September 26, 2022
12 mins Read
From a luxurious retreat aimed at elopers to a cutesy cottage a short mooch away from Montville and a treehouse perched above the beautiful Lake Baroon, here are some of the best Sunshine Coast Hinterland accommodations.
When Rosedale cottage was built (c 1905), Maleny was home to a butcher, a pub, and not much else. Now the thriving hinterland hub has a stylish boutique hotel to write home about amongst the cafes, providores, and boutiques on its main street.
Rosedale cottage has been reborn as Maleny Lodge. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
It’s been extended upon since those days, of course, and recently underwent a top-to-toe renovation (from the couple behind LOEA boutique hotel in Maroochydore) to be reborn as Maleny Lodge.
The warm ambience inside Maleny Lodge is a winning feature.(Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
A warm palette of blue, rust and green mirrors the surroundings while soaring ceilings and original floorboards create a luxurious homely ambience which extends out to four additional guest rooms, and a sparkling magnesium pool.
Take a dip in the sparkling magnesium pool. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
High-end tapware, handcrafted tiles and flax linen bedding are paired with vintage mirrors, furniture and paintings. In fact, everything besides the beds was carefully sourced from Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Book a romantic getaway or hire the entire homestead (it sleeps 14) for that milestone birthday or intimate wedding.
Maleny Lodge is perfect for a romantic getaway. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
Though we love it so, there’s no denying Montville can have a whiff of kitsch, but on this 14-hectare farm just outside town, an architecturally-designed cabin is shaking up the status quo. Clad in black with a heated circular plunge pool, Round Hill is not your parents B&B.
Push open the gas strut window and let the sunlight stream in as you read a book on the floating bench seat. Draw yourself a bath in the vintage tin tub then light the fire, and smother a pizza base in sugo and your favourite toppings for dinner under the stars. Pop on your favourite tunes, play boardgames into the night, and start the next morning with a freshly brewed Little May coffee from beans sourced just up the road. With Mapleton National Park next door, there’s walking trails and waterfalls to chase, but you may be content just to sit and enjoy this reprieve from the modern world.
What sets this stay apart from your classic Sunshine Coast Hinterland Airbnb is in its guest list – Atelier34 is open for solo female stays only. Designed as a retreat in every sense of the word, this sustainably built one-bedroom cabin faces out into three hectares of bushland in Black Mountain, near Cooroy.
It’s a creative vision realised for owner, Lisa Williment, who runs her Atelier34 studio on the same site, where workshops – from basket weaving to food styling – play to sold-out crowds. Use your time here as an opportunity to pull out the paintbrushes, finally finish that novel, and take long unadulterated soaks in the copper outdoor tub. You can also add in-house massage, clay building workshops or a healing ceremony during your stay.
With an eclectic mix of secondhand furniture and decor from both local artists and a lifetime spent collecting vintage pieces, it’s easy to become lost in the whimsy and pop out days later, renewed.
Mayan Luxe Villas is a sustainable escape in the Noosa Hinterland that’s made for groups who want to kick off the corporate shoes and sink into the bucolic vistas, preferably from the restored outdoor bathtub or the concrete tank plunge pool.
Mayan Luxe Villas delivers sweet seclusion to guests.
Built of rammed earth, everything about these villas – crowning a working farm just outside Kin Kin – has been brushed with the owners’ hand. Reclaimed timber (milled on site) and metalwork abounds, collected over years and fashioned into the heavy entrance doors, kitchen island bench, chandeliers and outdoor fire pit.
Soak away your cares in the outdoor bath.
Given one of the owners is a Slow Food Noosa advocate and owner of the Kin Kin General Store, you’d be well advised to arrange an in-house dinner party or at least some freshly made pizzas for the woodfired pizza oven.
