Home Travel Articles Prepare To Be Charmed | Prepare To Be Charmed |
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| Written by Lance Richardson | |
| Wednesday, 13 April 2011 | |
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The charms of staying at a bed and breakfast can be too good to resist. Especially those that are gay-owned and operated. Lance Richardson knows of two such places located in the wine regions of NSW and South Australia.
Is there a correlation between gay men and the B&B? There are, of course, considerably more establishments run by straight couples who’ve naively stumbled into hospitality expecting a tidy profit, but the association is an enduring one. And why not? In my experience, B&Bs run by gay men tend to be fairly memorable: they’re the most carefully decorated and the most closely-serviced, with an attention to detail that’s bordering on obsession. If there is, on the other hand, a sneering edge in the stereotype, it’s probably one circulated by angry hoteliers who just can’t compete, seeking to shut down these fabulous weekend escapes through character assassination.
There are two examples in Australia which stand out as paragons of the gay-run B&B, and both exist in wine regions (another correlation?).
The first is a stone’s throw from Sydney (if you can throw that far) in Mudgee. Beverley House is operated by Bill and Terry, who once ran an antiques shop and never quite gave up the game. So Beverley House sits on the threshold of hotel and object museum, four unique apartments filled to the brim with assorted paintings, sculpture, furniture and old magazines.
Somehow it works. The combination of Australian folk and Greco-Roman statuary is a perilous experiment, but Bill and Terry emerge unscathed by kitsch. The result is a delirious and extremely comfortable stay inside a mansion filled with things the owners love. There’s something far more satisfying about this than the ritziest hotel, where an interior designer produces a beautiful but artificial environment for guests. By contrast, Beverley House is an expedition into the taste of two men whose house would look like this regardless of what guests think or their willingness to pay. Plus: the breakfast is delicious and there’s champagne on arrival.
The second B&B worth taking notice of remains my favourite place to stay in the whole country. Tucked away on the GPS-elusive lanes of Clare Valley a few hours north of Adelaide, Thorn Park by the Vines (pictured above) is the brainchild of David Hay and Michael Speers. This is their third property after successful places on Kangaroo Island and Adelaide.
Prepare to be charmed by this one: whether it’s the decor straight from a copy of Home Beautiful, the surprising intimacy (there are only two guest rooms), or the masterful cooking of Mr Hay, one stay will invariably lead to another. At Thorn Park it’s the little things that count most, like heated towel rails and wine glasses perfectly matched to the blend being served. This is not an amateur property finding its feet: this is as good as it gets, and the boys know how to put on one hell of dinner party (even if you’re the only guest). Talk a walk at dawn around the house’s bordering vineyards and try not to be seduced by parochial fantasies of country life.
Of course, country life consists of more than bed and breakfast, which is another thing that makes these particularly properties such a sure bet. Being in wine growing regions, there’s no shortage of cellar doors worth visiting in both Mudgee and Clare Valley. To see the best of the latter you can’t go past a walk or bicycle down the Riesling Trail, which stops at a number of vineyards along the way. For Mudgee, the best way to taste the best the growers have to offer is by visiting Roth’s Wine Bar (pictured top). The owner Kirsty Stokes was, in another life, a gay icon. Tell her Lance sent you. |
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