Saffire, a new hotel due to open in April in Tasmania, is being tipped as one of the most luxurious properties ever to open on the island and a ground-breaking development for the luxury movement in Australia.
The striking contemporary hotel has just 20 suites and is set on the island state’s eastern Freycinet Peninsula. Its location at Coles Bay overlooks Great Oyster Bay and the Hazards Mountains.
The A$32 million-hotel is being developed by Federal Group, a Tasmanian hospitality company which also owns Freycinet Lodge and the Henry Jones Art Hotel in the state capital of Hobart.
The island is also set to get a dramatic new arts project next year at the Moorilla Winery just outside Hobart. MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, will be home to the largest private art collection in the Southern Hemisphere.
The idea for MONA comes from Tasmania’s David Walsh, pegged as “art collector, winery owner and philanthropist” by Australia’s The Age and MONA will house his collection. His winery is already home to the MONA Pavillions, four striking new five-star accommodations designed by one of Australia’s most innovative architects Fender Katsalidis.
The island’s luxury quota has also been significantly ramped up with the formation of Anthology, a travel group started by Grant Jones, previously instrumental in the development of Voyages.
Anthology owns the Quamby Estate near Launceston - opened last year and central to the Bay of Fires circuit - as well as the Bay of Fires Lodge.
Anthology has also developed Cradle Mountain Huts which provides expert guiding and comfortable accommodation along the island’s famed Overland Track between Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair.
The island has also seen many striking five-star beach houses developing, with the trend set to continue when Rocky Hills Retreat opens in March. Also on the east coast, the house is designed as a couples’ escape on Great Oyster Bay.
It follows the opening last year of The Lair, another self-contained luxury beach house hailed for its significant architectural progression and quality of design.
