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Luxury Villas Are Coming to This NSW Favourite
Just under an hour from Sydney, Saddles Mount White is about to get a serious upgrade. The Grand Saddles Lodge opens this spring, bringing 20 private villas, a piano bar and a day spa to the bushland precinct.
If you’ve eaten at The Homestead at Saddles, you already know the drawcard of Mount White. With its wraparound verandah and lake views, it’s little wonder it was named one of the world’s most beautiful restaurants according by Condé Nast Traveller in 2023. Now, the entrepreneur behind it all, John Singleton, is expanding the 28-acre precinct into somewhere you can actually stay the night.
The Grand Saddles Lodge is slated to open this spring with 20 private villas tucked among the trees, and the mere descriptions of the villas is convincing enough to book a stay ASAP. Each one comes with its own living space, an open fireplace, private terrace and a plunge pool, so you’re not exactly roughing it. There’s also a shared infinity pool and pool bar looking out over the bush, for whenever you’d prefer a little company instead of solitude.
Michelle Leslie and White + Dickson Architects have handled the design, which features plenty of sandstone, spotted gum, brass and furnishings made by local craftspeople. The scene is set before you even set foot inside, with guests arriving via a long winding driveway through native bushland and a glass-domed entrance.
Dinner will take place in the main building, where the menu leans into Australian produce, with plenty of local seafood, organic beef and poultry, and a wine list to match. This is all backed by the on-site herb and vegetable gardens which will bloom year-round with a selection of seasonal ingredients. Then when the sun goes down, it’s onto Ned’s, which is an Art Deco-style piano bar brought to life by live jazz and heavy on the circulation of proper martinis.
For the slower moments, The Spa at The Grand Saddles Lodge has a shopping list of relaxation features, from hot and cold saunas to ice baths and treatments which are all built around native botanicals. And, if you’re ever keen to explore what lies beyond the property, (though you might not be), there are oyster farms, Hawkesbury River trips and bushwalks nearby.
The Grand Saddles Lodge joins The Homestead, The Barn and The Caravan as part of the wider Saddles precinct, which will soon become a complete destination in its own right. Bookings open this spring.
If you liked this piece, why not check out the five-star resort coming to the Hunter Valley or the Blue Mountains icon getting a stunning new chapter?
