Byron Bay, Australia

Bask & Stow

Price per night from$291.71

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (AUD431.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Beaut Byron bae

Setting

Beaches, beaches everywhere

Washed-out wooden boardwalks, hanging bamboo chairs, seasalt-white breezeblocks, tropical prints and towering cacti are the order of the day at Bask & Stow, a five-suite stunner that pays stylish homage to the mid-century glamour of Palm Springs across the Pacific. Find it (if you can) tucked away on a secluded lane 10 minutes’ stroll from Byron’s centre and main beach. Cool off in the garden plunge pool and pour yourself a perky morning brew from the Byron Bay Coffee Company on your veranda. Or let someone else do the barista-work at local hip-crowd favourite (and people-watching hotspot) the Top Shop café, just up the hill.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A bottle of sparkling wine on arrival

Facilities

Photos Bask & Stow facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Five spacious suites.

Check–Out

10am. Check-in is at 2pm. When availability permits, early check-in from 10am and late check-out until 2pm can be booked at 50 per cent of the nightly room rate.

More details

There's no breakfast but Bask & Stow recommends nearby brunch spot Top Shop Cafe for local single origin coffee, fresh baked goods and people watching.

Also

Unfortunately, Bask & Stow is not wheelchair-accessible.

At the hotel

Free WiFi, welcome drink of Australian sparkling wine. In suites: TV, air conditioning, safe, kitchenette with fridge, toaster, microwave, kettle and local tea and coffee from Mayde Tea and the Byron Bay Coffee Company, bathroom with bath tub and Australian-made Leif bath products.

Our favourite rooms

You get a little extra space in the Sun Suite, where your private deck comes with not one but two hanging rattan seats, but you’d struggle to find fault with any of these Byron Bay beauties. All have that effortless 1950s Palm Springs feel (think cool beachy tones, swaying plant fronds, widescreen desert-scape prints, tropical fabrics and stripy parasols) and some have a luxuriously large bath tub in which to make full use of the Leif bath products and – natch – sip a glass of bubbly or two.

Poolside

There’s a cute plunge pool, all mid-century-style white-washed breezeblocks and dwarf palms. It’s accessible from your veranda and open between 7am and 8pm.

Packing tips

A picture-perfect playground for the rich and famous (looking at you, Nicole Kidman and Chris Hemsworth), Byron Bay also attracts Brisbane, Gold Coast (and even Sydney) weekenders in their droves. Blend in with the in-crowd with the following beach accessories: pearly white bathing suit (the better to complement your Gold Coast tan), planet-sized straw hat (for shade, duh), and a copy of Vogue Australia to fake-thumb-through as you people-watch idly through Jackie O-sized sunglasses.

Also

Captain James Cook named Cape Byron after legendary seaman Foul-Weather Jack, aka John Byron, grandfather of the Romantic poet Lord Byron.

Children

The hotel is almost adults only, but exceptions are made for under-2s, for whom cots can be provided on request.

Sustainability efforts

They say the sun always shines in Byron Bay. Bask & Stow has taken the old adage and run with it, installing no fewer than 50 solar panels. That’s enough to power the whole property year-round, and to do away with gas and other fossil fuels entirely – result. Water is heated by solar-powered electric pumps and energy consumption is otherwise minimised wherever possible thanks to motion-activated LED lighting and timers. But that’s not all. Rainwater is used to irrigate the lush gardens, furniture and bath products are made locally and single-use plastics are avoided. Bask & Stow is also a champion of nearby beach clean-ups, tree-planting programmes and other local charities.

Food and Drink

Photos Bask & Stow food and drink

Top Table

Byron Bay’s countless rooftop bars make full advantage of those swoonsome coastal views – take your pick.

Dress Code

Laid-back Byron Bay tends to favour casual clobber over catwalk couture. Go with athleisure for urban exploring, cool linens and floaty fabrics for the beach and understated chic for cocktails and fancy restaurants.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no restaurant, but staff are walking encyclopaedias of the best local eats, brews and cocktails.

Hotel bar

Staff can give you the lowdown on the best Byron Bay bars to see and be seen in.

Last orders

Byron Bay has a lively nightlife scene, with many bars and clubs staying open into the wee small hours.

Room service

None, but there’s a fridge in your suite and you can stock up on supplies and late night snacks at the legendary Farmers Market on Butler Street Reserve.

Location

Photos Bask & Stow location
Address
Bask & Stow
40 Marvell Lane
Byron Bay
2481
Australia

Bask & Stow is a small but perfectly formed five-suite idyll set on a quiet side street, 10 minutes from the heart of the Byron Bay action.

Planes

Brisbane Airport is 175 kilometres north of Bask & Stow, a two-hour drive along the coast. You can also fly into Ballina Airport (30 minutes away) and Gold Coast Airport (50 minutes away) via connections from Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney.

Automobiles

Self-drive is by far the fastest and most convenient way of getting to Bask & Stow from Brisbane Airport. Rental cars are readily available from all the usual suspects and there’s some free off-street parking at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

It should come as little surprise that Byron Bay is such a popular getaway for burned-out Brisbanites and Sydneysiders. After all, the place practically screams mindfulness from every bush-clad headland, surf-kissed shoreline and chakra-tuned street corner. Yoga is big business here. You can do it on the beach, in practitioners’ homes and in lush, purpose-built studios from the cape to the hinterland.

