Review: Osborn House

Why book? 

Finally, an Australian hotel that mixes twee country charm with on-trend and playful design details. Osborn House fills a much-needed gap in the market for a contemporary and fresh country escape and is a standout amongst the outdated hotels and B&Bs in this area. 

Set the scene

Two hours’ drive from Sydney and Canberra, and it feels like you’ve taken a turn into a well-heeled plot of English countryside. Surrounded by cloud-busting pine trees, the manicured estate sits pretty in a palette of cream, duck egg blue, and soft greens. Inside, former Soho House Design Director, Linda Boronkay, has transformed the space with the same clubby members’ house feel. Eclectic and mismatched furniture, clashing prints and textures, cheeky artworks and bric-a-brac from local designers and flea markets are scattered around—a squiggle bench here, a chubby desk there—creating playful nooks and crannies. There’s a steady stream of sports cars and Range Rovers rolling in with loved-up older couples, pairs of mums and daughters on spa mini-breaks, and cool-kid 30-somethings deep in recovery from a nearby wedding. Everyone is sprinkled around; playing backgammon on couches, sipping rosé on the terrace, or flitting between the pool, steam room, and sauna. On a hot day, the green and white striped poolside cabana daybeds are prime real estate. 

The backstory

Osborn House started life as a guesthouse in 1892 and has weathered many past lives, including as a health retreat. Its latest reincarnation as a creative country escape for movers and shakers is by Sydney restaurateur Adam Abrams, who knows how to puppeteer a good time, being the owner of elbow-rubbing Sydney-based Matteo restaurants and private floating harbor party, The Island.

The rooms

The 22 rooms are divided between the main house and outdoor cabins, which are a short walk down a gravel pathway. The 12 suites in the main house, some with four-poster beds, paisley print curtains, and walls in rich shades of teal and navy, mixes prim and proper English country style with on-trend details like scalloped marble counters, wavy lamps, and dressers by local Australian makers such as Lucy Montgomery and Bruce Pryor. Larger groups should opt for the garden terrace suites, two rooms connected by a communal sunroom, with views across the plush gardens. The timber-clad cabins have a rustic farmhouse feel, above-bed skylights, fireplaces, spacious bathrooms with double head showers, decks with outdoor tubs (although the privacy screening hedge outside cabins 6 and 7 still has a way to grow), and far-reaching views across the scrubby bush of Morton National Park. Alfresco baths should be timed for dusk when mobs of kangaroos hop about outside. 

Food and drink

The hotel’s casual restaurant, Georges, has a menu of crowd-pleasing favorites: salads, pasta, steaks, and burgers. At night, the elegant powder blue dinner-only restaurant Dinah’s attracts the Southern Highland’s smart set, dining on dishes like caviar-topped duck fat potatoes, charred peach stracciatella, and delicate parcels of agnolotti. Chef Segundo Farrell, who trained with Francis Mallmann (famous for his fire-cooking techniques), shows off his own fire-cooking skills with regular ‘fire feasts’, an Argentina-by-way-of-Australia barbecue and the hot ticket in town, where locals and guests gather around juicy carcasses of meat and vegetables that theatrically hang over coals and open flames.

The spa

Deeply tranquil, intimate, and low-lit with only a couple of treatment rooms, all the usual suspects are on the menu—massages, wraps, and facials—using all-Australian natural products by LaGaia Unedited. Day trippers to the spa are also given access to the guest-only pool, sauna, and steam room.

The neighborhood/area

Bundanoon is smaller than other towns in the Southern Highlands such as Bowral, Mittagong, and Moss Vale, which are all about an easy 30-minute drive away, but with the same quaint and mellow New England village vibe: low-slung sandstone buildings, art galleries, antique stores, and cute country pubs and cafes. The sweeping verdant forest of Morton National Park is about a mile from the hotel and is home to walking trails, epic waterfalls, and popular picnic spots. Also worth noting in the Southern Highlands is Paste in Mittagong, a Thai restaurant helmed by Chef Bee Satongun, who alongside a string of accolades was also named Asia’s Best Female Chef by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2018.

The service

This is Australia, so hospitality is a unique blend of laid-back positivity and welcome smiles, which hits the perfect pitch of professional, helpful, and friendly. 

For families

Children 12+ are welcome.

Eco effort

The basics but nothing ground-breaking: refillable shower products, glass bottles, and no plastic straws.

Accessibility

There is an accessible suite on the ground floor, which is slightly wider in both the room and bathroom for wheelchair access.

Anything left to mention?

The food in both restaurants is delicious and the rooms are stylish, and with outdoor decks and fireplaces in the cabins, it feels they’re missing a trick by not offering room service for those who feel like cocooning inside.