Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk
Style Contemporary eco-chic
Setting Remote coastal headland
You can stay at all-inclusive barefoot luxury Bay of Fires Lodge in north-east Tasmania without booking the four-day guided walk on offer, but you'd be missing a trick. After two days wandering pristine, white-sand beaches with a bush camp en route, the sparkling white on arrival tastes so much better... then kayak, chill and trek some more.
Need to know
- Rooms 10 at Bay of Fires Lodge; five cabins at Forester Beach Camp en route (if you're walking).
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Rates
Double rooms from $3636.99 (AU$3,727), excluding tax at 10 per cent.
Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (AU$3,727), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
- More details Rates include a four-day guided walk, incorporating Launceston and walk base transfers, departure day breakfast, all meals, non-alcoholic drinks and selected Tasmanian wines, one night at Forester Beach Camp and two nights at Bay of Fires Lodge.
- Facilities Don't expect all-singing and dancing gadgets and mod cons: what makes this place special is the pared-down simplicity and lack of distracting TVs, WiFi and gizmos. Tune in, turn on and drop out...
- Poolside There's no pool, but pop down to the tiny wild beach below the Lodge for a quick dip – if you can handle the nippy Tassie sea.
- Check-out If you're doing the famous Bay of Fires Walk, you can just rock up whenever the group reaches the Lodge.
- Children The Bay of Fires Walk is recommended for kids age 12 and over only – it's mainly a flat, coastal trek, with a bit of rock-scrambling, but younger ones might struggle with the distance.
- Eco-friendly Designed by environmental architect Ken Latona to 'tread the earth lightly' and embrace the land, super-sustainable BOF Lodge harnesses solar-powered lighting, composting toilets, hand-pumped showers and natural 'air-conditioning'.
- Hotel closed During the Bay of Fires Walk winter off-season (7 May–12 September), you can still book in for cheaper, all-inclusive lodge-only stays. The Lodge closes completely the first week of May and last fortnight of September each year.
- Also Walk rates also include a National Park pass, two guides and activities such as kayaking on the third day of your stay.
Food and drink at Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk
- Hotel restaurant The spacious, minimal living/dining area in the main Lodge is where you'll meet to eat with the intimate group staying here, with delicious local, seasonal food prepared in the open-plan kitchen by the lodge's hosts and guides. Mod Oz treats include chicken with pumpkin, leek, barley and pine nuts and even wallaby. With incredible floor-to-ceiling louvred glass walls lining the room, you can spot wallabies mating outside while you munch. Luckily, there are delicious vegetarian options if the cute-factor puts you off the dish of the day.
- Dress code The North Face, Patagonia, Kathmandu... relaxed trekking gear is de rigeour here, not catwalk cool (but expect fleece envy to loom large!). If you're on the walk, a backpack and Gore-tex jacket are provided but bring your own worn-in boots.
- Top table There are just two long pale-wood tables which can be pulled together for a communal vibe. If weather permits, ask to move them out to the front deck at breakfast time to soak up the sun and sea horizons.
- Last orders Service here is personal and informal, with no hard and fast hours. You'll eat together in the evening, but can help yourself from the brownie-toting buffet counter at any time if you're thirsty or peckish.
- Room service Nada. This isn't the kind of retreat where staff scuttle after you offering service with a smile; it's a few steps from the bedroom block to the main Lodge, where you can help yourself to tea, coffee, drinks and snacks, or find your hosts.
- Hotel bar A selection of Tasmanian wine and beer is included in room rates, but you can order any extra drinks you fancy and add them to your bill. The living/dining area or deck is where you'll quaff them, but there's no bar as such – just ask the couple who host the lodge to top up your glass. Booze is in more limited supply during the one-night stay at Forester Beach Camp en route to the Lodge if you're walking, as it all has to be carried in by guides.
Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk Mt William National Park, Bay Of Fires, 7250
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Smith extra at Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk
A bottle of wine on arrival at Bay of Fires Lodge
In the know
Our favourite rooms
All ten Zen-simple yet comfortable bedrooms at the Lodge are similar, with a choice of twin or double beds, sleek wooden walls and floors, and tactile rugs. Furnishings are pared down to shift focus to the view out, with glimpses of trees and sea through a wall of louvred windows behind your bedhead. Set in a row in a thin, linear building, rooms 2–5 are nearer the Lodge's small back terrace; 6–10 closer to the chilled-out library room and front deck, with bathrooms in between (no ensuites, just hand-pumped showers and sinks). Room 1 is a step away at the back of the parallel main Lodge space, so faces inland but has taller windows giving onto the bush.
Packing tips
No hat, no play. You'll need one to shield you from the sun on the walk, along with sunscreen, shades, a water bottle and good boots. A solar-charger for your phone and camera would be eco-smart as electricity's limited here (and reception's poor).
Also
The Bay of Fires experience is at its best if you sign up for the four-day, all-inclusive guided walk, which kicks off at a walking base at Smith hotel Quamby Estate near Launceston (better still, tack on a night there at either end of your trip). The two-day hike to the Lodge hugs the coastline, with blissful beaches and bays, crowd-free heathland and wild flaura and fauna. It's a fairly easy, flat walk, but you'll need to be fit enough to cope with 14 kilometres on the longer second day (you'll be sent a kit check-list beforehand). Two guides show you the way, and you'll spend night one at a beach camp en route, with five basic cabins with single bed platforms, sleeping bags and wind-up torches (the front two cabins are the most private, and nearest the beach; the back ones are closer to the shower block and dining area). Nights two and three are at the more luxurious Bay of Fires Lodge, with kayaking on day three and free time on day four before the short forest walk out.
