Silky Oaks Lodge on the Mossman River is the top resort in Australia and the South Pacific in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, published on 6 October. It scored 99.55 and came 15th among the world’s best resorts, the only Australian property on that list. Southern Ocean Lodge and Capella Lodge took second and third. All three belong to Beckons, the lodge group formerly called Baillie Lodges, which now holds the region’s entire podium.

Two magazines publish these results, and it is easy to mix them up. The US edition, Condé Nast Traveler, counted 798,867 votes this year. The UK edition, Condé Nast Traveller, polls British readers only and runs its own lists with its own scores, so a 98 in one means nothing in the other.

The US list: resorts in Australia and the South Pacific

Six Australian resorts made the Top 20 Resorts in Australia and the South Pacific:

Silky Oaks wasn’t on this list in 2025. Capella Lodge jumped from 20th and Southern Ocean Lodge from 10th. The faller is Lizard Island Resort, first last year and ninth now, behind The Brando and three Fijian resorts. Mount Mulligan Lodge and Orpheus Island, sixth and eighth in 2025, dropped out altogether, as did InterContinental Hayman Island.

Australian sea lions and terns on a Kangaroo Island beach
Kangaroo Island, home to Southern Ocean Lodge Photo: Hotel Website

The top three have a lot in common. Each is small and remote, and each folds dinner, drinks and guided outings into the rate. Silky Oaks has 40 treehouse suites in the Daintree, Southern Ocean Lodge has 25 on a Kangaroo Island clifftop, and Capella Lodge has nine on an island that caps visitors at 400. That’s 74 suites between them, and readers scored all three above 98.4.

The scores are tight. Just 1.84 points separate first and eleventh, so a modest change in how guests rate a stay can move a lodge several places.

Silky Oaks Lodge
★★★★★

Silky Oaks Lodge

Tropical North Queensland, QLD

Forty treehouses suspended above the Mossman River in the world's oldest rainforest

View hotel

The US list: hotels in Australia and New Zealand

The city list turned over more than the resort list. Eleven Australian hotels made the Top 15 Hotels in Australia and New Zealand:

Five of those eleven are new: both Ritz-Carltons, W Melbourne, Emporium and Lindenderry. Marriott runs four of the top eight, counting The Tasman, which trades under its Luxury Collection brand. The Ritz-Carlton, Perth has 205 rooms over Elizabeth Quay and a rooftop bar called Songbird (Marriott). Melbourne’s Ritz-Carlton, open since 2023, keeps its restaurant and bar on level 80 of Australia 108.

The Ritz-Carlton, Perth: Songbird rooftop terrace at dusk with the Elizabeth Quay arch behind
Songbird at The Ritz-Carlton, Perth Photo: Hotel Website

The Louise had the biggest fall. It topped this list in 2025 with 98.50 and is tenth this year, still the only wine-country hotel in the top 15. The Langham, Sydney went from third to 13th, and Shangri-La Sydney from second to seventh. Eight hotels from last year’s list are gone, among them Halcyon House, which was fourth, and Jackalope on the Mornington Peninsula.

The UK lists

British readers put Capella Sydney first among hotels in Australasia, scoring it 98.38, up from second last year. The Fullerton Hotel Sydney came second and The Langham Melbourne third. W Sydney, The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne, Ace Hotel Sydney, COMO The Treasury in Perth and The Tasman filled fourth to eighth.

Capella Sydney: an indoor pool beneath a vaulted skylight
The pool at Capella Sydney Photo: Hotel Website

The two readerships split hardest on The Langham Melbourne, third with UK readers and 15th with US readers. The Fullerton went the other way: second in the UK vote, and gone from the US list, where it was ninth in 2025.

In the resorts section for Australasia and the South Pacific, Six Senses Fiji placed first. Australia’s entries were:

  • No. 2: qualia (98.58)
  • No. 5: Southern Ocean Lodge (96.84)
  • No. 7: Longitude 131 (95.33)
  • No. 10: Silky Oaks Lodge (93.50)

Southern Ocean Lodge won this list in 2025 and slid to fifth. qualia is new and finished second; its 60 pavilions face the Coral Sea from the northern tip of Hamilton Island. Saffire Freycinet, fifth last year, isn’t on the list.

qualia: a pavilion living room opening to a plunge pool and the Whitsundays
A pavilion at qualia, Hamilton Island Photo: Hotel Website

How the votes compare with the Michelin Keys

Three weeks earlier, Michelin’s anonymous inspectors gave out their 2026 Keys. Southern Ocean Lodge is the one property near the top of both: Three Keys from Michelin, second with US readers. Silky Oaks and Capella Lodge hold Two Keys. Lizard Island Resort kept its Three Keys and still dropped eight places in the reader vote.

The hotel results line up less well. The Ritz-Carlton, Perth and The Louise received no Key, while The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne received one. Capella Sydney has Two Keys, came third in the US vote and first in the UK one, which makes it the city hotel with the strongest record across all three.

Capella Lodge: a guest in an infinity pool looking toward Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird
Capella Lodge, Lord Howe Island Photo: Hotel Website

For the resorts, readers and inspectors agree on the shape of the result: small lodges in remote places, with everything included, rank above large island resorts. Lizard Island, with Three Keys and a ninth-place vote, is where they disagree most.