The first thing to know about Secret Cabin Society is that it’s very secluded, and stays are limited to protect not only the environment in which it stands, but the integrity of the experience itself. If that’s got your curiosity piqued, you’ll find the off-grid Secret Cabin Society just outside Eumundi, tucked in a rainforest clearing beside a stream.
By the time owners Cathy and Carlos have escorted you to the cabin – modelled off the tobacco kilns of Victoria’s High Country – you will already have started decompressing. With no phone service or wi-fi, you can sink into the rawness of the setting even more. Light the fire. Pour yourself a wine. And after enjoying a simple meal cooked over the coals, enjoy the rainwater-fed outdoor shower with mother nature’s soundtrack lulling you to sleep in the linen-clad loft bed.
You may know the hinterland town of Eumundi for its markets, but a new wave of small businesses have injected a well-deserved boost of creativity into its main street. With celebrated restaurants, craft breweries and artisanal distilleries, and a serious coffee scene, it’s a good thing that boutique hotel HOLA Eumundi came onto the scene.
You’re in prime position to enjoy all that Eumundi has to offer.
The name is an acronym for House of Local Art and even before you cross the threshold, you’ll see exactly why. Each of the 15 rooms is a celebration of local craftspeople, makers and designers – you’ll find an art guide in your room to name and explain the 157 pieces found throughout the hotel, and if you fancy the crystals, books or ceramics, you’ll find them available in neighbouring shops or the markets across the street.
Find locally-made ceramics in each of the rooms at HOLA.
The eco-friendly rooms are plush with handmade basins, artisan tiles, and a bottle of Folktale gin to welcome you.
Dreamy details inside the HOLA Suite.
Design lovers will find it hard not to fall for the flamboyantly styled heart of this early 20th Century Queenslander worker’s cottage.
Bed down in this early 20th Century Queenslander worker’s cottage. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
Just seven minutes from Eumundi, Rangeview Cottage was lovingly and sustainably restored over three years with all the mod cons (including solar power) added, but what makes it special is the sumptuous colour palette and menagerie of collected vintage furniture, artworks and wallpapers (owner Sue runs a bespoke lampshade business on the same property).
It’s the stylish details that make a stay at Rangeview extra special. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
The kitchen is well equipped for those who return laden with local produce to cook up a feast while French doors open from the lounge to the beautiful wrap-around verandah, best enjoyed with a sundowner in hand.
Prioritise cooking at least one feast in the well-equipped kitchen. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
But really, it’s all the little touches that will have you hankering to return before you’ve even checked out – fresh posies picked from the garden, a welcome hamper stuffed with local goodies, and organic Saya products in the bathroom.
Find thoughtful touches throughout the cottage during your stay. (Image: Hannah Puechmarin)
This rainforest hideaway is home to three of the prettiest cottages in the hinterland. Hotfoot it to one of three Lovestone Cottages, Maple, Rosewood or Quandong, which share the footprint of the two-hectare property with a 300-year-old fig tree, considered a guardian of the rainforest by new owners Tamara and Jonathan Large. Each beautifully renovated self-contained cottage sits lightly on the earth and includes a fireplace, spa bath and daily breakfast hamper.
Surrounded by rainforest gardens, Lovestone Cottages offers self-contained cottages.
Narrows Escape Luxury Rainforest Retreat located on the edge of Kondalilla National Park, in Montville, is a treehouse for grownups. You will want to doze until mid-morning while ensconced in the comfort of your private villa positioned high above the tree canopy. When you do emerge, you can relocate to the spa made for two and then warm up by the crackling log fire. More active types will appreciate the fact Narrows Escape offers a two-night luxe package that includes a guided trek along Queensland’s Great Walk.
Seclusion is guaranteed at this award-winning retreat.
Spicers Retreats on the Sunshine Coast will suit those wanting to disconnect from the world and recharge. While Spicers Tamarind Retreat and Spicers Clovelly Estate are vastly different on paper, there are some commonalities: they both have cooking schools and world-class restaurants on-site, offer energising treatments at their day spas, and are located amid the pristine wilderness of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Eat well, immerse yourself in nature and enjoy luxury accommodation with next-level service.
