After a lengthy, expansive and expensive makeover, Parklands in Blackheath has finally reopened for business, with its first guest arriving last Monday.
The 11-hectare site has been returned to its former glory, with sweeping lawns and carefully tended gardens amid mature maple, cypress and pine trees planted more than a century ago.
Parklands will offer quality accommodation, a day spa, and wedding and conference facilities.
Four new cottages have been built in a style matching that of the older houses that were already there. They each have four guest rooms, with separate lounge rooms, inbuilt gas fireplaces, double showers and day beds or Juliet balconies.
The main guest house has been completely gutted and refurbished, with a conservatory where guests will have breakfast looking out over a picturesque pond.
The house opens through French doors on to a terrace which has an outdoor fireplace and barbecue.
The resort is owned by the Escarpment Group, which also owns Lilianfels and Echoes at Katoomba, and is overseeing the revamp of the soon-to-be-opened jewel in the crown, the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath.
General manager of the Escarpment Group, Ralf Bruegger, said Parklands is designed to have "the look and feel of a hunting lodge, Hamptons style".
The new cottages all have rainwater tanks, the spring-fed lake has been enlarged and two overflow ponds built, and a bore has been sunk, meaning not even a drought will affect water supply to the site.
Down the lower end of the property, there is a huge fruit and vegetable plot, which will supply fresh produce for guests, as well as for the group's other hotels and restaurants, including the one-hatted Darleys.
Mr Bruegger said there will also be chickens to supply fresh eggs.
"It's a five-star, beautiful resort and a retreat," he said.
Parklands was the subject of a lengthy battle by Blackheathens against a proposed development by the previous owner which would have seen more than 70 new dwellings and tourist cottages built on the site.
