Tasmania - Accommodation
 

My wife and I will be visiting Tasmania at the end of the month and would appreciate reccommendations on 3 - 4 star accommodation in the following places.

Launceston
Stanley
Cradle Mountain
Strahan

Cheers Travelmasta

I don't really know the star system, but at Cradle Mountain there is a lodge that has cabins at various prices and levels of luxury, Cradle Mountain Lodge:

http://www.cradlemountainlodge.com.au/

Hobart has a gorgeous hotel, the Henry Jones, it's also a much more interesting city than Launceston, if your entry point is still open.

In Strahan, we stayed at Franklin Manor which I wouldn't recommend. Although, the restaurant was great. Ormiston House looked nice in Strahan. Strahan itself is a fairly touristy town, but the cruise up the Gordon River is sublime.

Hi Travelmasta -

I'm not sure about the rating system either, but we enjoyed these places:

Rosevears Estate (17 km north of Launceston at the edge of a vineyard - excellent accommodation). The nearby Rosevears Tavern is also very good.

The Dovecote Motel - Stanley - Excellent restaurant attached

Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village (we had a cabin)

Hilltop Motel - Strahan - part of Strahan Village

I agree with Susan that Launceston itself isn't that interesting, but the Tamar Valley and the surrounding area certainly is. The Tamar Island Wetlands is home to the longest estuary in Australia (70 km). There are also some nice national parks and good hiking paths within an hour or so of Launceston, not to mention berry farms, wineries, etc.

Of all the places we visited in our two trips to TAS, I liked Strahan the least. It felt like a tourist trap to me.

We loved Cradle Mountain and Stanley.

If you're interested, I have two detailed (but not recent) trip reports posted here on Fodor's. Just click on my name and scroll down to Trip Reports.

Hey Mel, yes, that's a much better and more accurate way of describing Strahan: a tourist trap! "There's no there there" as Gertrude Stein put it. We ended up spending three nights there unfortunately because the cabin I was trying to book at Lake St Clair wasn't available until then.

Lake St Clair was great when we got there:

http://www.lakesidestclair.com.au/

Hi Susan & Melnq

Thank you both for your replies, comments and details of where you stayed and the places you liked. Thank you Melnq for offering your trip reports we will definitely use these and Susan for the Ormiston house reccommendation. I guess you both did the Gordon River cruise........do you have any tips on these ...ie name of company you used.

We are staying 5 nights in Hobart and using it as a base for day tris. We will also stay in Bicheno and St Helens on our way to Launceston.

Once again thank you for your help and assistance.

cheers travelmasta

There were two companies doing the cruises up the Gordon River when we went, and as far as I could gather there was not much difference between them. Both have modern boats, both have a buffet lunch. One had a discount if you went on the railway journey, and the other had a cheaper rate if you didn't want to take the buffet lunch.

One cruise left half an hour before the other, so we didn't run into the other boat. They both go to Sarah Island (the convict site) and then a landing site in the rainforest further up river. The boat we went on also briefly stopped at the salmon farm (very sad to hear the colour is from some pellet they feed them).

When we went to Freycinet, we stayed at Swansea mainly because there was a bigger range of places to eat. There's a fantastic restaurant there using all the fantastic Tasmanian produce:

http://www.thebancrestaurant.com.au/

I'll get my hand slapped for this, but we didn't take the Gordon River cruise. The weather was awful when we were in Strahan, so we didn't see the point. Next time maybe.

And your punishment is that you have to return to and stay in Strahan! But wait there's more, you have to go to the theatre performance in Strahan: The Ship that never was.

http://www.roundearth.com.au/ship.htm

So be it Susan, I'll be sure to do both on my next trip to TAS.

By the way, I'm intrigued by the link you posted for Lake St Clair Lodge. I'd scoured the internet looking for lodging near Lake St Clair, but I couldn't find much. We ended up staying three nights in a cabin in Bronte park.

The cabins are great, and very reasonably priced--they also have camping and backpacking accommodation at the same site. It's right in the national park and next to the lake, so an excellent place for seeing (and hearing) the nocturnal animals.

