Following a multi-million-dollar refresh, Accor has rebranded Mercure Sydney International Airport, located a kilometre from Sydney’s Airport precinct, a Novotel property.
Guest rooms are enhanced with block-out curtains and double-glazed windows, while the new design incorporates a botanical theme throughout, with contemporary, vibrant elements utilising wooden accents, botanical wallpaper and pops of colour.
The hotel’s restaurant and bar concept have also been redesigned, with a new menu that features a paddock-to-plate philosophy with an emphasis on supporting local Australian producers.
The hotel’s family suites comfortably sleep five and there is ample car-parking onsite.
Novotel Sydney International Airport is offering $25 off each night and $1 breakfast for stays booked before August 30 for stays until January 31.
Visit www.accorhotels.com.
Wildlife aplenty … giraffes at Altina Wildlife Park. Image: Destination NSW.
Leeton Safari is offering wildlife-and-dining packages for two or a family of four in the Riverina.
The ‘Weekend for Two’ package is priced at $499 (valued at $670) and includes two adult passes to Altina Wildlife Park, two nights accommodation at Leeton Heritage Motor Inn in a king-spa suite, breakfast daily, bottle of premium local wine on arrival, late check-out, free wi-fi and netflix, and three-course dinner for two at Pages on Pine.
The family weekend package is priced at $599 (valued at $836) and has similar inclusions.
Visit www.leetonsafari.com.
Next Hotel Brisbane … stay four nights and receive up to 40 per cent off.
Next Story Group is offering travellers up to 40 per cent off a stay across its Next Hotel and up to 30 per cent off at its Sage Hotel brands in Australia by encouraging guests to stay longer.
Soak up the sunshine and see what all the buzz is about in the river city and stay at either Next Hotel Brisbane or Sage Hotel James Street and hop from one acclaimed restaurant or hip boutique to the next.
Stay for two or three nights at Next Hotel Brisbane and get up to 30 per cent off, stay four nights and receive up to 40 per cent off, whilst also enjoying a welcome drink for two and late checkout.
Rates start from $126 per night and bookings must be made before April 21 for stays to March 30 next year.
Or stay beachside at Sage Hotel Wollongong and treat the family to a four-night getaway and save up to 30 per cent on your stay.
Rates start from $133 per night.
Visit www.nexthotels.com.
Tali Wiru … fine dining on a remote sand dune.
Voyages Ayers Rock Resort’s evening dining experience in the desert, Tali Wiru (meaning ‘beautiful dune’ in local Pitjantjatjara) has opened for its sixth season and features some of the most innovative uses of local Bush Tucker in Australia.
The gastronomic experience offers a magical evening of fine dining on a remote sand dune overlooking Uluru and the distant domes of Kata Tjuta.
Tali Wiru is a four-hour experience where guests start with champagne and canapés while watching the sunset over Uluru, accompanied by the sounds of a digeridoo.
As night falls guests dine on a four-course menu with matched premium Australian wines.
A storyteller shares tales of Indigenous culture around the campfire enjoying a port, cognac or tea infused with Australian native peach, cinnamon and honey.
Tali Wiru runs daily until 15 October, is limited to 20 guests each evening, and is priced at $375 per person, inclusive of return hotel transport, food, matched wines and entertainment.
As a bonus, guests also receive a pass to the Field of Light installation.
Phone 1300 134 044 or visit www.ayersrockresort.com.au/tali-wiru.
Aura … Sovereign Hill’s new sound-and-light show incorporates the Dreamtime.
Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill has officially launched its new sound-and-light show, Aura.
The new show, which features hundreds of projections, lets visitors explore space, delve into the Dreamtime and relive Australia’s most important rebellion, while travelling under the night sky.
Conceived by Andrew Walsh AM and his Accolade Event Management team, Aura takes guests of all ages on an adventure as they witness the creation and discovery of one of the world’s most precious metals, gold.
Visit www.aurasovereignhill.com.au.
Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in Sydney … it will rendezvous there with Queen Victoria.
Australians can sail into Sydney Harbour on one Cunard liner and out on another as part of a record four-month Australian season for the cruise company in the summer of 2020-21 which will see a first-time rendezvous in Sydney of two of the company’s luxury ships.
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, will meet in the harbour twice on March 1 next year, early in the morning and again in the evening, with Queen Elizabeth sailing to and from its berth at Circular Quay past Queen Victoria anchored off Bradleys Head.
