Saffire Resort, Tasmania, Australia
Feb 10, 2018, 10:42 am
#16
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: United global services, BA gold,
Posts: 839
The location is good on the harbor, but I would say you have to get the "right room". Make sure you have a water view. Service was disappointing while we were there. To be fair it was full, Hobart was very busy with the sailors coming in, and I believe it hasn't been open that long and this was surely the busiest they had likely been since their opening. The restaurant was just ok. We only had lunch, but the service was poor, and the food not great. It may have been better at dinner, but we had plans with friends to eat elsewhere which was a short walk away and very good! For breakfast we did room service the next morning and it was fine although they forgot the butter and jam for our toast.
In summary it did not compare with Saffire but we didn't expect it to! I would stay again if in Hobart as it seemed in talking to others staying elsewhere it was the best option. To be fair to them they had only been open 6 months, it has over 100 rooms and this was the first time they were dealing with a crazy, busy time of year. We did enjoy our room and the location. We also thought the general ambiance of the hotel - " a storytelling theme" was kind of fun.
I would suspect that during not such crazy busy times the service might be better and maybe should improve fir those times they are "jammed". The restaurant itself is nice so if they can improve the service and food they will have a winner.
i would recommend despite our challenges as I don't think it is really fair to judge on a one night stay during their first experience on a day and night that were perhaps one if not the busiest day if the year! We saw the Henry Adams from the outside and I preferred MACq 01. Let me know if you have specific questions.
Feb 10, 2018, 11:18 am
#17
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There will be a new Luxury Collection property--the Tasman--opening in Hobart in sometime in later 2018 (or perhaps early 2019 with concomitant delays to be expected for new hotels) that you may also want to consider eventually. At least after it gets its feet wet!
https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2...-named-tasman/
https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2...-named-tasman/
Feb 10, 2018, 11:23 am
#18
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
There will be a new Luxury Collection property--the Tasman--opening in Hobart in sometime in later 2018 (or perhaps early 2019 with concomitant delays to be expected for new hotels) that you may also want to consider eventually. At least after it gets its feet wet!
https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2...-named-tasman/
https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2...-named-tasman/
UPDATE: The website says they are to open June 3 2019.
Mar 7, 2018, 4:35 pm
#19
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
I also wonder about this. The property looks fascinating. It has 8 pavilions, all suites.
Mar 19, 2018, 1:36 pm
#20
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: England
Posts: 1,361
There is nothing further to add that others have not already said above, but I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and also conclude that Saffire is a wonderful property.
The Private Pavilion is an exceptional room, with perfect views, living space and facilities. It is the blueprint for what a countryside luxury suite should be. The only mild criticism I can have being how shallow and small the plunge pool is. Yet alas, they allow it to be heated to 42C! Forty two! What a dream. I would have come here just for that, but they threw in a near perfect room to go with it.
The food is absolutely excellent, albeit with very small portions - last night we ended up having 3 main courses each as they're more like starter portions. They served a pork belly as the main meat yesterday, which must have come from the worlds first anorexic pig, so small it was. There is no limit to the amount you can order, and it is all included in the price, so it's just worth noting rather than necessarily complaining against. I have not eaten anything healthy since I was big enough to overpower my mum, but here even their hippie breakfasts consisting of things weird things called vegetables are incredible.
The only area I feel they need to work on is the service. Everyone is really friendly and therefore it's easier to be forgiving, but there's too many mistakes, mostly lapses in memory; I half expect them to do something wrong, however minor it may be.
Saffire with a hint of sunrise
Living room
Living room
Living room
Decking chairs, positioned outside of bedroom
Bedroom
Pool
Kitchen
Artsy-fartsy shot. Included for no other reason than it looks cool.
Actual art
Main building at night
Dining room
Oyster farming
Lobby
Lobby
Entrance
Entrance
Full list of pictures
The Private Pavilion is an exceptional room, with perfect views, living space and facilities. It is the blueprint for what a countryside luxury suite should be. The only mild criticism I can have being how shallow and small the plunge pool is. Yet alas, they allow it to be heated to 42C! Forty two! What a dream. I would have come here just for that, but they threw in a near perfect room to go with it.
The food is absolutely excellent, albeit with very small portions - last night we ended up having 3 main courses each as they're more like starter portions. They served a pork belly as the main meat yesterday, which must have come from the worlds first anorexic pig, so small it was. There is no limit to the amount you can order, and it is all included in the price, so it's just worth noting rather than necessarily complaining against. I have not eaten anything healthy since I was big enough to overpower my mum, but here even their hippie breakfasts consisting of things weird things called vegetables are incredible.
