Emirates Wolgan Valley – Part One

Traveling to Australia – Qantas A380
Park Hyatt Sydney
Sydney – Spice I Am, Watsons Bay, Manly Beach, Cafe Paci
Sydney – The Opera House Black Star Bakery, The Rocks, Sake
Emirates Wolgan Valley – Part One
Emirates Wolgan Valley – Part Two
Kangaroo Island – Southern Ocean Lodge, Part One
Kangaroo Island – Southern Ocean Lodge, Part Two

After three nights in Sydney at the Park Hyatt, we moved onto our next destination – the Australian Outback! Two books which I immensely enjoyed, The Thorn Birds and A Town Like Alice, were both set in more remote areas of Australia, and I was very excited to get to explore just a small sliver of the outback. So we rented a car in Sydney, and took a three hour drive into the Blue Mountains.

After a few hours, we started to see less shops and homes by the road, and more of pure nature. And then, we started to see signs like this – kangaroos and wombats crossing! We started to get very excited.

The scenery became more and more stunning (as our mobile phone reception got weaker and finally non-existent).

And finally, we pulled out to our destination and home for the next three nights – Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort. Can you see why the general area is referred to as the “Blue Mountains”? The blue haze over the entire area was truly stunning. We parked our car in Wolgan’s lot, and hopped into the resort’s SUV to take the trip to the resort.

For our trip to Australia, I was really looking for an “Aman” type of experience – nice digs yes, but in a way that reflected the natural environment and without a lot of bling. Even though I had heard great things about Wolgan Valley, based on my past flying experience with Emirates, I was a little nervous. Would I be experiencing the Australian Outback from a room filled with marble and gold, and a bathroom filled with Bvlgari amenities?

As we got closer to the actual resort, my fears were totally put to rest. Our driver pointed out our suites as he drove by – even from a distance I could see that all of the buildings were beautifully integrated with the natural surroundings. Can you see them below?

We pulled up to the main lodge, and saw that the decor on the inside of Wolgan Valley matched the outside – not ostentatious at all, and very appropriate for the locale.

We did a quick check-in, and while we were waiting, walked around and checked out some of the other areas in the main building, including the sauna and jacuzzi…

….along with one of the most gorgeous areas in the entire resort – the enormous pool set with fantastic views of the mountains and scenery. Wow!

After some gaping, we were taken by buggy to our villa – Emirates is comprised solely of free standing, individual villas. They were all situated in a row, so that all essentially had fantastic views of the area and mountains.

Our villa, from the front and back – number fourteen! You can see that even though there were neighbors, the structures were each actually quite far apart. We felt like we had complete privacy in ours during our stay. You can also get an idea of how large each individual structure was – more than enough space for the two of us, and I imagine enough for a small family.

The living room – gorgeous! In some of our past accomodations, we’ve also had large living spaces but for some reason didn’t spend much time in then. This particular space though, was so beautiful in the day with lots of light, and so cozy in the evening (especially with the addition of the fireplace at night), that we both spent hours here relaxing. Plus, there was lots of great reading material, including Australian Vogue and the Net-A-Porter magazine.

The huge wardrobe and changing area…along with a separate area to do your makeup, completely with bright lighting and magnifying mirror.

Drawers full of snacks near the entrance – all Australian, all natural/organic, and yes – all delicious!  I also appreciated the huge variety of teas available (and of course the requisite fully stocked Nespresso machine). All the food was replenished daily and was complimentary/included in the cost of the room.

The bedroom (a huge bed of course….whenever we sleep in one of these enormous king sizes we always vow that we will get one for our place). We had the best sleep here. And, dual sinks and lots and lots of counter space.

The shower gorgeous – set under the skylight, rainfall spray. The amenities were all wonderful and all from local Australian brands – bath salts, oatmeal and lemon soap. The shampoo, conditioner and body wash were all  Sodashi – completely chemical free!

Each villa also came with its own private pool – this pool was smaller than a traditional lap, but quite a bit larger than a plunge – definitely large enough to splash around and some fun in! The water was heated to a comfortable temperature and you could also open the windows and gaze out directly over your surroundings.

One of my favorite areas of the villa was the enormous deck which basically ran the length of the building. I loved sitting in the rocking chairs with a good book, just enjoying the scenery.

Animals of course, were a huge part of the experience at Wolgan Valley and I’ll be covering more on that in my next post. Here’s a little teaser though – some kangaroos hanging out just outside of our villa! Can you spot me below? Can you understand why I wanted to spend so much time on our deck?

The deck was also a wonderful place to take in the evening sunset. Simply amazing.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my review of Emirates Wolgan Valley – in case it wasn’t completely obvious, the buildings and accommodations were top notch the entire way. We loved the main buildings, and of course our villa, which was nearly perfect. Next time, I’ll be covering some more details about our stay at Wolgan Valley – including the food, activities, and of course animals!