Mornington Peninsula, Australia

The Sanctuary at Alba

Price per night from$621.02

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 (AUD950.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Sanctuary at Alba Photos

Style

Hot springs eternal

Setting

Good Mornington

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Reach for your swimwear and prepare for pruning: The Sanctuary at Alba combines liquid thrills and landlubber lures on the beachy Mornington Peninsula. Five elegant villas, two inviting rooms, a fusion restaurant and star-turn spa count among your reasons to step out of the swimming pool, hot springs or cold plunge (albeit briefly). Expansive grounds with coastal Moonah woodlands and native plants add to the natural attractions, too.

Smith Extra

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Some fragrant Alba bath salts

Facilities

Photos The Sanctuary at Alba facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Five hilltop villas, plus two rooms.

Check–Out

11am; check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates usually include à la carte breakfast, minibar drinks and treats, daily entry to the hot springs and private pools, access to the spa lounge and private changing rooms, and transfers to the springs.

Also

One of the two Rooms is adapted for wheelchair-users. Service dogs are welcome, but do keep them on a lead. The spa resort has accessible parking, changing rooms and toilets. Buildings and pathways are wheelchair-friendly. One pool, the Dunes, has a hoist and sling; three other pools have the provision for one, including one of the private pools on the Terrace.

At the hotel

31 pools, including geothermal hot springs and nine private swimming pools, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: smart TV, climate control, yoga mat and self-guided meditations, free minibar, coffee- and tea-making kit, free bottled water, bathrobes, slippers and Aesop bath products.

Our favourite rooms

If you want your own standalone, hilltop retreat with an expansive balcony overlooking the Mornington Peninsula’s blue-and-green splendour, opt for one of The Sanctuary at Alba's dreamy Villas.

Poolside

Pick from nine — yes, nine — private pools, with evocative names such as the Terrace, the Clouds and the Salts. This sparkling nine-pack includes six geothermal pools (three alfresco; three indoors), and three saltwater pools. You can also enjoy dips in Alba’s 25 geothermal pools. They’re all open from 7am–10pm daily (last entry is at 8.30pm).

Spa

Rendering the word ‘spa’ somewhat inadequate, Alba’s wellness mini-kingdom has a whopping 22 treatment rooms. Expect scene-stealing solo and couples’ rooms, private bathing suites, a duo of Vichy showers, two steam rooms and a serene spa lounge. Pick from a vast menu of spa experiences, encompassing facial, body and water-based treatments. As if all that wasn’t sufficiently rejuvenating, the hot springs bathing area also has a dry sauna, another steam room and cold plunge pool.

Packing tips

This is not the time to stint on swimwear; bring a case-load, if you can. Shell bras and tridents: optional.

Also

At The Sanctuary at Alba, the on-the-house minibar is generously stocked with local delights, including Ten Minutes by Tractor wines, St Andrews Beach Brewery beer, Peninsula Cold Press Juices, chocolate, crisps and nuts.

Children

Welcome. Baby cots and extra beds can be added to some rooms for an additional charge, which includes hot-spring access and breakfast. High chairs are available on request.

Sustainability efforts

The Sanctuary is carbon-neutral, offsetting its emissions via Trace. Seasonal restaurant Thyme champions local producers and suppliers; single-use plastics are limited throughout the hotel.

Food and Drink

Photos The Sanctuary at Alba food and drink

Top Table

Opt for a spot outside when it’s sunny. For an extra cost, the hotel can arrange a (seasonal) poolside picnic amid the hot springs: you’ll get an on-loan rug and a hamper stocked with wine, smoked trout, crudités, nuts, nougat and more.

Dress Code

Your bathrobe, of course. Just add footwear — pool sliders will do — to keep things civilised. Should you prefer to wear civilian attire, that’s also fine.

Hotel restaurant

Continuing the serene-and-squeaky-clean spa aesthetic, Thyme restaurant is dressed with milk-white hues and pale-wood furniture. Lauded Melburnian chef Karen Martini has created a menu that champions modern Aussie cuisine, with strong Japanese leanings. Post-cold-plunge, munch on the Alba Red Rice Bowl, a moreish medley of sesame ocean trout tataki, kohlrabi kimchi and furikake avocado. There are fresh juices, teas and coffee, but nobody will frown if you savour a glass of crisp Victorian pinot gris, a full-bodied local chardonnay, or a punchy pinot noir from one of the Mornington Peninsula’s star wineries.

