Maleny Tropical Retreat Balinese B&B

Unique 4.5 star Balinese style accommodation with three exquisitely appointed guest rooms, for those looking for more than simply luxury. Catering for romantic couples of all ages.

BRISBANE COURIER MAIL - 1st July 2006
"Of course I went straight to the visitors' book. It was just sitting there, on the coffee table of our villa at the Maleny Tropical Retreat, dying to be read. For this is the way with visitors' books. They have the voyeuristic allure of a private diary.
So having been in our Bali-inspired suite for fewer than ten minutes, with the wooden head of a rather doleful-looking elephant staring down at me from the wall, and with a resplendent sunset unfolding outside, I was savouring the handwritten entries of those who had come before us.
"It's been a long since I swam in a fresh creek, smelt the bush, heard cows and looked at rolling hills", wrote a very sentient Eleanor. "This has fed the 'recluse-in-me'."
Then there were the two naughty newlyweds, Ben and Fiona: "It's been so relaxing and enjoyable. Just what we needed." (An oddly laid-back description for a couple of freshly minted honeymooners.) The personalised service and 'Room Fairy' really made us feel welcome.
We were to encounter the 'Room Fairy', as it turned out, or at least the fairy's handiwork, and a handful of other surprises. What should have been most surprising of all was to come across a little slice of Bali in the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands, just 5km south of Montville in the Blackall Range. We drove down the steep driveway and the retreat - technically a bed-and-breakfast with three suites perched on the western side of the range - seemed to emerge from the twilight like some sort of Indonesian-style Brigadoon, complete with prayer flags and miniature stone temples.
It seemed quite appropriate that a short tailed blue cattle dog (Cassi, we discovered later, when we were formally introduced) should be there to greet us, perched as she was on top of a large boulder. She was a link to this land, pre-Bali - it was once a dairy farm. Or perhaps she was a living effigy of some hitherto unknown Asian goddess.
At the main house with its communal dining room, our host, Kerry, led us to "Lovina" - named after a beach in northern Bali - a large, neatly secluded bungalow on the edge of the rain-forest with a pitched roof, Buddha statues, the sad pachyderm, a spa, log fire and a magical view to the hills behind the Obi Obi Creek.
Later, having finished reading the guests' diary, we set about doing exactly what the Maleny Tropical Retreat was specifically designed for - not a lot. In fact, we did not a lot very, very well, in utter privacy and comfort.
I'm pleased to report that Eleanor of the visitors' book was right. You could constantly smell the rich bushland, hear the distant cows, detect even the murmur of the Obi Obi in these water-deprived times. We took a stroll down to the creek, guided by Cassi and her son, Benji, and sat beside the rock pools. We snoozed on the bungalow verandah to a complex symphony of bird-calls.......
....We left with the image of Benji and Cassi in the car's rear-vision mirror. For a long time afterwards, I felt like a tight-trousered Gene Kelly reluctant to leave his highland chimera and head back to the big city. And I hummed to myself Waiting for M'dearie. Not very Balinese, but it was seriously aggrieving to have a vacate our little Brigadoon."
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Relax in a warm, bubbling spa. Light the wood fire. Sip your favourite wine. Gaze out on a magnificent vista of rain-forest & pastures. Recline on your private deck listening to the birds. Paddle in the Obi Obi creek with Cassi & Benji as your bush-walking escorts. Close to galleries, shops, wineries, and local arts, crafts & produce outlets.

Each room has an en-suite, large corner double spa, wood fire, air-conditioning, tea/coffee facilities & fridge with mini-bar, TV/video/DVD, radio/CD (complete with extensive movie & music libraries), and large outdoor deck with panoramic views of Obi Obi Creek and Lake Baroon.

BBQ packs & Picnic Hampers available (24hrs notice). In-house Day Spa services available (request on booking).