Wild Queensland Express

Brisbane's most coveted luxury address, built in 1986 as Australia's only hotel designed by visionary modernist architect Harry Seidler, instantly recognisable for its soaring glass atrium and sculptural spiral staircase. Rising 25 floors in the heart of the CBD, the hotel's 319 rooms and suites — Classic Rooms, Club Lounge access rooms, and one-bedroom Suites — offer sophisticated city views, premium bedding, bathrobes, and a minibar. Beneath the atrium, Latitude 27 Kitchen & Bar serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with seasonal menus and crafted cocktails, while valet parking, a 24-hour fitness centre, hot tub, and outdoor pool round out the amenities. Just steps from Queen Street Mall and within a 10-minute walk of Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, the hotel offers unrivalled access to the city's premier retail, dining, and cultural precincts, including South Bank Parklands and the Gallery of Modern Art. With over 26,000 square feet of conference and event space, InterContinental Brisbane is equally suited to business travellers and leisure guests, earning consistently excellent reviews for its staff, breakfast buffet, and unbeatable central location.

A legendary rainforest retreat perched on an isolated plateau 1,000 metres above sea level on Green Mountains, deep within World Heritage-listed Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland — quite literally at the end of the road. Owned and operated by the O'Reilly family for over 90 years since pioneering Australian ecotourism in 1926, the retreat offers cosy wood-panelled Mountain View Rooms and Stinson Suites overlooking the western McPherson Ranges, alongside 48 self-contained, architecturally designed one, two, and three-bedroom Villas nestled into the sloping hillside. The Dining Room serves hearty breakfast and dinner in a rustic, chalet-style setting, complemented by the Rainforest Bar and Mountain Café & Gifts, while the Lost World Spa offers seven treatment rooms including couples' suites. Guests can explore over 160km of walking trails, spot more than 250 species of native wildlife including possums, pademelons, and the rare Albert's lyrebird, join daily guided bird walks and glow-worm spotting tours, or climb the famous Tree Top Walk. Just 90 minutes from the Gold Coast and 2 hours from Brisbane via a winding mountain drive, O'Reilly's holds Advanced Eco-accreditation and remains one of Australia's most storied nature retreats, with guests consistently praising the birdlife, staff, and genuinely unique sense of place.

A refined countryside retreat set within a historic 1894 Queensland homestead on 12,000 acres of rolling Scenic Rim bushland, just over an hour west of Brisbane. Elegant Luxury Cabins, Luxury Suites, and Heritage Suites blend period charm with contemporary comfort, each with king bedding, ensuite, and curated decor, while self-contained cottages with full kitchens and multiple bedrooms suit longer family stays. The property's paddock-to-plate Homage Restaurant draws on produce grown on-site or sourced from nearby farms, complemented by the more casual Barn for relaxed countryside dining. Guests can unwind beside two outdoor pools, play tennis, archery, or petanque, join a guided koala safari, mountain bike the adjoining Hidden Vale Adventure Park trails, or take a half-day 4WD tour across the estate. Chickens peck at the garden beds and kangaroos graze by the verandahs of the original homestead, which also serves as a popular wedding and event venue. Now part of the Worlds Apart collection under Salter Brothers Hospitality (alongside the broader Spicers Retreats portfolio), the property is consistently rated among Queensland's top boutique country retreats, with guests singling out the koala safari, cosy rooms, and exceptional breakfast as highlights.