The only area I feel they need to work on is the service. Everyone is really friendly and therefore it's easier to be forgiving, but there's too many mistakes, mostly lapses in memory; I half expect them to do something wrong, however minor it may be.
Saffire with a hint of sunrise
Living room
Living room
Living room
Decking chairs, positioned outside of bedroom
Bedroom
Pool
Kitchen
Artsy-fartsy shot. Included for no other reason than it looks cool.
Actual art
Main building at night
Dining room
Oyster farming
Lobby
Lobby
Entrance
Entrance
Full list of pictures
Mar 19, 2018, 2:13 pm
#22
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
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Thanks, @MacMyDay. Your review was startlingly pleasant. Engagement must agree with you. 
So we can go to Saffire Freycinet to enjoy a lovely stay in a beautiful hotel with a beautiful room, eat tiny but unlimited portions of delicious food, look out onto the lovely, serene landscape, and take artsy-fartsy photos while oyster farming...? All while the friendly, well-intentioned staff get things wrong from time to time?
I continue to struggle with what there is to see and do while staying there. Not unlike Southern Ocean Lodge. Or Amanemu. If the destination is the resort, itself, for a few days to unplug, then I applaud the effort and wish everyone well who wants to do that. Walking around sounds delightfully boring to me, but it sounds like it excites a number of others.
I need something more worthwhile and interesting to draw me. Are there Tasmanian devils running around that can scare my husband? The Tasmanian Devil “experience” sounds frightfully dull and tame. Are there scenes of majestic natural splendor that make me die to visit? It seems I can do that anywhere in Tasmania, Are there local cultures to exploit (I’m sorry, I meant explore!)? Thus far, I’ve not yet seen or found anything that excites me to want to actually come here (or at any of these types of very remote “escape” and “do-little” properties).
Kind of reminds me of Aman-i-Khas without the chance to see tigers—otherwise known as Aman-I-Khas, I think. Others seem to love it, but I for the life of me can’t figure why anyone wants to bother without a better chance to see tigers. I can sleep in a luxury tent in more beautiful and easier to access locations.
I’m all for an escape. But give me something exciting to see or enjoy once I’m there. Especially at these rates! I’m all for a wonderful food/wine escape, too—but I usually need to do something besides digestion between meals or I’ll go nuts. That or the food/wine and service better be freaking spectacular. At these rates, I don’t understand the point.
I think I’ll pass, unless circumstance somehow force me to be on Tasmania for longer than a few nights.
So we can go to Saffire Freycinet to enjoy a lovely stay in a beautiful hotel with a beautiful room, eat tiny but unlimited portions of delicious food, look out onto the lovely, serene landscape, and take artsy-fartsy photos while oyster farming...? All while the friendly, well-intentioned staff get things wrong from time to time?
I continue to struggle with what there is to see and do while staying there. Not unlike Southern Ocean Lodge. Or Amanemu. If the destination is the resort, itself, for a few days to unplug, then I applaud the effort and wish everyone well who wants to do that. Walking around sounds delightfully boring to me, but it sounds like it excites a number of others.
I need something more worthwhile and interesting to draw me. Are there Tasmanian devils running around that can scare my husband? The Tasmanian Devil “experience” sounds frightfully dull and tame. Are there scenes of majestic natural splendor that make me die to visit? It seems I can do that anywhere in Tasmania, Are there local cultures to exploit (I’m sorry, I meant explore!)? Thus far, I’ve not yet seen or found anything that excites me to want to actually come here (or at any of these types of very remote “escape” and “do-little” properties).
Kind of reminds me of Aman-i-Khas without the chance to see tigers—otherwise known as Aman-I-Khas, I think. Others seem to love it, but I for the life of me can’t figure why anyone wants to bother without a better chance to see tigers. I can sleep in a luxury tent in more beautiful and easier to access locations.
I’m all for an escape. But give me something exciting to see or enjoy once I’m there. Especially at these rates! I’m all for a wonderful food/wine escape, too—but I usually need to do something besides digestion between meals or I’ll go nuts. That or the food/wine and service better be freaking spectacular. At these rates, I don’t understand the point.
I think I’ll pass, unless circumstance somehow force me to be on Tasmania for longer than a few nights.
