Maleny Lodge

Style

Stitch-in-time homestay

Setting

Small-town Sunshine Coast

Built as a home for a couple and their 11 children in 1905 (although now it’s adults only, due to dainty vintage finds), and operating as a guesthouse since the 1940s, Maleny Lodge has a strong legacy of making those who cross its white-picket fence and restful porchfront feel welcome. The new owners have spent 10 months bringing the main house Rosedale back to its Edwardian elegance, adding period-appropriate pieces and tasteful era-skimming picks, four standalone suites named after the original owners, and a garden pool. Whether you hire the whole lot, the three-bedroom residence or a standalone hideaway, this is intended for living like a local: scoping out the dining scene, getting to know Maleny’s artsy community, day-tripping to farms and rainforests, and soaking up rays along the Sunshine Coast.

Facilities

Rooms

Four standalone suites, and the three-bedroom main house (Rosedale) which can be booked in its entirety. The whole lodge can also be booked exclusively.

Checkout

10am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm (although Smiths can rock up at 12 noon).

More Details

Rates don’t include breakfast.

Also

As long as you clear any celebration plans with the owners in advance of your stay, the house is a sweet setting for a small wedding, birthday meal or more, and can be exclusively booked as a blank canvas venue to work your magic on.

Free Internet Access

Pool

At the Hotel

Garden and patio, woodland, free WiFi. In rooms: iPad loaded with Netflix, Binge and Flash News; Nespresso machine with biodegradable capsules; kettle; air-conditioning; organic vegan Saya bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

If you’re travelling with friends, Rosedale comprises the whole original house, which has been painstakingly renovated. Nod off in the cane-backed rocking chair by the living space’s open fireplace, soak in a clawfoot bath tub, whip up something with local farm finds before serving it at the antique dining table, and settle in the TV room’s softly cracked leather sofa for a binge-watching session. Of the standalone suites, Freda with its bath tub steps from the bed, white cladding and wood-burning stove is a space for snuggling in, and Alfred has a balcony with wicker seating – although all are well-appointed, with flax linens, a freestanding or clawfoot bath tub and all-natural lotions, and an iPad for in-bed viewing.

Poolside

Surrounded by tiered steps of topiary and sandwiched between a manicured garden and rugged woodland, the decently sized magnesium pool has mineral-rich water to leave you feeling even more refreshed after a dip. And we applaud the style choices made here, from the black-painted brick and black sunloungers to the black-and-white parasols – so chic.

Packing Tips

Your days will differ from pounding Maleny’s pavements on antique-hunting expeditions and brunch outings, to hiking in the Blackall Range and other ‘prepare to get muddy’ pursuits, and don’t forget that up here in the mountains it’s a little cooler and requires a coat. So, pack appropriately. And, assemble your own suitcase minibar – aside from tea and coffee, the hotel doesn’t offer any food or drink.

Children

Heritage interiors, dainty vintage pieces and sticky-fingered, runabout smalls aren’t the best bedfellows – so this is for over-18s only.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

The courtyard has a smattering of tables looking out over the garden to the woodland beyond, or snack on one of the loungers by the pool. Rosedale’s vintage dining table is a genteel gathering spot.

Dress Code

Whatever you want, while you’re here this is your home; however, some William Morris-style prints or a jaunty three-piecer wouldn’t look out of place.

Hotel Restaurant

There’s no food or drink provided onsite. Guests staying in Rosedale can use the kitchen and dining table, but they’ll have to put their chef hat on. Don’t worry, when you do get peckish, Maleny has plenty of restaurants and cafés for dining out, and delis, bakeries and gelaterias for picnicking in.

Hotel Bar

The only drinks provided are coffee and tea, but if you want something to pop open, stop by the bottle shop at Maleny Hotel, which also has beers and pre-mixed cocktails; or pick up champagne, ciders and Aussie fine wines from Purple Palate.

Planes

Brisbane Airport is the closest, around a 90-minute drive away, which has direct connections across Australasia, to the US, Asia and the Middle East. Brisbane airport is the closest, around a 90-minute drive away, with direct connections across Australasia and to the US, Asia and Middle East. Or, if you’re flying up from a city in the southeast or from Auckland, you can land at the Sunshine Coast airport, about a 45-minute drive from the hotel.

Automobiles

Maleny isn’t as remote as some Australian towns, but there’s not a lot of public transport (aside from the Glasshouse County Coach service from Maleny to Landsborough and Beerwah) and attractions beyond Maleny that you’ll need a bit of horsepower to reach, so hiring a car will serve you well. The lodge has a free car park with one space for each room.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Rural town and creative community Maleny (pop. circa 4,000) might not take up much space on the map itself, but the natural beauties of the hinterland surrounding it are immense. Set at the tail end of the mighty Blackall Range and an easy drive from the Sunshine Coast beaches, your time here could be spent on the trail of marsupials, rope swinging into a waterfall, having fun on a dairy farm, or soaking up sun – or taking a day trip to Brisbane. First off, get to know the artsy locals at Maleny Lane, a multi-purpose space where little wooden food huts offer up worldly eats under fairylights, and on weekends twilight dinners and live gigs are held. It’ll give you a feel for the inherent friendliness here. On Sundays, head to RSL Hall to source antiques of the kind you’ll find in the lodge, farm produce and local handicrafts at the weekly market; and acquire more blast-from-the-past homewares, and some fine custom timber furnishings at Antiques & Vintage Treasures and carpenter David Linton’s workshop. Then get out into the green. Keep your eyes peeled for platypi and delightful named birds (willie wagtails, spangled drongos) as you guide yourself along the Obi Obi Boardwalk, or wander through 18,000 native trees and plants along the Maleny Trail, which also has a Poetry Sculpture Trail, Cloud Walk and numerous picnicking spots – if you’re lucky you might see…another platypus. Maleny’s Botanic Gardens and Bird World is the sort of setting – lily-strewn lakes, rose bushes, rare orchids, waterfalls and bijou bridges – where you might find young gamines laughing in a flower crown as their Insta husband snaps away, but it has something for all with globally inspired beds, treehouses to explore and the chance to pirate up with a parrot on your shoulder. Less tame is Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, acres of rainforest teeming with flora, fauna, fungi, feathered and flying things (no platypi though). Walking trails criss-cross it, and there’s a discovery centre where you can learn more about the residents. The Glasshouse Mountains also show off their good side here, but another photo-op aspect can be found at McCarthy’s Lookout. Swimsuit up for splashing about in Gardners Falls, or kayaking across the Baroon Pocket Dam, and if you still feel the need for trees, there are Maleny and Noosa national parks within driving distance. When it comes to beaches, take your towels to Mooloolaba, Maroochydore or Mudjimba; and for galleries galore and a dynamic dining scene, head south to Brisbane.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .