Cradle Mountain Lodge, let me sing your praises. Thanks.
My five-star review has gotta line up with the five-star room we booked at five-star prices, so take this all with a grain of salt, but by gosh. If you want an amazing experience, grab yourself a night (or longer, if the budget will stretch) in the King Billy suite.
For our ten year bestiversary, my BFF and I decided to spoil ourselves and go for it, and between the two of us we had zero regrets about it! From the full rainbow that welcomed us to the Lodge, to Daniel the charming concierge checking us in, to the horde of pademelons that welcomed us to our cabin, to the free bottle of delicious champagne, to the bathrobes and slippers that we donned immediately, to the opportunity to light our own fire in the double-sided fireplace that stood in the centre of the room with a flipping huge king size bed on one side and a lounge area on the other side, to the hot tub on the balcony, to the big fat possum who came to keep us company while we enjoyed said hot tub with said champagne, to the dinner booking that was automatically reserved for us as part of our accommodation, to Damien the concierge who literally drove to his house just to get his own personal auxiliary cable for us to plug in to the stereo so we could play our iPhone jams at peak dance volume (sorry Daniel but Damien totally beat you out with this), to the incredible double shower with rainfall shower heads, to the seriously dreamy morning view out the huge window right next to the bed (pademelons nomming on grass as the morning sun rose and made the dew-frosty green sparkle like diamonds, seriously, shut up)...
just stop.
Just.
Stop.
Ok, yes. There were a few minor negatives.
1. we didn't see a wombat :( though this was our own fault because we basically didn't even leave our glorious cabin except for dinner...
2. no snow. damnit, weather! literally four weeks earlier it was covered in a huge snow dump, would it have been too much to ask for that to happen again?
3. the fatty possum who joined us while hot tubbing was eventually a little terrifying.
4. that plate of canapes... maybe don't?
5. pademelons are adorable but black currawongs are evil and terrifying, and the two different creatures will battle it out for your love and affection (and the hope of scraps, bad tourists are bad). pademelon coats are soft, currawong beaks are sharp :(
Seriously though, I still have to rate this a five because it was a dream overnight and if I was a famous celebrity I would have a month-long holiday here once a year (because that's the only way I could ever afford it). KB65 forever. read more