Arkaba Homestead bathed in golden light in the outback, Flinders Ranges.

Gourmet Traveller 2025 Hotel Guide

Gourmet Traveller‘s 2025 Hotel and Travel Awards showcase the properties and experiences that reflect Australia’s unique perspective and approach to luxury travel. Where else can you step onto a pristine beach and swim out mere metres to float over giant clam gardens; enjoy your hotel breakfast by the pool in a refitted 1960s surf motel; or sleep at the edge of ancient outback wilderness on a lovingly restored sheep station?

To celebrate Australia’s world-class properties, we invited hotels of all sizes to enter into the following categories: Hotel of the Year, Boutique Hotel of the Year and Resort of the Year, as well as Best New Hotel and Best Hotel Dining. Only properties that entered the awards were then considered for the Hotel Guide — and the submissions speak volumes about the calibre of our homegrown talent. Not only did globally recognised hoteliers and big-city properties turn up to the party, but also independently owned, boutique properties and the country’s most lavish lodges, where quintessential Australian experiences and our celebrated hospitality style abound.

Led by Gourmet Traveller editor Joanna Hunkin, an esteemed panel of industry experts was called on to review and endorse more than 50 hotels across Australia, before determining the best of the best. We’re not aiming for comprehensive (we’ll leave that to TripAdvisor). Rather, we’re setting an exceptional bar, where every hotel featured is GT approved.

The 2025 Hotel Guide is divided by states, with award winners leading and all remaining hotels listed alphabetically. Here are the very best hotels in Australia.

BEST HOTELS IN NSW & ACT

★ Boutique Hotel of the Year: Raes on Wategos
★ Best New Hotel: The Eve Hotel Sydney

Ace Hotel Sydney, Sydney
Basq House, Byron Bay
Bells at Killcare, Central Coast
Capella Sydney, Sydney
Chalets at Blackheath, Blue Mountains
Crown Towers Sydney, Sydney
Halcyon House, Cabarita Beach
Intercontinental Sydney, Sydney
Manly Pacific Hotel, Sydney
Osborn House, Southern Highlands
QT Sydney, Sydney
Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, Sydney
The Grand National Hotel by Saint Peter, Sydney
The Langham Sydney, Sydney

ACT: Ovolo Nishi, Canberra

BEST HOTELS IN VICTORIA

★ Hotel of the Year: The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne
★ Best Hotel Dining: Lake House

Drift House, Port Fairy
Hilton Little Queen Street, Melbourne
Hotel Sorrento, Mornington Peninsula
Jackalope Hotel, Mornington Peninsula
Le Méridien, Melbourne
Melbourne Place, Melbourne
Ovolo South Yarra, Melbourne
QT Melbourne, Melbourne
The Langham Melbourne, Melbourne
The Royce Hotel, Melbourne
The StandardX Melbourne, Melbourne
W Melbourne, Melbourne

BEST HOTELS IN QUEENSLAND

Intercontinental Hayman Great Barrier Reef, Whitsundays
JW Marriott Gold Coast, Gold Coast
Lizard Island Resort, Whitsundays
Mt Mulligan Lodge, Mount Mulligan
QT Gold Coast, Gold Coast
Qualia, Whitsundays
Silky Oaks Lodge, Daintree
The Calile, Brisbane
The Langham Gold Coast, Gold Coast
The Tamborine, Scenic Rim

BEST HOTELS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

★ Resort of the Year: Southern Ocean Lodge

Adelaide Marriott Hotel, Adelaide
Arkaba Homestead, Flinders Ranges
Kingsford The Barossa, Barossa Valley
Mount Lofty House, Adelaide Hills
Sequoia Lodge, Adelaide Hills
Sofitel Adelaide, Adelaide

BEST HOTELS IN TASMANIA

MACq 01 Hotel, Hobart
Saffire Freycinet, Coles Bay
Stillwater Seven, Launceston
The Tasman, Hobart

BEST HOTELS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Como The Treasury, Perth
The Ritz-Carlton Perth, Perth

All hotels in the Gourmet Traveller Hotel Guide have been determined via an esteemed panel of industry experts, including Goumet Traveller editor Joanna Hunkin and seasoned travel contributors Michael Harden, Lee Tulloch, Alexandra Carlton and more. Hoteliers were invited to enter into the following categories: Hotel of the Year, Boutique Hotel of the Year, Resort of the Year, Best Hotel Dining and Best New Hotel. Led by Hunkin, the panel of industry experts was called on to review and endorse more than 50 hotels across Australia, before determining the best of the best to deliver this first-class luxury hotel guide.
How the Gourmet Traveller Hotel Guide works

The Gourmet Traveller Team

Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.