Hotel bar

Thyme restaurant doubles up as a bar with a soft spot for local wineries, breweries and distilleries. We’ll have an Alba Springs: a luscious blend of pinot noir, gin, limoncello, Chambord and lemon. On sunny weekends, enjoy a drink on the restaurant terrace at Thyme Outdoors (closed during the week, and on inclement Saturdays and Sundays). ‘Rehydrate’ with a citrussy Limoncello, featuring prosecco, limoncello and soda. You can also enjoy a more casual take on the restaurant menu, if you’re peckish.

Last orders

Breakfast is between 7am and 11am; an all-day menu is served for lunch and dinner from noon to 10pm.

Room service

Order breakfast items to your room from 7.30am–10am, or dinner options from the restaurant menu between 5pm and 9pm.

Location

Photos The Sanctuary at Alba location
Address
The Sanctuary at Alba
282 Browns Road
Fingal
3939
Australia

The Sanctuary at Alba enjoys a prime perch on the Mornington Peninsula, a coastal paradise that’s a 90-minute drive from Melbourne.

Planes

Pick from two airports: Melbourne Airport, aka Tullamarine, for international flights, and Avalon Airport for domestic flights. Both are an hour and a half away by car.

Trains

Frankston Station is a 40-minute drive away, where you can catch regular connections to Melbourne and other travel hubs; the hotel can arrange transfers on request and for an extra charge.

Automobiles

Each of the five villas and two rooms has its own parking space. You’ll also get premium parking at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa’s main reception area, which has charging ports for electric cars.

Other

Helicopter arrivals can be accommodated; let staff know if you plan to chopper in.

Worth getting out of bed for

The Sanctuary at Alba puts 34 pools at your disposal: some geothermal, some set in flowering meadows, some hugged by drifts of waving grasses, and some created as apertures to the sky. If you need even more liquid attractions, the Mornington Peninsula’s calm beaches and bays are a five-minute drive away, promising white-sugar sands and crystalline waters. Alternatively, drive 10 minutes in the opposite direction for the region’s surfer-centric beaches, where strong currents and big waves suit gnarly board-riders and experienced swimmers. Back on dry land, some of Australia’s finest wineries and breweries await and the region also offers cinematic walks and hikes, with highlights such as Cape Schanck and Point Nepean.

Local restaurants

Pick from three enticing dining options at bucolic Pt. Leo Estate: Laura restaurant overlooks the eponymous sculpture by Jaume Plensa; the Wine Terrace pairs house bottles with light meals; or linger over à la carte cuisine at Pt. Leo’s main restaurant. If you love one of the wines in your complimentary minibar, chances are it came from Ten Minutes by Tractor winery, Alba’s grape-growing neighbour. The estate’s pinot noir has garnered a particularly regal reputation, as has its fine-dining plates. It would be remiss of us not to mention Montalto, another lauded nearby winery with an excellent restaurant up its (sommelier) sleeve.

Local cafés

Rustic-luxe Merricks Store delivers seasonal breakfast and lunch fare alongside take-home produce, to-go coffees and curated homeware. Vineyard views, organic grazing plates and farm-to-table cooking make Green Olive at Red Hill a wholesome choice for brunch.

Local bars

Another minibar highlight comes in the form of St Andrews Beach Brewery beers — so go straight to the source and sip a frosty one in the Fingal Brewery’s sunny beer garden or cosy Stables. Dating back to 1872 (that’s pretty old, by Aussie standards), Hotel Sorrento is something of a local icon, with its six dining and drinking outposts.

Reviews

Photos The Sanctuary at Alba reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

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 spa hotel in Australia and unpacked their beachwear and bottles of wine, a full account of their wellness break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside The Sanctuary at Alba on the Mornington Peninsula…

Grab your fins and flippers, for The Sanctuary at Alba is making a splash with its addition of a handsome hotel to a long-beloved, destination spa spot. Liquid attractions in store include a dizzying 31 pools, encompassing private and public options, with an array of winsome moods and settings. Before you imagine yourself sleeping underwater, take note: there are plenty of dry-land rewards, too. Elegant villas and rooms with pale, earthy hues, refined finishes and restorative views of the coastal Moonah woodlands, for example. Its seasonal restaurant won’t blink an eye if you rock up in your bathrobe and sliders, and a stress-melting spa, with 22 treatment rooms and a constellation of indulgent rituals, stars Aussie-made Sodashi and Vanessa Meghan elixirs. Don’t blame us if you sprout scales upon departure.

Book now

Price per night from $621.02

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