4 hours ago
2
October 15, 2025 — 5:00am
The lodge
Kittawa Lodge, King Island, Tasmania
Check-in
It’s 20 minutes by car from the tiny King Island airport to the gates of Kittawa Lodge: enough time to switch off the mind in preparation for ultimate relaxation immersion. Co-owner Nick Suine welcomes us before a brief tour, showing us where we’ll find the cellar, board games and a magnesium-spiked cedar hot tub, before pulling a wheel of oozing King Island Dairy brie (topped with Tassie walnuts, Kittawa’s honey and sprigs of home-grown rosemary) out of the oven. Then he leaves us to it.
The space
Kittawa is a 38-hectare former agistment property in King Island’s south-east, 17 kilometres from “downtown” (read: the airport, FoodWorks and the main strip of museums, butcher and bakery) and 80 kilometres off the north-west coast of Tasmania. The island – home to 1600 people across 1098 square kilometres – is known for its dairy, beef and kelp industries, and for its KI wave: raising a finger in greeting to every passerby. Our only neighbours are very nonchalant wallabies. Claiming 750 metres of private coastline, Kittawa is composed of three exquisite architect-designed lodges. The Retreat, which opened in May, is a two-bedroom offering that features a decadent outdoor spa. The lodges are private, isolated by clever placement between rolling sand dunes, and entirely off-grid. If the internal appeal of your lodge wanes (note: it won’t), soak up the sun on the deck or wander over squishy spring-fed moss to reach the lichen-licked boulders at the churning oceanfront; you’ll feel the wind wildly whipping across your face from the moment you step outside.
The rooms
The design of the whole complex is thoughtfully and contemporarily Australian, with black ironbark panelling, expansive pitched ceilings and walls that moonlight as gallery space for works by local artists. The Retreat mirrors the aesthetic of the one-bedroom lodges, but here, the timber detailing softens the space and a dedicated bar area puts the Tasmanian-only cellar selection on display. There’s enough room for two couples or a family to spread out in wings at either end, gathering on an oversized couch by a marble coffee table with a 1000-piece puzzle. The entire residence is our personal escape, from the all-you-could-need kitchen and its stocked fridge, to the lush living space that’s anchored with a wood-burning fireplace, to the linen-clad king-size beds, the sitting area and massive bathrooms with concrete bathtubs. We don’t close the blinds, so captivated are we by the swelling storm battering the floor-to-ceiling double-glazed windows.
Food + drink
Tasmania-centric dining is part of the package. One night, co-owner Aaron Suine delivers beef carpaccio made with thinly sliced local Porterhouse, prawn spaghettini with handmade egg noodles, and a chocolate torte – Nick, Aaron says, makes the sweets. Delectable breakfasts and lunches (the latter available in-lodge or packed into a picnic for off-site adventures) are included too, as well as DIY dinner kits and a pantry stocked with Tasmanian tea, pistachios, local fudge and honey from the team’s tea tree-adjacent hives.
Out + about
If you must peel yourself away, visit the sombre Cataraqui shipwreck monument, a nine-minute drive away, or the Calcified Forest 20 minutes away by car, or trek the 93 steps of Currie Lighthouse with King Island Walks to experience a white-bellied sea eagle-eye view of the island’s treacherous coast (kingislandwalks.com.au). Alternatively, read books, use the binoculars to follow your neighbours (resident wallabies) bound across paddocks, and finally finish that crossword you’ve been nursing for weeks.
The verdict
An exceptionally well-considered stay that’s as much about the experience of being here as it is about the sophisticated structure you’re within.
The essentials
The Retreat features one accessible room and one non-accessible room, from $2350 a night including meals. One-bedroom lodges start at $1650 a night. See kittawalodge.com
Rex Airlines (rex.com.au) flies direct from Melbourne Airport. Sharp (sharpairlines.com) flies from Launceston and Burnie; King Island Airlines (kingislandair.com.au) fly from Victorian regional airports.
Our rating out of five
★★★★½
Highlight
Settle into luxury: for a weekend, every single thing is thought of – and you don’t have to do the thinking.
Lowlight
The roads to get to Kittawa are rustic and rugged, with plenty of tyre-popping opportunities for inattentive drivers along the way.
The writer was a guest of Kittawa Lodge and Tourism Tasmania.
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