Dive Hotel
COST: $
Set on an achingly beautiful stretch of east-coast beach, this boutique hotel occupies what was once a private mansion aptly named Grandview. Only three of the 16 rooms here face the water—but if you snag one you’ll understand why they get booked far in advance: not only do they have huge windows overlooking the surf; they’re also almost twice the size of the other units. Even smaller rooms are outfitted in high-design style, with polished wood floors and clean-lined, pale-upholstered furnishings that lend a beach-house feel. (The bathrooms, though, are wonderfully space-age, with stainless-steel basins and bright-blue tile.) The property’s common areas, including a courtyard lounge and a communal dining room, make the place feel more like a shared guesthouse than a hotel; fix-your-own-breakfast provisions are laid out by 7 a.m. and stay there until noon.
Tip: Just a short walk south of the hotel is the wonderful historic Wylie’s Baths, a 50-yard-long tidal ocean pool for swimming with no undertow.
Room to Book: It’s no contest: Rooms 1, 2, and 19 are the only ones with to-die-for views.
As Featured In...
From Travel + Leisure, Mar 2003
“Overlooking a wide sweep of Coogee Beach—a 15-minute cab ride from downtown—the small, family-run Dive Hotel is more like a beach house than a hotel....” MORE>>
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