Fairmont Resort in Leura, Blue Mountains unveils new suites

Up in the Blue Mountains, where the weather has cooled down just as the competition has hotted up, it's a case, if ever there was one, of holy sheets.

Fresh from a visitby his holiness, the Dalai Lama, Fairmont Resort near the quaint village Leura has unveiled a dozen newly-built rooms suites.

These include the 102-square metre Grand Luxury Suite, in which the Dalai Lama stayed before the room was offered to the public.

His holiness, immediately followed by a guest from Traveller, would have been able to savour the sublime Jamison Valley and Blue Mountains vistas from not one but two balconies, be toasted by a welcome in-room gas fireplace and perhaps quaff a short black or two from the fancy Nespresso machine in the suite's living and dining room.

"After His Holiness confirmed he would be staying with us [for a five-day spiritual retreat at the resort] back in 2013, it was the catalyst for us to get the new suites built and ready in time for his arrival," says Bernie Boller, general manager of the resort, which underwent a $12 miillion refurbishment in 2012.

The Fairmont's new suites, which now increase its total number of rooms to 223, also follow the recent multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath, another grande accommodation dame of the Blue Mountains, a 1½ hour or so drive west of Sydney.

Doubles at the Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains start from $239 per night, with rates for the Grand Luxury Suite from $989 per night.

See fairmontresort.com.au or mgallery.com

The writer stayed as a guest of the resort.