New Luxury Resort Planned For Family Holiday Favourite Port Stephens

By: Alex Harmon, ellaslist

Port Stephens is a firm favourite amongst Sydney families who have been doing the short 2.5 hour drive up the coast for weekends and summer holidays with the kids for years. Well, what if I told you that there is now a place up there just for the parents to enjoy! Drop the kids at grandmas for this little getaway...

Luxury boutique hotel company Bannisters have just announced it will open a new 4.5-star property in Port Stephens later this year. You might know their beautiful hotel in Mollymook that overlooks the coastline? Yes, just like that one, this will have stunning ocean views and will feature a fine-dining restaurant by celebrity chef Rick Stein.

Bannisters Port Stephens will occupy the beachfront site of the former Salamander Shores at Soldiers Point and will consist of 80 rooms, including four luxury suites and a penthouse. Up to 50 rooms will have bay views over the Karuah River, with the remaining rooms offering forest and bushland outlooks.

The property will also include a double-height lobby that will overlook a large infinity pool and pool bar. If fine dining's not you thing, there will be a casual pub-style restaurant on the premisis too. 

Pete Bacon, general manager, Bannisters, said: “There is so much potential in the Port Stephens area and it is a natural progression for us to take a formula that works and replicate it.”

Stein added: “It’s another beautiful stretch of New South Wales coastline, like Mollymook, and we can’t wait to be working again with General Manager Peter Bacon and Commercial Director, Alice O’Hara. When we saw the landscape from the lookout above Nelson Bay we were filled with a sense of excitement to see an almost continuous vista of bays, headlands, peninsula and the open sea beyond.

“The abundance of top quality seafood is a massive attraction as is the proximity to the Hunter Valley’s wineries. I will be working closely with Head Chef, Mitchell Turner designing a menu featuring local king prawns, Yellow fin bream, flathead, calamari and school whiting, not to mention the fabulous oysters.”

Keep up to date with the progress here.

We can't wait to check this out! Sorry kids...

Have you signed up to our newsletter? Join ellaslist to get the best family and kid-friendly events, venues, classes and things to do NEAR YOU!