Here are two great options for accommodations (each with terrific cuisine) overlooking Great Oyster Bay (which encompasses the smaller Coles Bay and Honeymoon Bay).
Saffire Freycinet
When the 20-villa Saffire Freycinet opened in 2010, it was the first and only five-star luxury resort in Tasmania. It still is. A member of Relais & Chateaux, it is an architectural stunner that accommodates a maximum of 40 guests at any given time. Every villa offers floor-to-ceiling views of the pink granite Hazards Mountains across the bay, and most villas come with private plunge pools. In the restaurant, look for steamed blue-eye trevalla with dashi custard and sea urchin in a green tea and seaweed broth, as well as grilled grass-fed beef (from Tassie’s famed Cape Grim) with braised oxtail, smoked bone marrow and onion rings. Villas from $1,500.
Freycinet Lodge
Freycinet Lodge’s 60 rustic cabins meander across more than 14 acres of thickly forested Freycinet National Park overlooking Coles Bay, part of the larger Great Oyster Bay. There’s a hiking trail behind the property that leads to the blissfully secluded Honeymoon Bay, where sunsets provide a dramatic nightly show. The accommodations are basic but comfortable, not quite luxury, but not quite camping either. All rooms come with a French press coffee maker and some pretty darned good beans, as well as a 3-way radio that picks up a decent radio station that plays the likes of Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra. The restaurant’s kitchen is far more sophisticated than its modestly furnished dining room might suggest, serving locally harvested crayfish and a killer jambalaya that’s made with Great Oyster Bay mussels, shrimp and scallops mingled with spicy Tasmanian chorizo. Cabins from $170.
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