Luxury lodges: The new frontier in high-end travel

Strong demand has been driven by affluent guests, both domestic and international, seeking premium holidays that go beyond the norm. 

Profit margins for luxury lodges have increased by 54 per cent since 2018, and occupied room revenue is up 59 per cent over the same period, CBRE’s Luxury Lodge Market 2025 report reveals. 

Travellers in their 40s and 50s, in particular, are willing to pay a premium for immersive stays that combine gastronomy, wellness, cultural enrichment, and relaxation.

The sector has not been affected by the cost of living and other economic uncertainties, the research shows, and is forecast to grow at a compound average rate of 8.5 per cent over the next five years. 

Many lodges operate at 90 per cent-plus occupancy year-round, CBRE senior director of hotels investment and brokerage Tom Gibson says. 

CBRE identified 24 luxury lodges in Australia, including El Questro in remote Western Australia, Qualia on Queensland’s Hamilton Island, Longitude 131° overlooking Uluru in the Northern Territory, the Lake House in Victoria’s Central Highlands, Saffire Freycinet in Tasmania’s wild west, and Pretty Beach House on the NSW Central Coast.

“Without a doubt, Australia offers some of the most iconic and remarkable landscapes, affording us access to incredible experiences and culinary offerings,” Gibson says.

Few luxury lodges have publicly been listed for sale in the past decade, he says. One will come onto the market “every other year or so”, and this generates pent-up demand.

More than a third are privately owned by wealthy individuals.

“Most commonly, luxury lodge transactions are executed behind closed doors, with only a handful hitting the market publicly over the past decade,” Gibson says. “The challenge we see from the buyer market is that there are only a handful of these assets, which are predominantly owned by high-net-worth individuals who don’t have any intent to sell, irrespective of the number. 

“For private equity and hotel fund-style buyers who are driven by a specific return requirement, it is very challenging to make transactions stack up in line with a number that gets private ownership excited.”

Gibson says the weaker Australian dollar has been favourable for the industry.

Total visitor expenditure is up 7 per cent to $48.4 billion as of September last year, led by the US, China and the UK. Australians have been financially incentivised to holiday in their own backyard. “As the currency stabilises closer to historically normal levels, we expect this reinvigorated demand to underpin the growth into the future,” Gibson says.

Karina Barry, a proprietor of Pretty Beach House, and on the board of Luxury Lodges of Australia, says business is at pre-COVID levels. 

The pandemic years brought in local guests to the Bouddi National Park lodge who would otherwise have been in Europe. They’ve kept coming back. 

Last year, room revenue was up 2.4 per cent, reservations jumped 3.2 per cent, and the average length of stay increased.

Custom detail sets these lodges apart. At Pretty Beach House, even the menus are adjusted to guests’ preferences. 

“At all of the high-end luxury lodges, the staff know your name and your needs before you even arrive,” Barry says. “In Australia, we don’t have much glitz and glamour in the luxury lodge space. It’s more about time, place and connection. 

“Those seeking connection to a quintessential Australian environment with pristine biodiversity and non-pretentious luxury are reasons people visit us.”

El Questro Homestead in the Kimberley, owned since 2021 by the G’Day Group, has welcomed a resurgence of affluent travellers.

Personalised moments can include helicopter rides to waterfalls, dinner on the Chamberlain River, soaking in thermal pools, and heritage experiences with the traditional landowners.  

“Guests consistently tell us it’s the sense of scale and isolation while being immersed in 700,000 acres of wilderness that is what stays with them once they are back to their everyday lives,” G’Day Group chief executive Grant Wilckens says.

“What they are looking for is not simply a photograph of the ancient Kimberley landscape, but a once-in-a-lifetime experience that teaches them something enduring.