresh fruit, yoghurt, pastries as well as grilled bacon, chipolatas and grilled vegetables. Dinner is served buffet-style and the menu changes daily. It also includes the option of a stone-grill where you can cook your wagyu, salmon or eye fillet to your liking at a stone grill delivered to your table (for an additional $6.50). There’s also the adjacent Shingle Inn, popular for burgers and salads.

The pool deck is also open for a beverage at the end of the day where you can supervise the children in the swimming pool. Nearby Ward’s Brewery is a top spot to test the barometer of this true-blue borough. The pub has a big screen promotion of Lady Musgrave Island and the Great Barrier Reef playing on a loop and is filled with travellers plotting their next move. Peppers Gladstone also has a member’s lounge, which is a welcoming space for a hot or cold beverage.

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Does Peppers Gladstone have access for guests with disabilities?

Yes, Peppers Gladstone is wheelchair accessible.

Is Peppers Gladstone family-friendly?

a mother and child exploring Tondoon Botanic Gardens — Take your little ones to Tondoon Botanic Gardens for a refreshing stroll. (Image: Mark Fitz/Tourism and Events Queensland)

Yes, the hotel is family-friendly. It’s also located near to protected beaches and islands that are perfect for little ones who are learning to snorkel. Take a stroller to explore the city’s open spaces with a wander along the Millennium Esplanade at Tannum Sands Beach, which has a playground and barbecues, and East Shores Parklands, which has a waterfront boardwalk, green space, barbecues and water play area.

Details

Best for: Large groups and business or leisure travellers.
Address: Corner Wood & Bell St, Barney Point

Price: From $240 per night.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat , now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate , whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor , who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will , who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods . “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield , embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House .

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument , which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds .

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens , hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Central Queensland’s first five-star hotel is a coastal gateway