Every anticipated opening to help plan a year of back-to-back adventures.

Another year, another round of impressive new openings. Spanning five-star stays, boutique escapes, wellness immersions and nature-embracing activity, the most thrilling 2026 unveilings promise to evolve almost every inch of our nation’s landscape. Whether you’re an outdoor adventurer, luxury seeker or just on the hunt for been there-got the tee bragging rights, these upcoming launches are worth getting giddy for.

Accommodation

InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach

One of the Harbour City’s most iconic beaches welcomes one of the world’s most acclaimed hotel brands. InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach is elevating the Eastern Suburbs’ – well, the city’s – hotel scene to dazzling heights, setting up shop in the former Crown Plaza Sydney over two major phases. While all 198 coastal-inspired guestrooms and suites, plus the Mediterranean eatery Shutters Restaurant & Bar and Rick Stein at Coogee Beach, opened in December 2025, March 2026 will see the unveiling of a leisure deck fitted with an infinity pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a poolside bar, Club InterContinental, the chain’s exclusive lounge, and Èliva, a new wellness brand that’s rolling out across multiple Salters Brothers Hospitality operations.

Ardour Milton Park Bowral

From those smooth operators behind InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach comes an entirely new hotel brand: Ardour Hotels & Estates. Salter Brothers will open Ardour Milton Park Bowral, located in NSW’s Southern Highlands, where a $10 million evolution is transforming Milton Park Country House Hotel & Spa, built in 1910, into a sophisticated country retreat. Think heritage-listed gardens and awe-inspiring European-influenced architecture that wholly embraces rich roots while elegantly waltzing into the now. Èliva will once again dial up the Zen, promising a Herbal Ritual Bar that invites guests to blend custom body scrubs, oils and mud masks. It’s scheduled to open early 2026.

Little National Hotel Adelaide

Love Little National Hotel’s NSW locations? Little National Hotel Adelaide will arrive at the end of 2026 as the brand’s fourth property and offer the same architecturally sound aesthetics beloved in Sydney, Canberra and Newcastle. The South Australian build will climb 21 storeys and feature 238 rooms including two luxury penthouses that are entirely new room types for the brand. Guests will also be treated to a 250-square-metre commercial-grade gym, and a bar and lounge. Arguably one of the best sells? It’s located within walking distance to Adelaide Oval so it’s going to be an ideal choice for event-led travel.

Hannah St Hotel

Melbourne’s Southbank scored much-needed cool points with the January opening of Hannah St Hotel. Location-wise, the new property from hospitality kings The Mulberry Group (their standout eateries include Flinders Lane’s Hazel and Dessous) can’t be beat, but its art-adorned, high-gloss space is bound to intoxicate. Expect 188 guestrooms, a rooftop terrace lounge and bar, a 20-metre lap pool, a communal working space, wellness facilities and more.

RAC Ningaloo Reef Resort

Waking up to the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef at Western Australia’s Coral Bay will feel even more special when RAC Ningaloo Reef Resort reopens later this year. A two-year remodel is expanding its 34-unit offering to 90 units, ranging from one-bedroom to three-bedroom configurations. There’s also a sparkly new clubhouse with a restaurant, bar and al fresco dining area, plus a resort pool and spacious grasslands. A December 2025 update from the team noted the project’s projected early-2026 completion but word around town is it’s looking more like mid-year.

Levantine Hill Hotel

Building on a star label in Victoria’s Yarra Valley wine country, Levantine Hill Hotel is set to open early 2026 after delaying its planned mid-2025 launch. The $20 million boutique property, constructed right on its famed manicured grounds, will feature 33 luxurious guestrooms with their own living rooms, private balconies overlooking the vines or surrounding mountains, circular bathtubs, king beds, mini bars naturally decked out in Levantine Hill drops and elegant furnishings. There’s also a restaurant, gym, outdoor exercise track and sculpture track in the works.

Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is getting its first international hotel in four decades, making lazy days by pristine beaches more decadent than ever. Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel will capitalise on one of the region’s most popular coastal towns, offering 180 guestrooms and suites situated 100 metres from golden sand. There’s also a rooftop pool, restaurant and bar on the way, plus the global chain’s renowned AvaniKids kids’ club and wellness facilities are also on the agenda. Doors are scheduled to open in April.

QT Parramatta

Cementing the thriving suburb as one of Sydney’s emerging tourism hubs, QT Parramatta will drive its signature exuberance into the heart of town. Set to open at the end of 2026, the hotel is being built in the new 8 Phillip Street tower and will boast rooftop dining, multiple wellness spaces and an infinity pool overlooking the city. While the building scales up to 65 storeys, the hotel itself will occupy its ground floor to level 18.

