In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- There are four guest rooms here: the Red Room Suite, the Blue Room, William Morris Room and African Room. All but the African Room have an ensuite (the African has a private shower across the hall). The vibrant Red Room Suite has a canopied four-poster bed, conservatory-style ensuite with bath and shower, and a sitting room off to one side, where you can unwind with a book or have dinner and breakfast at a cute table for two beside the open fire. The Blue Room has a huge ensuite bathroom (formerly a bedroom in its own right, with a pretty freestanding rolltop bath), and the African Room has a slightly more contemporary feel than the other more trad, period-furnished rooms, despite its collection of African and ethnic artefacts. Our favourite, however, is the William Morris Room – a colourfully textured delight paying homage to the Victorian-era English Arts and Crafts decorative artist. Read through the Essential William Morris book by the big brass bed, or just lie back and let your eyes weave through the gorgeous wallpaper designs.
- Packing tips
- Bring some walking shoes for the climb up to Maslin’ Lookout – the sunset views are sublime. Across the road from the property’s is North Bundaleer Forest – the oldest pine plantation in the British Empire.
- Also
- Guided day-tours through the Clare Valley and up to the Flinders Ranges are also available. If you feel like catching up on the news or tuning-out in front of a movie, head for the TV room with its indigenous art and gas fire (there are no TVs in the guest rooms). There are piles of quality mags in the libary, including National Geographic, SA Life, Timeand Gourmet Traveller), plus walls of antique books, an open fire and a hexagonal reading nook overlooking the gardens. If you’re feeling a bit Piano Man, feel free to spruik your skills on the grand piano in the grand ballroom.
Current offers
- Smith card offer
- A gift box of handmade Haigh's Chocolates, an iconic South Australian brand founded in 1915
More photos
North Bundaleer
Clare Valley, Australia[view map]
- Style
- High-Victorian homestead
- Setting
- Wine and wilderness
Rebuilt from ruins, North Bundaleer is an opulent, grand stone mansion set on 400 acres of native bush and farmland near South Australia's Clare Valley wine region. Rooms are lavishly decorated in high Victorian style, but the vibe remains casual and convivial (you might be living like royalty, but there’s no need for any snootiness). An all-inclusive breakfast, dinner and drinks experience.
Need to know
- Rooms
- Four, including one suite.
- Rates
- Doubles from AU$390–AU$500, including cooked breakfast and tax at 10 per cent. Two-night packages, including breakfast, dinner, tea, coffee, biscuits, canapés and an open bar cost AU$1,080–AU$1,300; three-nights, AU$1,470–AU$1,800, including tax.
- Check-out
- 11am, but flexible subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Library and drawing room, grand piano, TV room, open fires (wood and gas), open bar, espresso machines, free wireless internet, gardens. In rooms: Gilchrist & Soames toiletries, plush bathrobes, high thread-count bedlinen, magazines and books.
- Eco-friendly
- North Bundaleer recycles rubbish and is rainwater-reliant rather than drawing on mains supplies. The organic vegetable garden keeps the kitchen well stocked, and the property even grows its own oranges and olives.
- Also
- ‘Bundaleer’ means ‘stony ground’ in the local Aboriginal language. The homestead was constructed from local orange-hued stone, which the owners suspect was quarried from a nearby dam.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- Rates here usually include cooked breakfast, dinner and drinks. Kick-start your system in the little Breakfast Room with some fresh and stewed fruits and yoghurt, followed by home-baked beads and honey, jams and jellies made on the property (and, of course, coffee and tea). A fully-blown bacon-and-eggs experience ensues. Most folks head out-and-about for lunch; picnic hampers can be arranged. Following-on from canapés in the Drawing Room (or a sly bottle of sunset bubbles on the hilltop), dinner in the Dining Room is co-ordinated by Sydney-trained executive chef Leo Hollingshead, and usually involves four courses in an affable, dinner-party atmosphere. Typical Mod Oz dishes, with a local and organic emphasis, include white asparagus with gorgonzola and truffled honey or smoked lamb rack. The wine flows almost as fast as the conversation; expect silverware, antique crockery, candles and crisp linen.
- Dress code
- Comfortably smart-casual. For a suitably Victorian look, high-necked blouses and cameo brooches will help the ladies feel at home; sir might fancy a retro beard and hat.
- Top table
- There’s only one communal table here in the breakfast room off the kitchen, and another long table in the dining room for dinner. Tune into the feng shui and sit where you feel comfortable!
- Last orders
- Breakfast from 7am till 11am or whenever suits (just let your hosts know the night before). Evenings kick-off round 6.30pm with drinks and canapés in the Drawing Room, followed by dinner in the Dining Room from 7.30pm till 10.30pm, but it's flexible.
- Room service
- The emphasis here is on sharing the dining experience with your hosts and other guests – great conversation, wine and food – but room service is available all day. But Red Room guests can breakfast or dine in their suite for romantic privacy.
- Hotel bar
- The rates here include a selection of beer, wine and spirits (and soft drinks, juice and mixers) from the bar, a dedicated nook off to the side of the kitchen, which is open all day. Local wine labels might include Sevenhill, Crabtree and O’Leary Walker. Help yourself to premium local wine, some South Australian Coopers beer or a G&T before dinner – you can enjoy a drink anywhere in the homestead. Smoking is allowed on verandas and in the library.
Also worth knowing
Smith Members offer
A gift box of handmade Haigh's Chocolates, an iconic South Australian brand founded in 1915
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Click here to become a Mr & Mrs Smith member
Book this hotel
To book this hotel please click here, or contact our travel team on 1 866 610 3867.
North Bundaleer
RM Williams Way
Jamestown
SA
Australia
5491