Escape the stresses of everyday life at Spicers Retreats.
Each unique treehouse at Secrets on the Lake has a sunken double spa, a deck with a bespoke swing seat and views over Lake Baroon. It’s like the Magic Faraway Tree on steroids. And it is so charming and quirky that it facilitates the kind of lovely exchanges between strangers that are inspired by the shared experience of dining on the deck, browsing in the art gallery or exploring the rainforest environment that is perfect for a stroll and a swim. This hidden gem is one of our top recommendations for Sunshine Coast Hinterland accommodation.
Secrets on The Lake have eleven different luxury cabins.
Scandi at Maleny provides a warm and dreamy space for couples to be together. The self-contained two-bedroom luxury cabin offers sweeping views over the hinterland, two master bathrooms with tubs in each and a fully equipped kitchen. The light-filled modular cabins, which as the name suggests nod toward Scandi design are perched 450 metres above sea level, with views that go on forever. A stay here will ensure you slow down and take a break from the hurly-burly of modern life. Read, sing, talk, rest, relax, linger, listen. Love.
Scandi at Maleny is an adults-only, self-contained, eco-minded, luxury cabin.
Families hoping to break free for the summer holidays should head to Kenilworth Homestead. You will feel like you’re in a Munsterkids catalogue at this hipster heartland so best arrive with a bit of attitude. The homestead is one of south-east Queensland’s premiere family campsites: there is a bike track for kids, canoe hire, fire pits, and lots of well-maintained lawn that runs like a brush stroke of green through the property. Choose your own adventure: set up camp on a powered site or stay in a vintage caravan or spa room.
Kenilworth Homestead is still one of South East Queensland’s premiere family campsites.
Cuddle Cottage is a hinterland humdinger. The mini A-frame house has great bones and buckets of natural light. There’s a wrought iron swing built for two, a fire pit, outdoor shower, and a loft-style bedroom with bucolic views that makes it a comfortable option for a romantic getaway. Set on 3.4 hectares just one kilometre from Montville Village, the cottage would support couples with babies and toddlers up to two years of age. Support local and pick up a bottle of Flame Hill Vineyard’s Montville Shiraz to sip by the glass under the stars.
You’ll have the house to yourself.
Give me a home among the gum trees. And make it this old Queenslander dubbed Bird Song Valley by its Montville super host. The airy Airbnb caters to six guests, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one of which is an oversized spa bath overlooking the sprawling property just one kilometre away from Montville. Pluck an avocado from one of the fruit trees and smash it on your sourdough, spend the day chasing waterfalls and then chill around the cosy fireplace.
Bathe among the gum trees at Bird Song Valley.
Everything about The Postman’s Cottage appeals. It’s simple and elegant with bouquets of fresh flowers and books to read while curled up on the sofa by the wood-burning stove. The property has heritage, too: Montville Estate was the first Receiving Office for mail from the UK and abroad and The Postman’s Cottage doth doff its hat to that rich history. The amenities – by Mukti Organics – are ace and the fact there is no TV means you can spend your days and nights exploring the shops, restaurants and cafes in Montville.
The Postman’s Cottage acted as the first Receiving Office for mail from the UK and abroad.
There’s no dress code at Mountain View Lodge, but if there was it would be flannelette shirts, Ugg boots and oversized knitted beanies for all. The rustic lodge opens out toward an idyllic rainforest garden that is just 10 minutes’ drive from Maleny. Pick up some artisan provisions from Maleny Food Co, and then bunker down in the cabin with its not-so-subtle lumberjack motifs for the rest of your Sunshine Coast Hinterland stay. Have a swim in the bush pool during the day, and point your stargazing app at the night sky to map the stars.
Perch on the ridge overlooking the spectacular Glasshouse Mountains.
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