40 hours of Australian Luxury at One&Only Wolgan Valley

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tmdellit

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My first Trip Report, so here goes!
I apologise now as I'm having difficulties with attaching more than 5 photos, so I'll split this up over a few posts within this thread.

In a somewhat last minute stroke of luck, my wife and I happened to be in Sydney at the same time last friday, and after convincing work to move our Friday night flights back to Sunday night flights, we thought we would try and make a weekend of it.
As I had never been to the Blue Mountains before, and the novel idea of actually putting a jumper on this winter and sitting in front of a fireplace took hold, we started to investigate some local accommodation out there. Due to the fact that we'd left it relatively late, a lot of what we were looking for had already disappeared.
Then, whilst I was at the pub with a few mates, my wife sent me a link to Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley. I don't know whether it was the amazing photos of the property, or the 6 beers I'd consumed, but found myself agreeing to one of the biggest "YOLO" moments of my life.
After sobering up the following day, and realising that my credit card had just taken a beating, I convinced myself that it would be all worth it. "But it includes all food, wine, beers, and 2 tours a day" I found my inner voice trying to re-assure myself, and "you would've spent $350 hiring an average car, yet you get to drive a brand new 5 series BMW" was another one of those justifications.
At the end of the day, these weren't required. This was hands down, the most expensive 40 hours I had ever experienced... BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

After battling the crazy Sydney Traffic, we finally pulled in through the gates at around 7.15pm on Friday night. After driving 200m into the property, we pulled up at Security where a lovely gentleman let us through the gate, and showed us where to park the car for the weekend. To be honest I was slightly confused as to why I had to park all the way up here and transfer into Land Rover just to get to the main building. After a couple of kms of dirt road, and 2 water crossings, I worked that one out.

After "Checking In", which entailed essentially a relaxed chat with guest services over a glass of Sparkling Rose in front of a fireplace in the main bar, we were then put in a golf cart and transferred down to our villa to freshen up before Dinner. I use the word "villa" loosely, as the accommodation was only slightly smaller than my house at home. In fact the Walk In Robe was about the same size as one of my spare bedrooms!

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Fireplace in the living room

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Beautiful King Bed

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Living room not taken at check in, but the next day as the photo from the night before was terrible!

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Indoor heated pool also taken the next day
 
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Being the fact that we arrived in pitch black, I was unsure what we would wake up to. Boy, was it incredible seeing the scenery for the first time in the morning. I was in awe at the beauty of this property. We spent the day riding around on the supplied mountain bikes, eating fantastic food, swimming in our heated indoor plunge pool, reading a book by the fire, doing a "Sundowner" tour where a tour guide provided interesting knowledge about different aspects of the property whilst identifying some of the local wildlife, eating and drinking some more, and basically soaking in the whole experience.

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The smattering of villas

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The old farmhouse

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Watching the sun go down with local Kangaroo

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I had never seen a wombat in the wild before this trip!
 
Really wonderful to be seeing the pictures as im sitting in Reno. Mum was born about another 10 km's down the valley from the Hotel and I spent most of my childhood here, living on top of the Gap. You can do all the travel you want, but home is home....
 
After some 40 hours after we arrived, it was time to say goodbye to the most amazing resort I have ever been to. I literally have zero complaints. Food was great, beer was cold, fire was hot, staff were brilliant (they displayed a "casual Australian" style of service, yet were very professional and polished), and the views spoke for themselves.
If you have ever wanted to visit here, or are looking for somewhere that little bit special to go, I can't recommend it enough. Expensive, yes, but worth every cent. I can't wait to find another reason to go back...
If anyone has any questions about it, please ask!!

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The supplied mountain bike

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Our Villa for the 2 nights

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A pretty good "house" sparkling rose from the Hunter Valley

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Vehicle for the Sundowner Tour

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The entrance to the resort and the amazing car that was included as part of the package
 
Great photos. A friend of mine has been to Wolgan Valley, so now I know what he was talking about.

Oh, posts are limited to 5 pics each, so you are not doing anything wrong.
 
Great photos & summary-thanks for the write-up. Actually looks like frosts might not have burned things off as much as normal
 
Thanks all.

Leadman - What an incredible place to spend your childhood!
JessicaTam - Thanks for that. Glad i wasn't going crazy with the photos!
RB - No, they were saying apart from a few days, there hasn't be a huge amount of frost out there this year. We got a bit on the Sunday morning, but it had all burned off by 8am. There was nothing on the Saturday.
 
It looks wonderful tmdellit!!

You inspired me. So, I went to have a look at the website...... I almost fainted! :rolleyes: KaChing!!! $$$

But, I love it and have an idea for next year.

P.S.- does Emirates own it? See the name obviously, but no other obvious connection.
 
Yes... definitely not a regular occurrence. Well not for me anyways!
But, I truly believe I got my money's worth and it was worth every cent.

Yes, Emirates do own it. I believe they managed it up until a few years ago, before they engaged One&Only as the managing/operating agents, yet retained the ownership of the actual property itself.
 
What was the quality of alcohol and food like? Am doing a serious amount of overtime at the moment so looking for an excuse to splurge
 
Very nice trip report.

Are those rates really per night? Wow. There's no way the treasurer will ever approve. ;)
 
I saw this on Luxury Escapes on the weekend trying to find a nice place to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary next June. It was going to be a (rescheduled) trip to Alaska but a potential wedding in UK in September put the kybosh on that.

The timing of your TR makes me wonder if this is a sign I should book....
 
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