Mischa Barton visits Australia’s Qualia hotel
Qualia celebrates its six-month anniversary by welcoming Mischa Barton and her mother Nuala as guests. The well known British-born Hollywood actress and style icon, spent a few days being pampered at qualia after attending the MTV Music Awards.Commenting on her holiday Mischa told an Australian newspaper that “I went jet skiing and scuba diving and saw some beautiful coral I haven’t had a vacation in a long time so I just laid out and relaxed, it’s just been the two of us with our own pool.”
qualia this month also features on the cover of Conde Nast Traveller (May 08) which also lists the property in its “Definitive Guide To The Hottest New Hotels in the World”, the only Australian property to make the list of 65 luxury hotels.
Since opening, qualia has firmly established itself at the top of Australia’s list of most luxurious, indulgent properties. Indeed, other glossy titles have been quick to review and include qualia in their own hot hotel lists.
Australian Gourmet Traveller featured qualia in their “Best of the Best New Hotels” list commenting “We love the connection with the environment emphasised through the sensitive integration of the building into the natural setting. Other major pluses are the vibrance of Stephane Rio’s food and Spa qualia’s chakra-therapy using Australian essential oils.”
qualia (qualia.com.au) is located two to three hours direct flight time from Australia’s major east coast cities on the beautiful secluded northern-most point of Queensland’s Hamilton Island. The resort consists of 60 freestanding one-bedroom pavilions, each furnished with bespoke, hand crafted items that complement the local environment.
The pavilions, four times the size of an average hotel room, come in two styles, “Leeward” and “Windward”, the latter has its own plunge pool. The ultimate choice however is the one-bedroom “Beach House” which features an extensive entertaining area, private full-size swimming pool and separate guest pavilion. Additional facilities include two restaurants, a gym, two swimming pools and library.
Tour options which take particular advantage of qualia’s location, include cruising the Whitsunday Islands, helicopter flights to Heart Reef and world renowned Whitehaven Beach, snorkelling and scuba diving.
Meanwhile, SPA QUALIA focuses on total wellbeing and pampering, with anti-stress, anti-aging, detoxifying and cleansing treatments. The signature treatment, “Bularri Yarrul”, is a hot stone massage using 300 million year old stones and beautiful aromatherapy treatments.
PRICES & PACKAGES
qualia’s pavilions are priced A$1,450 per night; A$1,700 per night for those with a private plunge pool. The Beach House costs A$3,000 per night. Prices include all meals and non-alcoholic beverages, non-motorised water sports and the use of a private electric buggy.
Alternatively, Bailey Robinson (baileyrobinson.com) can organise an itinerary to Australia from £3,350 per person including return international and domestic flights in economy, five-nights at the Park Hyatt in Sydney on a room-only basis, followed by five-nights at qualia in a Leeward Pavilion, full board.
