On January 4, 2020, in the dark depths of the Black Summer, Australia awoke to images of one of our most revered hotels, reduced to a charred husk on a rise swept bare. Southern Ocean Lodge had been razed by fires that consumed almost half of Kangaroo Island, claiming two lives, countless native animals and livestock and most of Flinders Chase National Park. All that remained of the lodge was a suspended fireplace, a kangaroo crafted of salvaged steel by local artist Indiana James named Sunshine, and Sunshine’s living contemporary, Sol – an orphaned roo raised on site, who miraculously survived, hunkered down under sprinklers.

Just days later, while camped out on the floor of a pub on the far side of the island, co-owner James Bailie allegedly turned to the remaining Southern Ocean Lodge team and asked a question – what would they improve at ‘SOL 2.0’? There was never a doubt that James and Hayley Baillie would resurrect the lodge, the very first property that the entrepreneurial hoteliers ever built from the ground up. KI-born architect Max Pritchard was engaged to resurrect his original design from 2008 and, nearly four years later, the new and subtly improved Southern Ocean Lodge is back and as glorious as ever.

So glorious, in fact, that the lodge was named the winner of the American Express Travel One To Watch Award in advance of The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 awards.

What’s new in the new Southern Ocean Lodge?

The new incarnation is in many ways a faithful recreation of the original. The panoramic Great Room – still anchored by that resilient fireplace – has been meticulously recreated. Even Sunshine is back, and Sol. But just as the memory of devastation remains in the silvery tips of burned melaleuca stretching to the horizon all around, the legacy of the fires is not entirely buried within.

Local artist Janine Mackintosh was invited to comb the ruins, salvaging wreckage to create a textural installation of smashed glass and charred ceramics that creeps across the entrance of the new spa. Indiana James returned to craft an elaborate lyrebird largely out of kitchen debris, dubbed ‘Lyre lyre, pants on fire’. “It’s part of our history now that we can’t ignore,” says assistant lodge manager Rachel Dehne as she shows us around.

Kangaroo Island produce on the plate

Dehne and her partner, executive chef Tom Saliba, were two of the originals camping out in that pub in 2020, and Saliba is back curating the sumptuous meals included in every stay. A map in the daily menu showcases local suppliers – from barramundi raised in an aquaponics program run by the island’s high school to KI Living Honey from the world’s purest strain of Ligurian bees. Along with many of his old suppliers, Saliba is thrilled to have added more that have sprouted in the years since the fires, such as micro veg growers Juniper Rise and gourmet KI Mushrooms.

“Seeing the regeneration of not just nature, but even the local businesses, is very exciting,” Saliba says. “The homecoming has been great; to see the similarities, but the differences as well.”

The help-yourself wine cellar remains, offering an array of South Australian drops for guests to crack open at their leisure, curated from vineyards across the state by lodge co-manager John Hird. Hird and partner Alison Heath waited out the fires in the lodge’s bunker, and have also returned to see their second home restored.

Rooms with a view

The greatest changes are revealed in the 25 suites, which have been rebuilt at a tilted angle that affords each a panoramic – and entirely private – view of coastal heath and ocean. The new Southern Spa now offers a gym and sauna with bush views, best combined with a plunge in twin cold and warm pools.

The former spa has been revived as the Ocean Pavilion, a luxe clifftop perch that can sleep eight in a space that would fit three times that, with large-scale works commissioned from APY artists dominating every ensuite room. The West Pavilion contains a mini replica of the Great Room, complete with a floating fireplace and private pool set into creamy limestone; a wave-thrashed bay just beyond. As much as the vistas outside shout, the luxury inside whispers.

All suites now boast fireplaces and deep baths with views of sea and sky. On the signature Baillie Beds are buttery linen and crisp cottons in egg white and mocha hues, Bemboka wool blankets draped nonchalantly at the end. Intuitive smart systems control everything from blinds that glide down at a tap of a screen to lighting schemes and ceiling Bluetooth speakers that sync at another.

The sunken Great Room is still the beating heart, where guests naturally gravitate to plush seating angled towards biblical views. However tempting it might be to spend all day ensconced in the Danish-designed Prime Time chairs here, watching light shift over the new infinity pool, guided activities lure us away to explore the Galápagos of Australia.

The easy Coastal Clifftop Walk sets off from behind the lodge, a preview of a 13km trek that winds all the way to the aptly-named Remarkable Rocks. As she leads us along the spine of the sea cliffs, guide Lynette Hand points out fire- resistant native scrub painstakingly planted by the team. Saplings are tucked into tubing to thwart grazing wallabies; but not Sol the kangaroo, Hand says, who simply sticks his head into the plastic to nibble the tender shoots. “I reckon he’s earned it,” she laughs.

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