Mar 19, 2018, 5:15 pm
#23
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: England
Posts: 1,361
I had the same concerns as you did before coming here, but I leave completely satisfied with all the activities available. It certainly will not be for everyone.
For me, holidays verge between going in a fighter jet, sitting around doing nothing, doing activities, further fighter jets, or a combination. Saffire does not offer enough (i.e. world class spa) on site to engage in doing nothing, so it has to offer activities. I took a look at the activities list and gave it a long thought as to whether I wanted to come here, but it has enough to have kept me entertained and feel I could have stayed another day. Are they exciting enough to warrant such a lengthy journey from Europe? Definitely not, but if you're in Australia anyway it's not a huge hassle to get to, especially as the airports are a breeze to get through and offer some ludicrously relaxed security policies that seem to abide by "you look like a nice guy, so come on through".
The oyster farming is a very unique and educational experience; the cycle rides and hikes were very enjoyable over Wineglass Bay and the Tasmanian Devils are on the verge of extinction due to a disease, so your chances of seeing one in the wild is pretty slim - at least here you can do so. Plus you get to see them eat, which was eerily similar to my table manners.
For me, holidays verge between going in a fighter jet, sitting around doing nothing, doing activities, further fighter jets, or a combination. Saffire does not offer enough (i.e. world class spa) on site to engage in doing nothing, so it has to offer activities. I took a look at the activities list and gave it a long thought as to whether I wanted to come here, but it has enough to have kept me entertained and feel I could have stayed another day. Are they exciting enough to warrant such a lengthy journey from Europe? Definitely not, but if you're in Australia anyway it's not a huge hassle to get to, especially as the airports are a breeze to get through and offer some ludicrously relaxed security policies that seem to abide by "you look like a nice guy, so come on through".
The oyster farming is a very unique and educational experience; the cycle rides and hikes were very enjoyable over Wineglass Bay and the Tasmanian Devils are on the verge of extinction due to a disease, so your chances of seeing one in the wild is pretty slim - at least here you can do so. Plus you get to see them eat, which was eerily similar to my table manners.
Mar 19, 2018, 5:56 pm
#24
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The oyster farming is a very unique and educational experience; the cycle rides and hikes were very enjoyable over Wineglass Bay and the Tasmanian Devils are on the verge of extinction due to a disease, so your chances of seeing one in the wild is pretty slim - at least here you can do so. Plus you get to see them eat, which was eerily similar to my table manners.
Hikes and cycle rides are like the seventh and eighth circles of hell for me. (The ninth would be cycling or hiking in high heat and humidity.) I need a destination or else any trek is worthless to me. I suppose oyster farming would be around the third or fourth--since I hate oysters. An improvement, sure, but...
Table manners? What are table manners?
Mar 19, 2018, 6:06 pm
#25
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: England
Posts: 1,361
I'm actually allergic to oysters, but it was still enjoyable to go along for the experience. More enjoyable for Lucie, of course, who wrote her name in history by managing to eat her bodyweight in oysters, plus get pissed, and manage to make it all the way back to the car without falling over or being sick. She will make a fine Mrs. MacMyDay.
Mar 19, 2018, 11:35 pm
#26
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: United global services, BA gold,
Posts: 839
We loved it too. Highly recommend the oyster farm, the boat trips, the hiking, eating, drinking, and the views. It was 3 nights for us and we could have easily done a fourth. We also get bored easily but we're not at all here.
Glad you liked it MacMyDay!
Glad you liked it MacMyDay!
Mar 20, 2018, 7:39 am
#27
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
I think it's fairly straightforward ... if you don't like the activities on offer at Saffire, and/or you would be equally happy activities-wise with what you could get at a luxury property in SE Asia or elsewhere, then Saffire may not be for you ... and that's okay!
Obviously you can get more bang for your buck at luxury resorts in SE Asia and other low-cost locations than you can in somewhere like Australia. But those other locations are not Tasmania, so if you care about the specific types of experience that Tasmania can offer, then the two wouldn't really be substitutes.
That said, I stayed for 2 nights and would probably go for 3-4 if I were to return to Saffire, but I can't imagine staying a full week as others have recommended unless I truly had more leisure time and money than I knew what to do with. Even if I were going to take a 3-4 week vacation going solely to Australia with unlimited budget, I would want to spend some time in other parts of the country (and even if I were going to take a full week in Tasmania, I would want to devote some of that to Hobart). I think Saffire's activities offer plenty to do for 2-4 nights, but again, if you hate all of the activities they offer, then it sounds like maybe you should look elsewhere for your next trip.
