2013 Travel Awards Readers’ Choice

Nespresso Best Large Luxury Hotel

Winner: Crown Towers, Melbourne

Runner-up: Park Hyatt Sydney

Crown is not only the best address in Melbourne, but also a pacesetter for five-star hotel accommodation nationwide. It takes its cues from grand hotels in the US and Europe to create an uncommon Australian experience of smartly trained staff, spacious rooms with impeccable amenities, and constant attention to detail. crowntowers.com.au

Best Outback Experience

Winner: El Questro Homestead, WA

Runner-up: Ayers Rock Resort, NT

A backyard spanning a million acres (400,000 hectares) means El Questro Homestead offers unrivalled access to a glorious hunk of the Australian outback. The nine-room retreat sits high on an escarpment above the Chamberlain River, an eagle’s-eye outpost over the rugged red earth of the Kimberley. It’s frontier touring with all the frills. elquestro.com.au

Best City Boutique Accommodation

Winner: Islington, Hobart

Runner-up: The Cullen, Melbourne

It’s a measure of Islington’s enduring appeal that since it nabbed the Best Boutique Hotel gong in our inaugural Travel Awards in 2007, it’s made a comeback this year to sweep the city boutique accommodation category. islingtonhotel.com

Best Expedition or Adventure Cruising

Winner: North Star Cruises

Runner-up: Aurora Expeditions

With 25 years of Kimberley exploration under its hull, no cruise line knows the charms of Australia’s wild-west coastline better than North Star. It’s a genuine expedition cruise that bypasses the touristed routes in favour of steering passengers well off the beaten track. northstarcruises.com.au

Best Resort or Lodge

Winner: Southern Ocean Lodge, SA

Runner-up: Saffire Freycinet, Tas

It’s hard to imagine a more sympathetic or sensational tribute to the wild beauty of Kangaroo Island than Southern Ocean Lodge. James and Hayley Baillie’s elegant eyrie perched on a rise above Hanson Bay takes full advantage of the surrounding nature without disturbing it. southernoceanlodge.com.au

Best River Cruising

Winner: APT

Runner-up: Aqua Expeditions

The family-owned and Melbourne-based APT has been leading tours since the 1920s but only got into river cruising in 2000. Since then the company’s phenomenal growth, bolstered by the swelling ranks of Australian and New Zealand cruise aficionados, has seen its fleet grow to 15 riverboats plying the great rivers of Europe and Asia. aptouring.com.au

Best Weekend Away

Winner: Hobart

Runner-up: Melbourne

As we foreshadowed in our city guide to the Tasmanian capital published in March 2011, Hobart is so hot right now. Or so cool, depending on your perspective. Partly it’s the Bilbao effect of MONA that is luring mainlanders south for short stays, but the city is not short of pilgrimage-worthy accommodation, eating and attractions. discovertasmania.com

Best Wine Tourism

Winner: Barossa Valley, SA

Runner-up: Hunter Valley, NSW

Recipe for a great wine region: take seven generations of European settlers, mix together their distinctive cultures, season with a shared passion for viniculture, and roll them out over a sweep of painterly landscapes. The Barossa might be best known for producing some of the finest shiraz on the planet, but it is one of Australia’s most diverse (and enchanting) food and wine regions. barossa.com

Best Special Event

Winner: Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

Runner-up Australian Open Tennis

Just like a great wine or a favourite bistro, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is maturing nicely. It’s educational, it’s fun and it’s all about food – the perfect ingredients for our inaugural Best Special Event winner. melbournefoodandwine.com.au

Best Tour Operator or Travel Company

Winner: Intrepid Travel

Runner-up: Helen Wong’s Tours

It started as two men and a truck roughing it around Africa in the ’80s. Now Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester preside over a global business that leads the world in small-group adventures. Responsible tourism with a big heart. intrepidtravel.com

Best Spa or Health Resort

Winner: Gwinganna, Qld

Runner-up: Qualia, Qld

Gwinganna, set on 200 hectares in the Gold Coast hinterland’s Tallebudgera Valley, offers spiritual and physical renewal and a restorative dose of coast and valley views. It’s easy to understand why this tropical resort has such a devoted following. It helps, too, that Hollywood’s Mr Nice Guy, Hugh Jackman, is now a joint-owner. gwinganna.com

Best Golf Resort

Winner: Hamilton Island Golf Club, Qld

Runner-up: Cypress Lakes Resort, NSW

Imagine a championship golf course marooned in the Whitsundays on its own island, bordered by the sparkling Coral Sea; an 18-hole, par-71 course designed by British Open legend Peter Thomson that unfurls across the picturesque ridges and steep valleys of Dent Island, just a short boat (or helicopter) ride west of Hamilton Island. A fairway to heaven, some might say. hamiltonislandgolfclub.com.au

Best Cruise Line

Winner: Cunard

Runner-up: Silversea

Since Samuel Cunard dispatched his first wooden paddle steamer across the Atlantic in 1840, the Cunard line has set the gold standard for leisurely life at sea. Its reigning monarchs, the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, capture the romance of ocean-going travel with their emphasis on bygone class and charm. cunardline.com.au

Best Cultural Attraction

Winner: MONA, Hobart

Runner-up: Sydney Opera House

As art galleries go, MONA has been a massive game-changer. Millionaire art nerd David Walsh’s fanciful collection of old and new art, and the striking steel and sandstone fortress he built to house it, are like a Willy Wonka factory of pure imagination. And it’s put the Tasmanian capital firmly on the itineraries of art lovers here and abroad. mona.net.au

Best Domestic Airport

Winner: Melbourne

Runner-up: Sydney

The Melbourne-to-Sydney commute is the fifth-busiest intercity route in the world in terms of passenger numbers, so it’s little wonder we do airports well in Australia. Melbourne’s Tullamarine has the edge on the others thanks to the convenience of its linked domestic and international terminals and its ethos of constant innovation. melbourneairport.com.au

Best Airline Service

Winner: Singapore Airlines

Runner-up: Emirates

For an airline that has served Australia for 45 years, Singapore Airlines is certainly not resting on its laurels. In the past 12 months it has worked to shore up our support by upgrading entertainment options and launching a Virgin America codeshare to boost its US reach from five to 14 cities. No wonder we’re so keen on the Singapore Girl. singaporeair.com