November 27 - December 3, 2016: Issue 291

LILIANFELS


Sign at entrance to Lilianfels

LILIANFELS

By George Repin

Situated in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, just a short walk from Echo Point, the boutique hotel Lilianfels provides five star luxurious facilities for a visitor wanting to relax in a quiet, comfortable environment, but it also provides a base for the more energetic who may wish to explore, or simply walk in, the many attractive areas in the region.

From rooms overlooking the Cliff Drive which runs along the edge of the escarpment of the Jamieson Valley views of the valley, framed by trees, are outstanding, while from Echo Point, where the Three Sisters are a major feature, visited every day by a constant stream of tourists, the full expanse of the valley with its far distant views opens up. 


Low-lying cloud in the Jamieson Valley seen from a bedroom window.


Low-lying cloud in the Jamieson Valley seen from a bedroom window.


Bedroom on the "Valley View" side of the hotel.

The site of Lilianfels is what remains of over 11 acres of land bought by Sir Frederick Darley in August 1888.  Darley was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1830.  He arrived in Australia in 1862 accompanied by his wife Lucy Forest Brown (originally from Melbourne) whom he met in England.  He served five times as Lieutenant Governor of NSW and was knighted in 1887.

He built a summer residence on the site in 1889 believing that it would be good for the health of his seven children, one of whom, Lilian, had tuberculosis.  Unfortunately she died at the age of 22.  It is believed that the house was named Lilianfels in her honour combining her name with the German word fels meaning high land.

Sir Frederick sold Lilianfels in 1908. It subsequently passed through the hands of several owners with the first subdivision occurring in 1920. The property again changed hands many times during the 20th Century until the Japanese hotel group Nara, bought it in 1990.  Nara finished construction of the main hotel building and appointed a groundskeeper who gradually restored the gardens to their former beauty.  Lilianfels Resort opened in March 1992 after complete restoration of the original house and outbuildings.  


Driveway to the hotel entrance.  Parking area on right.


The main lounge of the hotel.

Darley’s Restaurant is on the site and is in what was the original Lilianfels house. The main dining room seats up to 50 people.  It is heavy in atmosphere featuring stunning leadlight windows, crystal chandeliers, plush wallpaper, wall prints, interesting artworks and antique furniture.  The outside overlooks a formal English garden.


Darley's Restaurant with main building of the hotel at the top of the rise.


Darley's Restaurant overlooking the formal English garden.

Staying at Lilianfels is an experience in atmosphere and comfort not to be missed. 

Photographs by George Repin in 2013 and 2016.
The formal English garden.

Previous Reflections by George Repin 

The Nineteen Thirties  Remembering Rowe Street  The Sydney Push  Saturday Night at the Movies  Shooting Through Like A Bondi Tram  A Stop On The Road To Canberra  City Department Stores - Gone and Mostly Forgotten  An Australian Icon - thanks to Billy Hughes  Crossing The Pacific in the 1930s  Hill End  The Paragon at Katoomba  Seafood In Sydney  How Far From Sydney?  Cockatoo Island Over The Years  The Seagull at the Melbourne Festival in 1991  Busby's Bore  The Trocadero In Sydney  Cahill's restaurants Medical Pioneers in Australian Wine Making  Pedal Power and the Royal Flying Doctor Service  Pambula and the Charles Darwin Connection  Gloucester and the Barrington Tops  A Millenium Apart  Have You Stopped to Look?  Gulgong  Il Porcellino  Olympia  Durham Hall  Sargent's Tea Rooms Pie Shops and Street Photographers The Ballet Russes and Their Friends in Australia  Hotels at Bondi  Alma Ata Conference - 1978 Keukenhof - 1954 The Lands Department Building and Yellowblock Sandstone  The Goroka Show - 1958  A Gem On The Quay  Staffa  The Matson Line and Keepsake Menus Kokeshi Dolls  The Coal Mine At Balmain  The Hyde Park Barracks  The Changing Faces Of Sydney From Pounds and Pence to Dollars and Cents Nell Tritton and Alexander Kerensky  Making A Difference In Ethiopia William Balmain  J C Bendrodt and Princes Restaurant Azzalin Orlando Romano and Romano's Restaurant  Waldheim  Alcohol in Restaurants Before 1955  King Island Kelp  The Mercury Theatre   Around Angkor - 1963   Angkor Wat 1963  Costumes From the Ballets Russe Clifton at Kirribilli  Chairman Mao's Personal Physician  The Toby Tavern The MoKa at Kings Cross  The Oceaographic  Museum  in Monaco  The Island of Elba  Russian Fairy Tale Plates  Meteora  Souda Bay War Cemetery Barrow, Alaska  Cloisonné  Tripitaka Koreana Minshuku The Third Man Photographs and Memories  Not A Chagall!  Did You Listen? Did You Ask?  Napier (Ahuriri, Maori) New Zealand  Borobudur  Ggantija Temples Plumes and Pearlshells  Murano  University of Padua  Ancient Puebloe Peoples - The Anasazi   Pula  The Gondolas of Venice Cinque Terre  Visiting the Iban David The Living Desert Bryce Canyon National Park   Aphrodisias   The Divine Comedy Caodaism  Sapa and local Hill People  A Few Children  Cappadocia  Symi Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre   Aboriginal Rock Art on Bigge Island    ANZAC Cove (Ari Burnu) 25 April, 1997  Hotere Garden Oputae  Children of the Trobriand Islands  Page Park Market - Rabaul  Rabual   Kotor, Montenegro   Galleries of Photographs I   Lascaux  Galleries of Photographs II   The Cathedral of St. James – Šibenik, Croatia  Ivan Meštrović  - Sculptor   Delphi   Gallery of Photographs III  The Handicrafts of Chiang Mai Raft Point  San Simeon - "Hearst Castle"  Floriade - The Netherlands - 1982  Russian New Year  Mycenae  "Flightseeing" Out Of Anchorage Alaska  The White Pass and Yukon Route  Totem Poles  Tivkin Cemetery  Krka National Park - Croatia   Tavistock Square and the BMA  Orthodox Easter  Wieliczka Salt Mine  A Walk on Santorini  Indonesian Snapshots Ephesus - The Library of Celsus  Ephesus - Some Places Of Interest  Waimea Canyon and the Kalalau Valley United Nations Headquarters 1958  A Miscellany of Flower Images Gardens Bath St. David's In Wales   Zion National Park Nicholas Himona - Artist  Kraków  

Copyright George Repin 2016. All Rights Reserved.