In keeping with its name, for Port Macquarie’s Observatory Hotel not even the sky’s the limit, it seems.
The popular beachfront hotel, consistently rated No 1 on TripAdvisor, has exceeded even its own record as the NSW North Coast’s most awarded hotel.
Within the space of the past four weeks it has taken our four major awards for its environmental innovation and contribution to eco-tourism – the most recent at the 2014 NSW Tourism Awards in Sydney last Thursday night [27/11/14].
The hotel’s operators, Southern Cross Resorts’ Chris and Trish Denny, were presented with the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism as the state’s leading achiever in the field at a ceremony at Darling Harbour.
In the past month the hotel’s environmental credentials have also been recognised with a NSW Green Globe Award for the best small business for sustainable achievement, the NSW Premier’s award for the best of all green enterprises in the state, and a first international award, Best Sustainable Hotel in Australasia, in the World Boutique Hotel Awards presented in London.
The hotel is officially certified 100 per cent carbon neutral and, among its environmental initiatives, hundreds of solar panels on its north-facing rooftop provide the energy consumed by 5,000 guests a year. The Observatory, known as “Port Macquarie’s best address”, occupies the most enviable location of any North Coast hotel, right on the town’s main surfing beach.
The Dennys say The Observatory’s green philosophy proves people, planet and profit can co-exist harmoniously.
The hotel, leading host of athletes in the twice-yearly Ironman event, offers a range of inclusive sustainable packages including O-Zone rooms, koala hospital tours, bike ‘n’ hike tours with picnic backpacks, and bicycles with free iPod audio-visual tour guides. www.observatory.net.au.