Cruise Express has used the historic meeting to create a 31-night package that will see guests sailing from San Francisco to Sydney on one of the liners and then cruising to Tasmania on the other, with up to US$630 in bonus onboard spending available per stateroom.
The ‘Royal Rendezvous’ package begins with a flight from Australia to San Francisco, followed by two nights at the Sheraton Fishermans Wharf, close to the iconic harbourside wharf with its famous amusements, eateries and colony of seals.
Including the one-way flight from Australia to San Francisco, both cruises, hotel stays and private car transfers in San Francisco, the 31-night package is available $9899 per person twin-share ex Sydney.
Phone 1300 766 537 or visit www.cruiseexpress.com.au.
Dambulla Cave Temple … a UNESCO-World-Heritage site.
Explore some of the wonders of Sri Lanka and cruise from Singapore to Dubai on a 24-night fly-cruise-tour package from Cruise1st.
The package price includes return flights, hotel stays in Singapore and Dubai, 15-night cruise aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Constellation plus a six-night escorted tour of Sri Lanka, a current hot destination.
Guests will depart Australia in February next year to join a cruise to Dubai via Phuket, Thailand; Colombo, Cochin, Goa, Mumbai and Muscat.
They will then fy to Sri Lanka for a six-night tour with hotel stays in Dambulla, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala and Colombo.
Highlights include Dambulla Cave Temple (a UNESCO-World-Heritage site), Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the Ancient Capital Polonnaruwa, Minneriya National Park, Spice Gardens, a Kandy city tour, a tea-plantation and tea-factory visit, Ravana Waterfalls and Yala National Park.
Prices are from $4499 per person twin-share ex Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Phone 1300 596 345 or visit www.cruise1st.com.au.
Italian charm … the old town of Matera in the country’s Basilcata region.
Puglia — the ‘spur’ and ‘heel’ of the Italian boot — is one of Europe’s great agricultural areas, producing much of Italy’s wine and olive oil, large quantities of its fruit and vegetables, and most of the hard durum wheat used to make its pasta.
Situated between the Adriatic Sea and the forests and mountains of Basilicata, Puglia offers a landscape of beguiling views, ancient olive groves, and UNESCO-World-Heritage sites.
A new cycling tour being offered by Tourissimo and Ride & Seek highlights two of these UNESCO sites — Alberobello and Matera.
Guests will bike the gorgeous back roads of Puglia, averaging about 40 kilometres per day, and spend evenings at luxury hotels and fine restaurants dining on gourmet cuisine and sipping wines.
The seven-night tour is scheduled for October and is priced from US$4195.
For more info, visit www.rideandseek.com.
Just so cute … orangutans in the wild.
Discover Central Borneo’s eminent orangutan sanctuary, Camp Leakey, with Silversea Cruises during two expedition voyages departing in June and July aboard the Silver Discoverer.
On board, guests will be joined by guest lecturer Dr Biruté Mary Galdikas, a primatologist recognised for her studies and work with the orangutans of Borneo in their natural habitat.
The duo of expedition cruises, travelling from Darwin to Bali and from Bali to Singapore, will explore the exotic islands of Indonesia with an overnight stay in the port of Kumai, gateway to Tanjung Puting National Park and its legendary Camp Leakey, the site of Galdikas’s pioneering research in the wild.
Guests may also spot wild proboscis monkeys, gibbons and macaques, as well as over 200 different bird species.
Prices are from $9700 per person twin-share for the 12-day Bali-to-Singapore cruise.
Phone 1300 306 872 or visit www.silversea.com.
The Myconian Imperial … conjures up dishes using local seafood delivered at daybreak.
Gastronomy is a serious business at Mykonos’ Myconian Collection Hotels & Resorts, where chefs create dishes showcasing farm-to-table ingredients and seafood sourced through the founding family’s ties to local fisherman.
With more than a dozen gourmet restaurants housed in some of Mykonos’ most spectacular locations, the Myconian Collection is committed to sharing regional flavours and fresh seasonal produce at its nine boutique properties.
Dishes feature lamb and pork which has been hand-reared on the family’s land, and octopus caught for the restaurants’ chefs by one of the island’s most famous fisherman.
Options at the restaurants include fine dining with sea views, sushi under the stars, Asian fusion, traditional Greek flavours, or classic Mediterranean cuisine.
Myconian Imperial, for instance, is home to the Sishu Sushi Bar, where chef Meiwang Ke Steven conjures up dishes using local seafood delivered at daybreak and sourced for the restaurant.
Visit www.myconiancollection.gr.
.jpg){kind=tracking}