The Bay (as the locals call it) is also heaven for walkers of every ability. Take a casual coastal stroll from The Pass over verdant cliffs to the sweeping sands of Wategos Beach, grabbing those essential selfies at the postcard Fisherman’s Lookout and pledging your love to your better half by adding a padlock (whaddya mean you forgot to pack one?) to the wire fence overlooking the bay. The one-hour loop via Milne Track to Tallow Beach ticks off a brace of Cape Byron must-dos: it includes a walk through the brush-covered Aboriginal headlands of Arakwal National Park, where you can spot (or more likely smell) threatened plant species like stinking cryptocarya and encounter critters including flying foxes and migratory birds; it also takes you to one of the cape’s more secluded beach spots: Tallow Beach’s Cosy Corner.

But it's the Cape Byron Lighthouse Trail that promises the greatest bragging rights. This moderately challenging (read: mostly uphill) 1.7-mile route takes you to Australia’s most easterly point, with panoramic ocean views that stretch to infinity and beyond, as well as offering the tantalising possibility of some humpback-whale-watching. Take a guided tour of the lighthouse and hear terrific tales of seafaring derring-do in its Maritime Museum, set in what used to be – pre-automation – the lighthouse keeper’s office. 

And if all this sounds a little too… active, you can always just while away your days lounging idly on the Bay’s extraordinary beaches, partake of a spot of light snorkelling, or sample the best of Byron Bay’s local produce at the Cape Byron Distillery and Byron Farmers’ Market.

Local restaurants

A couple of blocks from the beach, No Bones is a fashion-forward vegan joint that aims to make a difference ‘one Brussel sprout at a time’. Amen to that. The vibrancy of the restaurant’s colour palette – painted blue-and-orange murals, glossy terracotta surfaces and arty prints – is well matched to a menu that includes earthy shiitake paté with truffle and Cognac, fresh Caprese salad with black garlic, and handmade pasta carbonara with organic oyster mushrooms, bac’n and ‘no bones’ yolk. 

Head into the Northern Rivers Hinterland, where Harvest earns its name with an imaginative menu of seasonal dishes using ingredients from local artisanal producers, the restaurant’s own edible garden, and foraged Australian ingredients. We’re talking Bay lobster crudo with betel leaf and spiced shellfish mayo, barbecueoctopus with garden chimichurri, devilishly tender pork cheek, and just plain devilish desserts including macadamia slice with milk sorbet and chocolate ganache tart with bay-leaf cream. Yum.

Local cafés

Byron Bay’s legendary café culture means you never have to look far for a top-drawer ristretto or cold brew. Just a few doors up from Bask & Stow, the Top Shop is something of a hilltop institution, drawing a varied crowd that runs the gamut from hipsters to harassed young parents with kids. This former 1950s milk bar is a prime spot for quick and easy breakfasts and lazy brunches. We’re talking granola bowls, porridge, chorizo and egg rolls and a burger menu that could kill even the most biblical hangover stone dead. Grab an espresso and a seat on the porch by the pink Marzocco coffee machine for the win.

A little further afield on the edge of town, the Folk Coffee Shop is a bit of a well-kept secret, unfrequented by tourists. In-the-know locals love it for its rustic set-up, vegetarian and plant-based soul food, including breakfast burritos and avocado on sourdough, and Highwire Blend coffee from Dukes of Melbourne.

Local bars

Casa Luna’s trendy Med-Mex vibe is writ large in its hedonistic late-night DJ sets and ubiquitous prickly cacti that risk skewering the unwary (or unsteady) bar-goer. The cocktail list in this chi-chi downtown Byron joint is nothing short of art. Freshen up with a Cactus Garden, a fragrant mix of gin, pear liqueur, lime, thyme, basil and cucumber; brave a Cali Spice with its double hit of chilli-infused mezcal and tequila with mandarin, lime and agave; or go all in with a punchy West Indies Espresso: rum, banana liqueur, Kahlua and coffee. That’ll wake you up alright.

Byron Bay views don’t get much better than at Hotel Marvell’s rooftop cocktail bar, where the opportunity to rub shoulders with the local and international in-crowd is almost as tantalising as those East Coast sunsets, all flamboyant pink and bruised purple skies. The cocktail list is equally vibrant, with signature mixes that include a gin-soaked Kyoto Geisha and tropical, vodka-laced Marvelltini.

Reviews

Photos Bask & Stow reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique five-suite bolthole in Byron Bay and shaken the sand from their shoes, a full account of their Cape caper will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Bask & Stow in Byron Bay…

Brisbane weekenders and Gold Coast hipsters make a beeline for Bask & Stow, lured by local architect Harley Graham’s slinky mid-century Palm Springs aesthetic and the promise, albeit briefly, of a laid-back beach lifestyle that’s far from the city’s madding crowds. The hotel’s spacious suites are the stuff of which (California via Australia) dreams are made, all whitewashed walls with coastal colour accents, ergonomic chairs, tall spiky cacti and verandas big enough to fit a loveseat here, a hanging rattan chair there, and even the occasional striped parasol or sunlounger thrown in for good (1950s-style) measure. Lush tropical gardens and wooden boardwalks point the way to a plunge pool that catches much of the day’s sun, pure manna for burned-out city slickers everywhere.

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Price per night from $291.71