Mr & Mrs Smith

Woodbyne

South Coast, Australia

Just outside Berry on New South Wales' South Coast, bijou boutique hotel Woodbyne is a wonderful spot to wind down. Hemmed by classically inspired gardens and lawns backdropped by the Great Dividing Range, it feels like an intimate European-style escape, with 11 elegant bedrooms clustered around a central courtyard.

Need to know

• Rooms 11.
• Rates Double rooms from $243.96 (AU$250), excluding tax at 10 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (AU$250), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include a full cooked breakfast. An extra guest bed costs AU$55 a night; AU$35 for a child aged 10 or under.
• Facilities Lounge with cosy fireplaces, guest computer with broadband, library of CDs, DVDs, books and board games, gardens, parking, WiFi throughout (AU$20 flat fee). In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD player, minibar, toiletries, free bottled water.
• Poolside Surrounded by a laid-back deck area with sunloungers and swing-seats, Woodbyne's unheated outdoor plunge pool is handy for relaxing with a book or your favourite iPod playlist.
• Check-out 10.30am, but flexible subject to availability; check in, 2pm.
• Children Children are welcome, but Woodbyne is more of a sophisticated adult retreat. Parents are asked to ensure their kids don't disturb other guests trying to chill out. More...
• Also A minimum two-night stay applies for Saturday stays and Friday–Saturday nights at long weekends. Smoking is allowed outside only. Pets aren't permitted as Woodbyne's two Border Collies, Harry and Lulu, and peacock, Richard, might object.

Food and drink at Woodbyne

• Hotel restaurant

  Woodbyne doesn't offer lunch or dinner, but its breakfasts are legendary, with a menu sweeping from smoked salmon, avocado and baby spinach to ricotta pancakes with banana and maple syrup. This morning feast is dished up daily in the beautiful old stone Garden Room, a former schoolroom dating back to the late 1890s. Expect fine china, gleaming silverware and starched white linens, in keeping with these quaint heritage quarters. The original flagstone fireplace ensures you'll stay toasty in winter (June–August).

• Dress code Understated elegance to suit the stylish surrounds. Neutral linen's a good look for gents; ladies might feel the urge to work a ruffled shirt or skirt.
• Top table Bag a table by the high windows that run the length of the Garden Room, flooding it with light. In warmer months, eat outside on the covered veranda, with backing vocals care of the cooing birds.
• Room service There's no room service but morning and afternoon tea, working lunches and dinners can be arranged specially for conferences if you're here on a bleisure trip.
• Hotel bar

  Enjoy a sociable G&T or glass of local wine with your companion or clan in the graceful guest lounge, kitted out with comfy sofas and armchairs with views out over the parterre garden. In winter, the two fireplaces keep things cosy.

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

Woodbyne O'Keeffes Lane, Jaspers Brush, Berry, Berry, 2535