Pumphouse Point is a mysteriously unique place of quiet reflection, situated on a glacier lake, surrounded by the century-old myrtle forest. Driving from Hobart to the world’s loneliest hotel, Pumphouse Point, takes 2.5 hours. It’s situated within the Lake St Clair National Park.
The hotel building was originally a hydroelectric power station built in 1940 and was transformed into an 18-room hotel in 2015. Rooms are either in the Pumphouse section in the middle of the lake or the Shorehouse section on the shore. There’s also a standalone retreat built on the shore in recent years.
Both buildings have spacious public lounges, all with stunning views. Daily dinners and breakfasts are served at the Shorehouse restaurant.
Address: 1 Lake St Clair Rd, Lake St Clair TAS 7140
Drive: 2 hours and 30 minutes drive from Hobart
Website/ Booking: https://www.pumphousepoint.com.au/
Rooms at Pumphouse Point
Pumphouse Point offers a total of 18 rooms, divided into the “Pumphouse” on the water and the “Shorehouse” on land. All rooms include dining, a pantry, electric bikes, and kayaks.
First, the location is absolutely stunning. It can make you forget all your worries. The hotel offers three choices: you can stay in the Pumphouse on the lake, the two-story buildings on the other side of the bridge, or the unique Retreat.
We were lucky enough to book the Retreat, which is usually quite challenging to reserve, they say.
If you stay from Monday to Thursday, it’s a minimum of two nights, all-inclusive. For weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), it’s a minimum of three nights, also all-inclusive.
Check-in starts at 2:30 PM. The manager will go over a bunch of instructions. Breakfast and dinner are communal, meaning you’ll be assigned to dine with other guests in the restaurant. However, if you book the Retreat, you can have your meals in your room.
Dining
Room rates include three meals: self-serve breakfast and lunch packed in the room’s fridge, featuring Tasmanian products like cheese, biscuits, smoked salmon, ham, sausages, and more. You can take these with you when hiking or boating.
We highly recommend the hotel’s freshly baked sourdough bread; they limit it to 5 loaves per room per day. Dinner is a shared-table three-course meal with other hotel guests, where you get to chat and drink with guests from various places, making it quite enjoyable.
One of the hotel’s highlights is their “honesty bar”. There are walls filled with a variety of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks in both buildings’ common areas and rooms.
Fine Dining – Nightly room rates include dinner, featuring a three-course seasonal menu using the freshest ingredients to recreate the most primal flavors.
Saturday Feast – Saturday evenings feature an open-air barbecue feast around a campfire, sipping on hot wine and sharing wilderness stories, a dinner worth remembering (included in room rates).
Room Pantry – Each room has a food pantry stocked with artisan cheese, cured meats, snacks, and fruit wines. It also serves as a private mini-bar.
Activities you don’t want to miss
The hotel provides small boats for rowing on Lake St Clair, which is quite delightful on calm, clear days. They also offer electric mountain bikes for exploring Lake St Clair National Park. However, be mindful of unpredictable mountain weather.
We visited in February, which is late summer, but the mornings still reached only 1 degree Celsius. If you encounter windy, rainy, or snowy weather during your stay, you can enjoy some indoor activities in your room or the lounge.
The cottages in the morning mist on the lake, the flora, fauna, streams, and forests around Lake St Clair, and the night sky filled with billions of stars are all stunning subjects for photography.
Wedding
Pumphouse Point can host intimate personalized ceremonies. The Retreat creates the perfect bridal suite, featuring luxurious indoor and outdoor settings, including all meals and drinks, allowing you to tailor a unique wilderness wedding.
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