The Kimberley, Australia

El Questro Homestead

Price per night from$1,994.35

Price information

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

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (AUD2,799.09), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

El Questro Homestead Photos

Style

Rugged riverside luxe

Setting

One million acres of wilderness

Explore

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Dramatically cantilevered over the Chamberlain River, and amid a vast and ancient landscape of salt plains, ragged gorges, thermal springs and the majestic orange cliffs of the Cockburn Range, El Questro Homestead occupies a polished pocket of luxury in one of the country’s most wild and beautiful regions. And what other hotel can claim a million acres for its gardens?

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A Cobblecast bronze crocodile by artist Peter Smit

Facilities

Photos El Questro Homestead facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Six, including one suite.

Check–Out

10am, but flexible, subject to availability. Check-in, 2pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £1683.64 (AU$3,079), including tax at 10 per cent.

More details

Rates include all meals and drinks, and tours of the region. Rates exclude a surcharge applies for credit-card payments (1.1 per cent for Visa and MasterCard, 3 per cent for Amex, a stay).

Also

There are a million acres of camera-friendly scenery to explore around El Questro, and the only way you’ll come close to seeing a fraction is by renting a 4x4 and heading off on a wilderness adventure – just remember to stock up on water.

Hotel closed

El Questro is closed from mid-October to 1 April each year.

At the hotel

Lounge. In rooms: Bose sound system with CD player and iPod dock, minibar, air-conditioning.

Our favourite rooms

The three new Cliff Side Retreats will wow with their river views, outdoor shower and seductive freestanding bath tub on the deck. Honeymooners should head straight to the Chamberlain Gorge Suite, which hangs dramatically over the edge of the gorge and boasts unforgettable landscape views. The wide verandah includes a dining table and a fabulous bath-tub for two. The two Chamberlain Gorge Rooms (2 and 3) are smaller but also have outdoor baths and breath-taking views of the gorge (and Charlie the crocodile, who likes to hang out on the logs below). Of the Homestead rooms, number 4 (Bougainvillea) has the biggest patio.

Poolside

Set into a smooth grassy lawn on the cliff top, the kidney-shaped pool overlooks the Chamberlain River below and is lined with loungers and crisp white parasols.

Packing tips

The Kimberley is no place for crisp shirts or chichi dresses – the red dust will wreck anything white. Sensible safari gear all the way, with shoes fit for boulder-clambering. Remember your iPod though – there are docks in the bedrooms.

Also

Two-night minimum stay.

Children

Over-12s are welcome but extra beds cannot be provided.

Food and Drink

Photos El Questro Homestead food and drink

Top Table

At least once during your stay at the Homestead, you’ll have the chance to dine at one of the indescribably romantic tables on the edge of the gorge, overlooking the river and with a soundtrack of owls and frogs. Definitely the spot for a proposal.

Dress Code

Snakeskin, crocodile skin – name your reptile, then wear it.

Hotel restaurant

Eating at El Questro is done under the stars, at either of the large communal table by the pool and on the verandah, or on one of the three private tables by the gorge edge. If you book the Chamberlain Gorge Suite you can choose to have dinner served in your room. The hotel chef makes use of local Kimberley produce to create a Modern Australian menu – don’t leave without trying the barramundi with green mango and boab root salsa.

Hotel bar

Known with typical Aussie rationalism as ‘the big room’, the Homestead’s wide open-beamed main living area is fitted with an exceedingly well stocked self-service bar, (although hotel staff know their way around a cocktail shaker and will happily mix you up anything you like).

Last orders

Breakfast is served after 7am, depending on the activities you have scheduled for the day; lunch is around 1pm, and dinner follows sundowners and canapés at about 7pm.

Room service

Not available.

Location

Photos El Questro Homestead location
Address
El Questro Homestead
Gibb River Road, East Kimberly
The Kimberley
6743
Australia

A million acres in size, El Questro lies in the Kimberley region of Far North-Western Australia.

Planes

There are regular flights from all major Australian capital cities to Kununurra Airport via Perth or Darwin with Qantas, Air North or Sky West. The drive from Kununurra to the Homestead is 110km and takes two hours. The hotel can arrange private transfers from the airport for AU$600 each way (for two to four guests).

Automobiles

A selection of car hire companies are available at Kununurra Airport (www.kununurraairportcarhire.com.au). El Questro is situated in the East Kimberley, 110km west of Kununurra by road - 58km on the sealed Great Northern Highway towards Wyndham, the remainder on the unsealed and corrugated gravel Gibb River Road – so opting for a 4WD is highly recommended.

Other

If you choose to charter a jet (Altitude Aviation; www.altitudeaviation.com.au; 1800 747 300, or JetCorp Australia; www.jetcorpaustralia.com; 1300 53 82 67) or are arriving onboard your own El Questro has two airstrips, the smaller strip at Emma Gorge Resort, and the second close to the Station Township and Homestead facilities.

Worth getting out of bed for

There’s plenty of Outback adventure up for grabs at El Questro. The area’s made for trekking, and you can take a guided or self-guided tour of the spectacular gorges and hidden-away swimming holes of the Kimberley. The ‘History, Bush Tucker and Nature’ tour takes in the sights, sounds and tastes of the Bush, as well as the history of El Questro cattle station. The early morning horse ride across rugged terrain and fast-flowing rivers is an excellent way to get the adrenalin flowing for the day – you can always wind down in the afternoon with a soak in the Zebedee Springs thermal waters – a series of small waterfalls cascades down into hot pools just big enough for two to soak in. Bring some champagne along for an added romantic frisson. Also from the Homestead, you can arrange a helicopter trip to the Miri Miri waterfall, a secluded swimming hole only reachable by air. You can also fly over the amazing hive-like mounds that make up the Bungle Bungle range, or to the Argyle Diamond Mine – the biggest supplier in the world – or to remote fishing spots to try your luck at bagging barramundi for the pot. See www.aviair.com.au for details.

Local restaurants

El Questro Homstead’s rates include a daily changing full board menu, so its unlikely you’ll be looking for alternative eateries. If you do find yourself hungry and roaming, the Steakhouse Restaurant at the Station Township (half an hour from the Homestead) serves fresh barramundi and Kimberley beef.

Reviews

Photos El Questro Homestead reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Mr & Mrs Smith have just returned from a review trip to this wilderness hotel in the Kimberley, and just as soon as they've unpacked their safari jackets and Akubra hats, a full account of their stay in Australia will be with you. In the meantime, just to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick snapshot of El Questro Homestead…

Hanging precariously of the edge of a rugged gorge in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, with the Chamberlain River powering along below, Voyages El Questro Homestead is possibly the only hotel in the world that can claim a million acres of rugged russet salt plain for its gardens. Amid an ancient landscape of deep gorges, dramatic waterfalls, thermal springs and jagged escarpments, the Homestead is a tiny bubble of comfort – six suites set into lush cliff-top lawns and ringed with frangipani. Despite the remote wilderness setting, there are nuggets of luxury to be found: the honeymoon-perfect Chamberlain Gorge Suite has an outdoor bath-tub big enough for two overhanging the great gorge below, and ‘the big room’ lounge features Patagonian deer-hide footstools, bamboo spring chairs, and quirky modern furniture from Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. In addition to the international design flourishes, Australian and Aboriginal artworks abound – look out for Jack Britton’s stunning painting, ‘Purnululu’. Of course, at El Questro, it’s the exterior which has the edge when it comes to spectacle – by day, you’re surrounded by some of the most awe-inspiring scenery on the continent, and by night, you can sit out on the veranda and let the ocean of stars wash over you.

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Price per night from $1,994.35

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