Six of the best boutique stays between Sydney and Brisbane

BELLS AT KILLCARE, CENTRAL COAST

Located on the Central Coast's Bouddi Peninsula, Bells at Killcare has 25 self-contained cottages and suites set among three hectares of landscaped gardens, lakes and ponds. Bells has an elegant simplicity that puts guests immediately at rest, its cottages spread out for optimum privacy and spacious yet snug inside. In cooler months gas fireplaces bring a romantic glow to rooms and freestanding clawfoot bathtubs inspire a warming soak. A white and washed-blue colour scheme pervades throughout, including the property's main building, housing its modern Italian restaurant Manfredi, giving Bells the feel of a refined coastal retreat. Manfredi encourages lingering mealtimes, whether you be welcoming the day with lemon thyme sauteed wild mushrooms with goats curd and poached egg and crumbly home-made pastries, or savouring a five-course degustation, with wine, at night. But with the forested cliffs and bays of Bouddi National Park on the doorstep, the indulgence is soon offset on the coastal walking track. To complete a rejuvenating stay, make time for a dip in the sparkling (blue) rectangular pool and a flowing Kodo massage in the day spa. Cottages from $370 a night including breakfast (for two). See bellsatkillcare.com.au

TELEGRAPH RETREAT, TELEGRAPH POINT NEAR PORT MACQUARIE

With ducklings, guinea fowl, goats, sheep and miniature Galloway cows all part of the scenery at the Telegraph Retreat, a little north of Port Macquarie, it has the feel of a luxurious farm stay. Hosts Roger and Melanie Marshall and their young children are on hand to show you around and provide sustenance, including freshly laid eggs and gourmet home-cooked dinners delivered to your cottage. Or they'll show you to the door of your federation-style spa house and leave you to imbibe the restful bushland setting. The retreat's three cottages are redolent of old-fashioned country style with antique furniture, wood-burning stoves and fine Irish linen on beds, without stinting on modern luxuries. A soak in the spa, out on the verandah, beneath a twinkling night sky, is an essential part of any stay. Federation Cottage room $269 a night, two nights min. See telegraphretreat.com.au

RANCHO RELAXO, CRESCENT HEAD

While its name might evoke images of the Wild West or a Goldie theme park, this expansive property, close to Crescent Head, is one of the most sedate and architecturally interesting hangouts between Sydney and Brisbane. With accommodation encompassing the Lotus House, a restored five-bedroom dairy cottage, a refurbished fisherman's home and two sumptuously decorated villas that could have been lifted straight out of Indonesia, each lodging has its own luxurious style. The detail in the Bali villas is impressive, with exquisite carved woodwork in ceilings, shutters and supporting beams, capacious beds fit for royal romps and daybeds on the balconies made for afternoon snoozes. For the more active, there is a large outdoor pool, a tennis court and a nine-hole golf course in the grounds, and an array of surf and swimming beaches between Crescent Head and Point Plomer, further along the access road. Bali Villas from $400 for three nights. See ranchocrescenthead.com.au

THE PROMISED LAND RETREAT, GLENNIFER, NEAR BELLINGEN

Tucked beneath the Great Dividing Range, a short drive from Bellingen, the Promised Land Retreat has three Swiss-style chalets set amid 40 hectares of pasture, forest, orchards and landscaped gardens. Each is a work of wooden art, simple but beautifully appointed and sufficiently equipped with technology, from Wi-fi to Netflix, to put restless urban souls at ease. Each also enjoys inspiring vistas over this beguiling part of the East Coast hinterland. Greg Warburton and French wife Sophie preside over The Promised Land from their on-site home, proffering eggs and produce from their chooks, vegetable gardens and fruit trees, while donkeys Albi and Zorro, and horse Birdie, provide a focal point for families, along with a games room featuring pool and table tennis tables. Oh, and if you hear a piano concerto suffusing the evening stillness, do not adjust your ears, the musical maestro David Helfgott lives next door. Chalets from $280 a night, two nights minimum. See promisedlandretreat.com.au