The Best Hotels and Resorts in Australia and Oceania: The Gold List 2025

"In the middle of red-dirt nowhere on 400,000 acres in the Northern Territory, Bullo River Station is a snapshot of Australia’s hard yakka life: a sepia-toned outback fantasy where guests, dressed in boots and wide-brim hats, swoop in on helicopters. Dating back to 1959, this deeply rooted homestead has changed hands a few times but is now in its latest incarnation, having joined the stable of Luxury Lodges of Australia. Australian interior stylist Sibella Court has distilled her well-known bush-tucker style in the sandstone space and its 12 bedrooms. Smart and rugged, the accommodations feature oodles of handmade touches: forged hardware by local blacksmiths, towel holders braided by whip makers, and artwork by Indigenous artists. Simple cast-iron beds with nubby linens keep things simple. Days are spent getting dusty by visiting waterholes, angling for barramundi, and saying hello to the 2,000 or so floppy-eared Brahman cows. Up above, kookaburras and cockatoos flock, and beady-eyed crocodiles float through the muddy rivers. Ancient aboriginal rock art depicting a land before time is etched into rugged red cliffs and ridge lines. The landscape of waterfalls, craggy escarpments, and gushing rivers swallows you whole. But it’s the communal dinners that provide a peek into everyday outback life. The station staff, from the stockmen and station managers to the guides, pile plates with farm-fresh steaks, just-made salads, and homemade sausages, while fast-flowing ice-cold beers and salty plum gin cocktails fuel the rowdy conversation. From $1,500. —Chloe Sachdev" - CNT Editors