Everything you need to know about the Hilton in Australia, from the staff at Australian Traveller Magazine.
There are 7 Hilton hotels located in Australia. There is a Hilton in most major capital cities, and Hiltons in Cairns and Surfers Paradise. Cairns and Surfers Paradise are leisure destinations, so these Hiltons have more of a resort feel than the other CBD Hiltons.
When booking accommodation in Sydney, you may notice that Hilton hotels are not star rated. In 2006 Hilton Australia and AAA Tourism (The owners of the star rating system) had a dispute. The dispute was never resolved and Hilton withdrew from the star rating system in Australia. Rest assured, Hiltons are great properties, and you can expect at least the equivalent if a 4.5* experience at any of their hotels.
Hilton Sydney:
Sydney’s Hilton-hotel-based Marble Bar, built in 1893, is seeking bands that reflect its musical heritage for its 120th birthday festivities.
Hilton Sydney was completely refurbished in 2007 (It was a drab 1970’s style building in the centre of the Sydney CBD), and now houses some of Sydney’s more popular bars; Zeta Bar and the stunning, iconic Marble Bar, as well as one of Sydney’s latest, and most fashionable restaurants (Glass Brasserie, By Luke Mangan).
The building sits right on George Street, the interior is well done, and the location is fantastic as it’s centred in the shopping precinct of the Sydney CBD.
Hilton Surfers Paradise:
Hilton Surfers Paradise
The Hilton Surfers Paradise is a mixed use development with both residential and hotel accommodation spread across two towers on the beach at the Surfers Paradise. The hotel proper has not opened yet, but we will be sure to check it out once it’s opened and give you a report.
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AI Prompt
Hilton Adelaide:
Hilton, Adelaide.
Though it could be said the Hilton Adelaide could do with a refurbishment, it’s a comfortable place to stay with a stunning outdoor deck where guests can have a coffee or a cocktail. This is situated right next to the beautiful pool, so you can’t miss it.
Hilton Brisbane:
Hilton Brisbane is arguably one of the best 5 star properties in Brisbane. The beautiful interior and atrium you instantly know you are staying somewhere luxe. It is a must stay when having a girls shopping weekend in Brisvegas as it has instant access to Queen St mall. Currently under refurbishment scheduled to finish at the end of Oct 2011. Proving that the cool kid on the block wants to stay your number one place to stay when visiting.
Hilton Cairns:
The Hilton Hotel, Cairns
Fortunately for the Great Barrier Reef port there are many hotels and resorts for all comforts and style. Hilton Cairns should be one of those you consider when booking your trip. If you like a great location, that is!
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The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.
Australia offers sublime opportunities to disappear into the ancient, untouched wilderness, worlds away from modern stress. Wild Bush Luxury offers a collection of experiences that are a portal into the continent’s wildest, most undiscovered landscapes, from wide floodplains to vast savannas, where the only distractions are birdsong, frog calls, curious wallabies and the daily drama of sunset. With a focus on conservation and Indigenous knowledge, these all-inclusive experiences allow guests to slow down and quiet their minds for intimate encounters with the natural world.
1. Bamurru Plains
Let nature take front row.
In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains, a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).
Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.
It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish, largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row. Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.
Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)
It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.
In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.
2. Maria Island Walk
Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.
Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.
These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.
Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.
At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.
3. Arkaba
Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.
For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.
Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.
Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.
It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.
