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 (AUD272.73), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Essence Peregian Beach is essentially a fuss-free, family-friendly stay for kicking about in the Sunshine Coast’s golden sands, with clean cool decor in its (many sunset-facing) suites and large, well-equipped homes-from-home. But there’s a lot more to it than that – namely, the Noosa biosphere it backs onto, home to thousands of plants and animals, and ripe for adventure; the local handicrafts – from the signature scent to staff bandannas to elevated hotel art – proudly on display; and its community feel with the shops and eateries of Peregian Village right over the road.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
An Essence-branded pool towel and bracelet for each guest
50, including 10 two-bedroom apartments and eight luxury beach homes.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £156.97 (AU$300), including tax at 10 per cent.
More details
Rates don’t include breakfast.
Also
There’s ramp access to the hotel, a lift and two wheelchair-accessible Studio rooms with biosphere views.
At the hotel
Gardens, gym with cardio and weight training (open 5am to 8pm), lobby boutique, and free WiFi. In rooms: TV with casting capability, Nespresso coffee machine with Clandestino pods, kettle and teas, minibar stocked with signature cocktails, climate control, and custom bath products.
Our favourite rooms
The sweetest spot for views are rooms on the west side of the building overlooking the biosphere, because from here (perhaps swaying in your balcony's swing chair if you have one), you can watch the sun go down each evening. The Premier Studio Rooms overlooking the parking lot on the other side are somewhat less romantic. And families or groups will feel very cosseted in the Luxury Beach Homes: sleek modernist hideaways with multiple king-size bedrooms and indoor-outdoor socialising spaces (with a barbecue). All have access to a shared pool, but if you like to swim in seclusion, opt for Saltbush.
Poolside
Grown-ups, revel in the infinity-tree glories of the biosphere from your lounger by the main 80 square-metre saltwater pool (open 8am to 8pm); the sun dips below the horizon at this vantage point too, so get your sundowner orders in at the poolside bar (open till 6pm). And for tots, there’s a smaller, shallower pool for guest use only.
Packing tips
Bring get-up-and-go gear, because you’ll be out in nature or in the sea most of your stay.
Also
The custom, fruity and floral signature perfume by aromatherapist Tanya Ambrosini can be bought in the lobby shop, alongside organic EverEscents haircare, bespoke beach wraps, bathrobes, oil rollers and scented candles.
Children
You’ll need to play entertainer (and bring essential kit), but otherwise Essence Peregian Beach is very family-friendly. Residences, with kitchens and laundry rooms, will suit multigenerational getaways.
Best for
A range of ages, but older kids will get more from their stay.
Recommended rooms
Any of the multi-bedroom Luxury Beach Homes will fit a family.
Activities
When they’re not bombing about on the beach, kids can spot wildlife, bike, hike and try their hand at surfing in the biosphere and national park.
Swimming pool
Little ones have their own pool here, but it’s not supervised, so parents will need to keep an eye.
Meals
Outer Square caters for kids with a dedicated menu.
No need to pack
Bambini Luxé across the road sells the sweetest clothing, accessories and toys for babies and tots should you need/want them.
Sustainability efforts
The hotel has solar-powered electricity and seasonal, locally sourced dining, and there’s much community engagement with local artists and makers, plus it works with Willie Weston wallpapers who support First Nations artists. And the hotel’s a respectful neighbour to Noosa biosphere.
The restaurant does overlook the parking lot, but you’ll be so engrossed in the food you won’t notice; drinks around the pool with the biosphere in view are a more picturesque prospect.
Dress Code
Beachy all the way, bar bikinis and swim shorts.
Hotel restaurant
Queenslanders don’t play around when it comes to AM eating, so be sure to be seated at Outer Square eatery for brunch, a serious – and seriously delicious – affair. First off, coffee is a signature blend courtesy of local Clandestino roasters in Noosaville. Use this to wash down waffles topped with fresh figs, whipped ricotta, honeycomb and walnuts or, say, a chilli scramble with guindillas and Mooloolaba prawns, crumbed in chorizo. And towards the lunch end of timings, order up a lobster roll or lamb pitta. The restaurant only serves dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but it’s beautifully done, with fish tacos, chilli-caramel-glazed pork belly, Coral Coast barramundi with labneh, dukkah and pumpkin.
Hotel bar
Drinks are served at the restaurant or pool bar and most classic cocktails are offered, with some twists: a mule with more of a spice-blend kick, gin sling slung with pineapple juice… There are also fine Aussie wines and regional beers from the likes of Noosa and Boiling Pot breweries.
Last orders
The restaurant opens from 5am to 3pm, Sunday to Wednesday; the last seating is at 8pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Room service
Your pick from the slimmer edit of Outer Square’s menu can be delivered to your door from 7am to 2pm Sunday to Wednesday and 7am to 8pm Thursday to Saturday.
Essence Peregian Beach is between the Noosa Biosphere Reserve and a parking lot on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and is just a short walk from the sandy stretch of its name. Just across the street are the shops and eateries of buzzy Peregian Village.
Planes
The closest airport is Sunshine Coast, which has direct links to cities across the east coast and Auckland in New Zealand, just a 20-minute drive away. Otherwise, Brisbane Airport, a 90-minute drive away, has arrivals from much further afield.
Automobiles
While Peregian Village is quite compact and the biosphere hike- and bike-able, you’ll absolutely need a car for traversing Australia’s wide-open spaces and long-hop sights. There’s free parking at the hotel.
Worth getting out of bed for
It’s not often you get a Unesco-protected biosphere as your backyard, but Essence Peregian Beach can boast this. The Noosa Biosphere Reserve and National Park right next door is extraordinarily rich in animal and plant life, with thousands of species to spot (including koalas, snakes, parrots, and skinks), and threaded through with cycling routes and hiking trails. You can also explore on horseback or bike. Climb and abseil, kayak through the everglades, scuba to see marine megafauna off the beach, set sail or fish in various waters, and surf (get tutoring from Sunshine Coast Elite Surf Coaching), kiteboard or paraglide if you want to get your heart rate up. Swimming isn’t recommended here, but for splashing about and sunbathing, Peregian Beach is a golden stretch of the Sunshine Coast about 350 metres from the hotel. And there are sand and surf havens further north and south. Get the lay of the land on a hot-air-balloon or helicopter ride (mapping out the many parks and lakes of the hinterland). Closer in the Shire, there’s the Village, where you’ll find shops (leaf-print homewares from Merchants of Botanica, hippie threads from Harper St, artisanal accessories from Luxe Tropic), massage and Pilates studios, and seasonal events. For unique souvenirs (or keep-for-me-sakes) visit the studios and workspaces of artisans who have contributed to the hotel: Ethical Brand Co’s experience centre to stock up on all-natural skin and haircare, and artist Colin Passmore’s studio on David Low Way. Or load up on handicrafts from the makers at Eumundi Markets (on Saturdays and Wednesdays). Back on site, hone in on the hotel design’s attention to detail: the Willie Weston wallpaper showcasing work by First Nations artist Jean Baptiste Apuatimi; staff bandannas and digital artworks by Peregian-based Soren Kearney; uniforms by Lilya designer Lisa Chedanne; and Emma Nancarrow’s abstract and still-life art.
Local restaurants
Should Essence Peregian Beach’s restaurant be closed for the evening (which it is, from Sunday to Wednesday), you only need cross the street to the Village to find two top-tier dining experiences. Pitchfork has leafy terraces and a cool casual air; gather round for cab-sauv-vinegar-doused oysters and merguez-stuffed olives; and simply but elegantly done beef, fish or roast-chicken mains – plus rounds of coconut margaritas and lychee caipiroskas. Whereas French-Med Periwinkle is a touch more dress-up for dining on crab soufflé, canard confit aux pêches, or tartes flambées – takes on the Alsace ‘pizza’.
Local cafés
Seeking a sugar rush? Peregian Village has you covered with German-style cakes at Baked Poetry Café, French pâtisserie at Le Bon Delice and homemade gelato at Peregian Pantry. And get your coffee fix at Scandi-style Skål.
Local bars
For fair-trade agave spirits, organic and biodynamic wines and cervezas – plus plenty of antojitos to line your stomach – go shoot your shots at Mariella Mexicantina. And seek out the gin and vodka source at Pomona Distilling Co whose infusions and clear favourites flow into negronis, blueberry sours, tiki-style coladas and more. It has a lively bistro too. And the Captain’s Daughter carries cool wines, craft suds and swashbuckling cocktails, with fish and chips on the side.
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 breezily modern beach-in-reach hotel by Noosa’s biosphere and unpacked their snorkels and handicrafts from local makers, a full account of their sun-worshipping break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Essence Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast…
The simple pleasures of Essence Peregian Beach – watching sunsets from a swinging chair, sampling regional wines by the pool, family barbecues in your own well-equipped coastal home – are put into some perspective here due to the extremely important and vast Noosa biosphere and national park that starts and keeps going from just behind the hotel. It encompasses 60 different ecosystems, houses 44 per cent of Australian bird species, plus koalas, whales, ’roos and cockatoos, and serves as the adventure playground of a lifetime. It’s nature at her most glorious, but that doesn’t make the hotel’s serious brunching, dedication to local handicrafts, community feel, and easy-breezy attitude any less marvellous.
