Lilianfels Blue Mountains
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Hotel Details
Location
Lilianfels Blue Mountains · Blue Mountains, Australia
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Key Highlights
- ✓Service & Hospitality: The staff are consistently lauded as delightful, amazing, friendly, professional, and attentive, often going "beyond to help with anything".
Expert Review: Lilianfels Blue Mountains
Lilianfels Blue Mountains, a distinguished Michelin Key Selected property, offers a luxurious and elegant escape in the heart of Australia's iconic Blue Mountains. Guests consistently praise its heritage charm, exceptional service, and stunning location overlooking the Jamison Valley.
1. Overall Rating & Sentiment
The general consensus for Lilianfels Blue Mountains is overwhelmingly positive, with guests frequently describing it as an "incredible haven of comfort and elegance". Its selection as a Michelin Key property signifies "a very special stay" where service often "goes the extra mile" and the hotel provides "much more than others in its price range". Review scores are generally high, reflecting a luxurious and memorable experience.
2. Key Highlights
Guests particularly love Lilianfels for several key aspects:
- Service & Hospitality: The staff are consistently lauded as delightful, amazing, friendly, professional, and attentive, often going "beyond to help with anything".
- Location: The elevated position offers "sweeping views of the Jamison Valley" and convenient access to local landmarks like the Three Sisters and Echo Point. The meticulously maintained gardens further enhance the sense of a serene retreat.
- Design & Ambiance: The resort elegantly combines Edwardian architecture with luxury charm, creating an "old-world charm" and "relaxed sophistication of a bygone era". Public spaces are described as beautiful and ideal for relaxation.
- Amenities: Lilianfels boasts a comprehensive range of facilities, including a full-service spa, indoor and outdoor heated pools, a fitness center, tennis courts, a billiards room, and a library. The resort also offers multiple dining options, catering to various preferences.
3. Room Quality
The 85 rooms and suites at Lilianfels are described as boutique, spacious, and comfortable, featuring elegant décor "richly decorated with organza and silk" and "handcrafted wallpaper". Many rooms offer expansive king beds and "almost shocking views". Standard amenities include air conditioning, satellite TV/DVD players (though some note these as older systems), safes, premium bedding, and complimentary WiFi. Bathrooms are often spacious and marbled, equipped with a separate bath and shower, designer toiletries, and heated towel rails. Windows that open allow guests to enjoy the fresh mountain air.
4. Dining Experience
Lilianfels offers a diverse culinary experience:
- Darley's Restaurant: This award-winning, hatted fine-dining restaurant is renowned for its modern Australian cuisine, emphasizing fresh, locally sourced produce and an extensive wine list. It provides a romantic setting with stained glass windows, ornate fireplaces, crystal chandeliers, and garden views. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday evenings.
- The Orangery Restaurant: Serves daily buffet breakfast, which guests generally find delicious, though some wish for more variety in the continental options. Coffee service can sometimes be slow.
- The Lounge: A popular spot for casual dining, light meals, snacks, sweets, and drinks. The high tea service here is particularly highly rated.
- Miss Lilian: Offers a journey through Southeast Asian flavors in a vibrant, whimsical setting.
- Echoes Rooftop Restaurant and Bar: Another fine-dining option that provides superb food with "incredible views", especially at sunset.
5. Service & Staff
The hospitality at Lilianfels is a consistent highlight. Guests frequently commend the staff for being "amazing," "delightful," "friendly," "professional," and "approachable". Many remark on their attentiveness and willingness to "go out of their way to anticipate one's needs" and assist with anything.
6. Location & Accessibility
The resort enjoys an "unbeatable location" perched on the edge of the magnificent Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. It's just a short stroll from the iconic Three Sisters rock formation and Echo Point, providing easy access to scenic trails. Lilianfels is approximately a 90-minute drive from Sydney CBD or a 2-hour train ride from Sydney Central Station, followed by a 5-minute car ride to the hotel. Complimentary on-site self-parking and valet parking are available.
7. Value & Pricing
As a Michelin Key Selected property, Lilianfels is recognized for offering "a very special stay" and providing "much more than others in its price range". Room rates can start from around AUD 222, with an average nightly rate for a 5-star hotel in Katoomba typically around AUD 618-653. Buffet breakfast is an additional charge, costing approximately AUD 39 for adults and AUD 19 for children.
8. Common Complaints
While generally highly rated, some guests have noted a few recurring issues:
- Maintenance & Refurbishment: Some common areas and pool furniture have been described as appearing worn or neglected, suggesting that certain facilities could benefit from an upgrade. The property has acknowledged this, stating they are undergoing a refurbishment program to upgrade guest room amenities.
- In-Room Entertainment: The presence of DVD players and a lack of streaming services in rooms are sometimes mentioned as being outdated for a 5-star facility.
- Dining Service: While food quality is high, there have been instances of limited breakfast options or slow coffee service in the Orangery Restaurant. Delays in food and beverage service in The Lounge due to staff absences have also been reported, though management is addressing these.
- Spa Organization: Some guests experienced disorganization when booking spa treatments.
- Room Views: A few "deluxe view" rooms have been reported to have partially obstructed views.
- Parking: On-site parking has been described as sometimes inadequate.
- Reading Room: The Reading Room's ambiance, with overly bright, cold lighting and uncomfortable seating, has been singled out as an area needing improvement.
Sources
Points to Consider
- •While generally highly rated, some guests have noted a few recurring issues:
Google Reviews
1,545 reviews
Recent Guest Reviews
r s
We have been coming to Lilianfels since 2001. Since being bought by the GIC the government of Singapore through some local investment company the hotel has been seriously downgraded. We had 3 rooms of which 2 of the rooms the aircon did not work- turning them into 2 stars and all the little special things like soft sheets gone. Areas with plastic up I guess for some changes The lounge once a pri...
Toni Csermelyi
I wish we had read some of the Google reviews before booking this hotel. My daughter booked a studio apartment as a special treat for our last night in NSW. 5 star it is definitely not. While our room was spacious, the furniture and soft furnishings are dated. Bed linen has definitely seen better days. Bedside tables were stained and scratched. There was a long hair on a pillow as well as hair, ...
Amanda Jackson
Very disappointed. The hotel was under renovations and we were not advised prior. The room was left messy after housekeeping made the bed. Coffee not replenished & when we enquired re coffee were told very rudley we had to go down to reception to get more. Breakfast at Darleys was shocking. We had to follow up after waiting 45 mins. Only to arrive cold. Very poor service all around.Reception often...
Gabrielle
This isn't a five star hotel. We spent a small fortune to splurge on this hotel for 2 nights and we left disappointed. The rooms are dated, the bath was tiny to the point a couples bath was a horrible experience, and the service was meh. It turns out there were a lot of renovations going on whilst we were there. The only notification we had of this going on was a small paragraph AFTER we booked th...
Evgeniya Timchenko
Several aspects significantly impacted the experience… At breakfast, I waited around 40 minutes for an omelette to be prepared, which felt unnecessarily long and poorly managed. I would also strongly advise guests to think twice before using the pool. There were numerous ducks constantly in and around it, and we observed hotel staff washing duck droppings directly into the pool rather than remov...
Papi Ventures
I’ve visited Lillianfels many times over the past decade, and it once stood as a quintessential Blue Mountains escape — intimate, character-rich, and unmistakably Australian in charm. Unfortunately, post-COVID and following the change in ownership, the difference is stark and deeply disappointing. Since transitioning from a family-run establishment to being operated by Salter Brothers — an invest...