And if for some reason you have decided that you absolutely want to visit Tasmania but are not sold on Saffire ... for one thing, I think most likely anywhere else you might stay in Tasmania would offer a similar set of activity options, in many cases probably not with the same degree of polish that Safire does (and almost certainly not as good food). Hobart alone (really, the MONA alone) could be worth a 2-3 night (max) stop as part of a broader Australia trip without venturing to Saffire, but that's just a city trip, not really a visit to Tasmania.
Obviously you can get more bang for your buck at luxury resorts in SE Asia and other low-cost locations than you can in somewhere like Australia. But those other locations are not Tasmania, so if you care about the specific types of experience that Tasmania can offer, then the two wouldn't really be substitutes.
That said, I stayed for 2 nights and would probably go for 3-4 if I were to return to Saffire, but I can't imagine staying a full week as others have recommended unless I truly had more leisure time and money than I knew what to do with. Even if I were going to take a 3-4 week vacation going solely to Australia with unlimited budget, I would want to spend some time in other parts of the country (and even if I were going to take a full week in Tasmania, I would want to devote some of that to Hobart). I think Saffire's activities offer plenty to do for 2-4 nights, but again, if you hate all of the activities they offer, then it sounds like maybe you should look elsewhere for your next trip.
And if for some reason you have decided that you absolutely want to visit Tasmania but are not sold on Saffire ... for one thing, I think most likely anywhere else you might stay in Tasmania would offer a similar set of activity options, in many cases probably not with the same degree of polish that Safire does (and almost certainly not as good food). Hobart alone (really, the MONA alone) could be worth a 2-3 night (max) stop as part of a broader Australia trip without venturing to Saffire, but that's just a city trip, not really a visit to Tasmania.
Mar 20, 2018, 10:14 am
#28
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Here, there … you know how it goes.
Posts: 1,518
We had a lovely time as well, a few years ago. I'm fairly confident we stayed for four nights.
I'm not sure I'd say it's worth flying halfway 'round the world for, but if you're going to be in Australia anyway, it's definitely worth a stay. Too, Tasmania is worth it - there's a place a few years old called The Pumphouse I've been meaning to try. And with a fairly newly opened, well-regarded restaurant within an old sanitarium, Hobart - MONA, and beautiful scenery, I highly recommend a visit.
I'm not sure I'd say it's worth flying halfway 'round the world for, but if you're going to be in Australia anyway, it's definitely worth a stay. Too, Tasmania is worth it - there's a place a few years old called The Pumphouse I've been meaning to try. And with a fairly newly opened, well-regarded restaurant within an old sanitarium, Hobart - MONA, and beautiful scenery, I highly recommend a visit.
Mar 20, 2018, 11:54 am
#29
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
Pumphouse Point - appears to be a three hour drive west from Saffire and a 3 hour drive north from Hobart.
Agrarian Kitchen Eater - kitchen in former asylum sounds extremely interesting and is about a half hour drive from Hobart. I can imagine it being an excellent stop for midday food when returning to Hobart from Saffire.
The restaurant info has been added to my trip file.
Mar 20, 2018, 12:19 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Here, there … you know how it goes.
Posts: 1,518
Oh, I do hope you enjoy it, SD1K.
May I add for the group, one of the most intriguing recomendations I can make for Australia is a Lunch booking at Brae, followed by a stay in one of their on-site suites. Fantastic meal, and an incredible stay. If I can get my act together I’ll post a comprehensive review.
To further add to your information, MONA also has on offer both Pavilions (https://mona.net.au/stay/mona-pavilions), as well as an interesting restaurant within (https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/...0180126-h0ow7t).
Also, the former LA Weekly food critic, native Aussie Besha Rodell, in her role as roving critic for the NYT, delivered this review of Agrarian Kitchen: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/d...-tasmania.html
Also, the former LA Weekly food critic, native Aussie Besha Rodell, in her role as roving critic for the NYT, delivered this review of Agrarian Kitchen: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/d...-tasmania.html
May I add for the group, one of the most intriguing recomendations I can make for Australia is a Lunch booking at Brae, followed by a stay in one of their on-site suites. Fantastic meal, and an incredible stay. If I can get my act together I’ll post a comprehensive review.
Last edited by aa213bb; Mar 21, 2018 at 6:43 pm Reason: Cleaned up irritating spacing when posting from mobile