If you remember the main structure at Lake St Clair--where the overland walkers either start or finish--the cabins are situated to the right of that when facing the lake. The cafe turned into a restaurant at night and it was also very good with a beautiful view of the lake.

When I was searching, the accommodation was listed as located at "Derwent's Bridge."

I know exactly where you're referring to now. Thanks for that.

Travelmasta,

I am a frequent visitor to Strahan and although I don't understand the star ratings very well, or stay in commercial accommodation in town I recommend the following 2 places for good accommodation:

Risby Cove http://www.risby.com.au/ I think this is the pick of the Strahan accommodation due to the waterfront location. Friends enjoyed their stay very much.

Gordon Gateway Chalets http://www.gordongateway.com.au/ This property has good views across the bay.

Less expensive accommodation that I have recommended in the past:

Strahan Wilderness Lodge (out on the Ocean Beach Rd. about 5 mins from town)- I've not had a report of this place for some years, http://www.bayviewcottages-cabins.com.au/index.html

Amongst the best value in town is Harbour Views, a friend at work has stayed here for 2-3 weeks each year and says it is comfortable.

This list of Strahan accommodation might also be useful, http://www.about-australia.com/trave...accommodation/

There are a number of activities in Strahan which as others have written is very touristy. This website has a lot of ideas, http://www.puretasmania.com.au/home.html whilst details of another cruise company are available here, http://www.worldheritagecruises.com.au/ I don't think there is much difference between the cruises, however, the new Bonnet Island experience to see the fairy penguins and the harbour during the evening is good. Piners & Miners is
a bit expensive but it does allow visitors to see a lot in one day - an early start on the railway to travel to the Bird River then the 7 km walk through to Pillinger where a gourmet barbecue awaits before a cruise up the harbour to return to Strahan in the late afternoon.

The seafood smorgasboard at the motel on top of the hill is good value at around $43 each, drinks extra.

I can recommend Kurrajong House in Launceston which is a good value B&B, http://www.kurrajonghouse.com.au/. Its about a 15 minute walk from the centre of Launceston and buses pass the door. Fiona's http://www.fionas-bnb.com.au/ is closer to the city, but I prefer Kurrajong House as it is quieter. I also suggest dinner at Pickled Evenings for a lite Indian style meal, again 5-10 minutes walk from Kurrajong House and a stone's throw from Fiona's.

Other recommended places to stay are Hi George http://higeorge.com.au/ and Kilmarnock House http://www.kilmarnockhouse.com/ The Abel Tasman on the road to the airport is OK but is about 20 minutes from the city, I've not stayed there recently, http://www.abeltasman.bestwestern.com.au/

Enjoy your Tasmanian holiday,


Pol

Hi Pol,

Thank you for the wealth of information you have provided it is much appreciated...............cheers travelmasta

We stayed at Lake St Clair cabins (right near the lake), too and they were basic but just fine. Some small marsupial critter (not sure what it was, pademelon, Rufus wallaby, bunyip? :) )was ambling around outside our door for part of the night - and stood most obligingly to be photographed. We were a bit off season, so the cafe wasn't open for dinner. We had to drive to Derwent Bridge (not that far) to eat at the pub, but the food was quite good, and not expensive.

We also stayed at Cradle Mountain Boutique Hotel. <b>Do not stay there.</b> For one thing - it's 20 km from Cradle Mountain. For another - there's nothing there - you have to eat at their restaurant, and certainly not worth the money.

We spent two nights at Freycinet Lodge, and that was great. Again, we had our own critter living outside our door. There's nothing there but the lodge, but we loved it. The cafe was good and scenery marvellous. Didn't want to leave.

We also spent a night at Swansea - and out of season, that was a mistake. Most of the restaurants were closed. Our room had no heating - and I've probably never been so cold in my life - and this was in October.

This is a bit off your question, but if you are staying in Launceston, try to book dinner at Fi and Me. We had a world class meal and wonderful wine pairings there. We stayed at the Ashton Gate B&B and found it to be well located and just fine for our needs. We enjoyed the day we spent in Launceston and found it to be a perfect lay-over between Cradle Mountain and Freycinet.

Hi PJTravels,

Thanks for your reccommendations we will check them out.

most appreciated ............cheers travelmasta