The latest in a long line of luxury regional resorts to open within Australia brings about an unexpected beach vibe to it. Accor Hotels, last month, opened the latest addition to its luxury marquee, The Sebel Hotels and Resorts, in the Victorian border town of Yarrawonga. The resort features full 360-degree water views of the Murray River and is located just out of Yarrawonga on the new nationally renowned Black Bull championship golf course.

Now, this resort does something very surprising which I personally did not expect at all. When you travel into regional Victoria and you are staying at luxury accommodation your presumption is that the accommodation will be cosy, warm, and normally located on or near a vineyard with fantastic food or wine. That is the mould which most regional Victorian luxury resorts now fit in.

The Sebel in Yarrawonga bucks that trend totally. So much so that it’s surprising. The new state of the art facility combined with the naturally hot climate of Yarrawonga makes you feel like you are somewhere in the tropics at a resort by the sea. It’s not forced either, it just feels that way.

The rooms are big and spacious allowing for those who want to stay in your typical one-bedroom suite with a view of Lake Mulwala or bigger families with 2-bedroom suites and interconnecting suites for holiday groups.

The resort facility itself is superb. It features an infinity pool looking onto Lake Mulwala with a pool bar and a beach club soundtrack which pumps from open to close. The restaurant also looks out onto an inlet of the Lake and the 18^th hole of the Black Bull golf course making it a pleasant way to spend part of an evening in the cooler yet still warm evening air.

Black Bull deserves a special mention as well. The course is a hop skip and a jump from your room. You only have to walk about 150ms from the Balcony of your room and you’ll be at the first hole. And the course itself is just as difficult as it is stunning, making it a perfect way to spend an afternoon of your stay.

The Sebel Yarrawonga also has an inbuilt pier along the front of the hotel all the way from the infinity pool to the restaurant meaning if you own a wake boat you can switch from spending time on the skis to sitting poolside without having to take your boat out of the water.

All that combined means that the hotel oddly is a bit of a jack of all trades. It caters to those who only want to sit and relax and those who want something more out of the holiday, the thrill-seekers, and the sportsman.

It is a very well-rounded resort indeed. But most of all its almost like an outlier. It’s unexpected and that makes it special. So special that the resort has all but been booked out completely until the start of April. A feat which in times of COVID19 travel restrictions is a tall order.