Waldorf Astoria Sydney

Another entirely new hotel brand to enter Australian waters in late 2026 will be Waldorf Astoria. Owned by Hilton Hotels, the five-star offshoot’s first local venture, Waldorf Astoria Sydney, will open in Circular Quay with some of the planet’s most iconic eyefuls – Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, all in one. 26 floors will house 227 luxurious guestrooms as well as a rooftop bar, a celebrity chef-led restaurant (the big name is yet to be confirmed), and wellness facilities. Eye-watering rates are predicted to match such world-class opulence.

Picnic Island

February will see the relaunch of Tasmania’s Picnic Island, the Apple Isle’s ritzy all-inclusive private island stay located 800 metres offshore from Coles Bay. While plush digs will house up to eight guests, what’s really getting us excited is the menu of activities that’s included. From sustainable oyster harvesting and guided wellness sessions to hiking hidden trails to secluded, untouched beaches, the adventures are going to be endless.

The Monty

A boutique stay on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road will bring a touch of Palm Springs to travellers from March. The Monty, a Pinterest-perfect homage to mid-century modern architecture, is being built within walking distance to Anglesea River and Anglesea Main Beach so it’s coastal enlightenment everywhere you look. Its room count sits at 16, including two accessible fit outs, plus there’s an outdoor swimming pool, a communal lounge, electric vehicle chargers and a Mexican eatery.

The Monarto Safari tents

You can enjoy the wonders of the African savanna, all without leaving Australia at Monarto Safari Park. The luxury accommodation opened with 78 rooms last year, and 2026 will see the  20-tent luxury safari lodge open. These luxury glamping accommodations will offer immersive wildlife views of African animals, including free-roaming herds of rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras and hippos.

Crystalbrook Sam, Adelaide

Adelaide’s first Crystalbrook Collection property, Crystalbrook Sam, is set to open late 2026 on Halifax Street. The hotel will feature 196 rooms and suites across 13 floors and a standout restaurant with sweeping views of the CBD and Adelaide Hills. Additionally, a dedicated wellness space with Crystalbrook’s signature Eléme Day Spa will cater for those in need of some pampering, alongside a gym, sauna and swimming pool.

Bathhouses

Else Bathhouse

There’s no stopping our love affair with social bathing and South Melbourne will become the newest region to embrace it come April. Else Bathhouse will offer three levels of serenity, fitted out with thermal baths, saunas, cold plunges, a mud and steam room, rooftop bathing and quiet zones. Even more delicious, it’s arriving with heritage-listed bones as the original 1900s construction once housed wool trading which evolved into a grocery empire. A perfect spot to indulge in both history and health.

Phillip Island Hot Springs

Victoria is (literally) flowing with thermal bathing, especially once Phillip Island Hot Springs is up and running by the end of 2026. Ocean fronting and in proximity to natural geothermal water, initial renders of the build look nothing short of sensational, so we’re glued to its Instagram as work continues through the year. Expect contrast therapy set-ups, wellness spaces, outdoor pools, and eventually a day spa as the opening will be rolled out over three stages. The final stage even promises a 120-room hotel, subject to building approval. Watch this space.

Naia Bathhouse

Yet another Victorian hotspot to put on your radar, Naia Bathhouse will be unveiled in the burgeoning country town of Castlemaine later this year. A local couple have staked their claim on an old miner’s cottage from the 1800s, and they’re in the thick of setting up hot and cold bathing facilities, a sauna, a European-inspired steam room, magnesium waters heated to 38 degrees and body treatments.

Experiences

Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk

Bucket list need a refresh? Add the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk from Tasmanian Walking Company to your list, which kicks off in the Northern Territory in April. Stretching 54 kilometres over five nights and four days, the game-changing trail invites the public to explore sacred Indigenous sites in groups of just 14 people at a time. Hikers will learn about Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people (Aṉangu) through storytelling sessions and workshops, while eco camps and a private lodge will provide restful grounds to recharge and do it all again the following day.

Lighting the Sound

Staged in March in Albany, Western Australia, across three weekends, Lighting the Sound is exactly what it sounds like with an added plethora of natural beauty to set an unparalleled coastal scene. The free art exhibition will in fact serve as Australia’s largest outdoor light installation, crafted by FORM Building a State of Creativity, a cultural organisation, and Finnish light artist Kari Kola, to illuminate the sky above the harbour with vibrant kaleidoscopic hues. This experience is so big that organisers claim it will be the largest light installation to have ever hit Earth.