Hobart, Two Ways in One Weekend

Tasmania is a place that rarely asks you to choose just one way of experiencing it. You can stay close to the city and feel its quiet cultural pulse, or drift outward into landscapes that slow everything down to something more elemental. On a short escape, the real luxury is not picking a single version…it’s moving between them.

This is a weekend shaped by contrast: heritage and farmland, city edges and open water, stillness and space. Here’s our recommendation for two stays, just under half an hour apart, each offering a different take on a relaxing weekend in Hobart and its surrounds. 

Maylands Lodge, New Town

Maylands Lodge is steeped in history and quiet opulence. As you pull into the circular driveway, a three-tiered fountain set at its centre, there’s an immediate shift; like you’ve stepped slightly outside of time. It feels calm and just a little bit mysterious, as if the walls are holding onto secrets of years long past. 

This stately mansion was built by renowned architect Henry Hunter between 1885-87 in the Victorian Italianate style. It was built for merchant John Pearce, later purchased by Spence Brownell of the Brownell Brothers Department Store. It spent time as the Hobart Girls’ Industrial School and was even owned by the Salvation Army for a stint before being lovingly restored by the Gardner family in 2016. 

The boutique accommodation in New Town, South Hobart, now houses 12 luxury suites, each with its own unique view – some overlooking the lush garden, others with views of the dramatic Mt Wellington. It’s giving Wuthering Heights but less tragedy and more quiet, windswept romance. 

The interior is just as impressive. On the ground floor there’s a serene, sunlit dining room with ornate rosette ceilings and a large fireplace where guests meet for breakfast. Speckled light filters through stained-glass accents as you move toward the grand staircase.

Maylands Lodge is an ideal stay for those seeking quiet luxury close to the city. It’s best suited to travellers with a car, with North Hobart’s café and dining scene just a five-minute drive away.

That proximity is part of the appeal – close enough to dip into Hobart’s food and cultural pockets when you want them, but set just far enough back to feel removed from it all. It’s a calm beginning, especially if Maylands is the first chapter of a wider Tasmanian escape.

Iron Creek Bay Estate (Sorrell)

Your next stop should be Iron Creek Bay Estate. It’s a tranquil farm-stay just 28 minutes outside of Hobart. This stunning property overlooks the tidal Iron Creek Bay, Forcett Rivulet, and Orielton Lagoon. 

The Estate is set on a 60-hectare commercial cherry farm with more than 10,000 trees. It also houses fruit orchards, a vineyard and its very own Orani restaurant – serving decadent homestyle farmhouse feasts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

This is more than accommodation; it’s an experience-led stay that adapts to its guests; equally suited to solo travellers, couples, and families. You can wander through the orchard to pick fruit: cherries, apricots, apples, pears, and plums (prime season: mid December to early February). You can collect some animal feed from reception and stroll down to feed the very friendly (and always-hungry) geese, chickens, ponies, alpacas and sheep. Don’t be surprised if you leave with a small, loyal following as you turn back to head to your room. 

After exploring, venture to the expansive deck of Orani and sip on the Estate’s very own varietals of Pinot Noir and Riesling – grapes picked at the Estate and transformed into wine by winemaker extraordinaire Jeremy Dineen. If traveling with kids, let them play outside on the adventure playground where you can watch them whilst you sip your wine in peace. 

Then head on to Orani for dinner and let Head Chef Jesse Allardyce tantalise your tastebuds with a menu that leans heavily into local produce highlighting the best of the farm’s harvest alongside premium Tasmanian ingredients. These are meals set to satisfy – from calamari served with pork and kombu broth to slow-cooked beef cheek with beetroot and macadamia, and fresh market fish finished with buttermilk, snow pea and dill.

Iron Creek Bay Estate is a family owned business, with the property purchased by the Tao family in 2016. Construction of the 91 guest rooms, including pavilion-style and pod accommodation, commenced in 2018 and took four years to complete amidst the chaos of the pandemic. 

But as we know, good things take time. These architecturally striking, sustainable pavilions and pods have been built using cross-laminated timber panels alongside renewable, recyclable natural materials. Solar hot water and lighting add another layer of ecological intention;  thoughtful design that feels just as good as it looks.

The Estate offers two distinct ways to stay. The Pavilion rooms are open and expansive, designed to draw the landscape in through light and skylights for star-gazing. The Pods are more intimate, cocoon-like spaces. One opens you up to the landscape; the other tucks you into it.

One Weekend, Countless Experiences

Together, these two stays are an easy way to see just how much Hobart can hold in a single weekend. One moment you’re in a heritage mansion close to the city, the next you’re out among orchards, vineyards and open water. There’s good food at every turn, wine that comes from the land you’re standing on, animals wandering up for attention, and fruit you can pick straight from the tree. It’s culture and countryside, dining and downtime, all folded into a couple of blissful days you’re set to remember.