A stay with Baillie Lodges is to experience the luxury of travel. Each Baillie property is located in an extraordinary natural location, and offer guests a personal connection to its culture and history, its art and natural heritage and to local food and wine sourced from regional producers. Together, the lodges are timeless in design, with myriad thoughtful details combining to create a genuinely warm welcome and a generosity of spirit. Capella Lodge was the first property in the Baillie Lodges collection and remains a favourite place for the Baillie family and many guests who return perennially.
Capella Lodge is celebrated as the most glamorous hideaway on Lord Howe Island. Its light filled restaurant, bar and lounge feature floor to ceiling windows and offer mesmerising views of the mountains and ocean. The Kentia Lounge is a quiet space for reading, while outside Gowers Terrace invites a swim or a laze in the afternoon sun.
Capella is tucked away on the more remote and exclusive southern end of the island. Peaceful and private, Capella presents a sanctuary from where guests can enjoy a picnic on the beach at Lovers Bay, wander to Little Island around the base of Mount Gower or rock hop along the reef at low tide to discover its reclusive marine residents.
Gently melding modern design into glorious natural surroundings, Capella’s underplayed raw teak and linen aesthetic let’s the true star shine: come-hither views of the mountains and sea. Wood, glass and white unite in spaces decked out with a trove of Australian designed furnishings, lighting, textiles and artworks to create a barefoot luxury vibe.
Set above the lodge in an airy loft framed by swaying palms, the Capella Spa welcomes in the cool island breezes and the scent of frangipani. A signature menu of rejuvenating and relaxing treatments uses Li’Tya spa care and embraces the marine environment, even using stones collected from the island’s windward beaches.
Capella Lodge launched the Baillie Lodges collection when it opened in 2003 and has since been joined by sister properties Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island, Longitude 131° at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree and The Louise in the Barossa to offer a premium experience of Australia’s most extraordinary destinations. New Zealand’s Huka Lodge, Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge in Canada and Chile’s Tierra Atacama and Tierra Patagonia are recent additions to the growing portfolio.
Life and business partners James and Hayley Baillie founded Baillie Lodges in 2003, and together bring a complementary set of tourism industry experience and skills and a joint love for travel, for good food and wine and good design. Lord Howe Island had been a favourite childhood holiday destination for both James and Hayley and was a natural first port to come together as Baillie Lodges.
A feeling of relaxed sophistication flows throughout Capella Lodge. The vibe is of one’s own island holiday house where the furnishings are stylishly comfortable, the food and wine are local, the books are good, and the faces are welcomingly familiar. Island-themed artworks, recycled wooden floors and beach house style fittings create an easy ambience.
Luxury Lodges of Australia is a collection of 19 independent luxury lodges and camps offering unforgettable experiences in Australia’s most extraordinary locations. Capella Lodge is a founding member of the collection alongside Baillie Lodges sister properties Longitude 131°, Silky Oaks Lodge and Southern Ocean Lodge.
Rising from the Tasman Sea just 700km northeast of Sydney, this tiny, breathtakingly beautiful island is just 11km long and 2.8km at widest. Lord Howe Island and its surrounding islets are the eroded remnants of a large shield volcano that erupted from the ocean floor some 7 million years ago. More than 70% of the island is a permanent protected park reserve, and the surrounding ocean is also protected as a Marine Park.
Only 400 visitors are allowed on Lord Howe at any one time, with a resident population of 382 people recorded in the 2016 census. Just about everything is within walking or cycling distance, so it’s uncommon to see cars. Lord Howe is only 11km long and between 0.3 and 2km wide, so it’s possible to cycle end to end in as little as 25 minutes. With a 25kmh speed limit, everyone always waves ‘hello’ as they pass!
The Baillie Lodges environmental commitment is best expressed by each lodge’s interaction with its local natural and cultural surroundings. View our sustainability policy
Limiting the number of people living and visiting a small island such as Lord Howe is critical to ensuring its pristine environment remains sustainable and appealing for its population of resident and migratory seabirds, its marine life and endemic plant species.
Lord Howe Island has committed
to a ground-breaking solar energy project which will see 80% of its energy produced from solar panels and replacing diesel fuel energy which currently supplies the island.
As a remote island, any waste that’s not recycled must be removed on the supply barge which visits fortnightly. The Lord Howe Island Board runs the island’s Waste Management Facility with an award-winning recycling program.
Conservation on Lord Howe is considered a personal priority, with residents and guests alike committing to reducing, reusing and recycling. Residents have a high degree of knowledge about the environment they live in and work hard to protect it.
James and Hayley share a love for good design and together they curated Capella's interiors to create a sense of relaxed luxury and a place to feel at home.
Guests arriving at Capella for the first or fourth time can expect a genuinely warm welcome and a sense of coming home. A spirit of generosity flows throughout, where the bar is always well-stocked, snacks are on offer to take on walks and snorkel and fins are supplied for a day on the reef. These myriad thoughtful details seem so natural and effortless and make the world of difference to each guest’s time on Lord Howe.
Libby Grant and Mark McKillop have welcomed guests to Lord Howe with their genuine, relaxed warmth ever since the lodge opened in 2003. Guests might join Libby on her island ‘tiki tour’ or get Mark’s tips on the best place to snorkel that day and share stories over a sunset drink. Many guests return year after year and catch up with Mark and Libby as they would old friends at a holiday house.
Dennis Tierney first worked at Capella Lodge in 2007 as an apprentice chef. Following stints in Sydney’s big city restaurants, in Europe and back on Lord Howe, in 2022 Dennis returned to Capella as Executive Chef. The bounty of regional produce and the island’s harvest allows him to source the freshest ingredients to create innovative daily menus. In his free time, Dennis has published a cookbook, The Stranded Chef.
If you aren’t already familiar with the Baillies, they’re worth getting to know, as they more or less created Australia’s contemporary lodge circuit (including a Robb Report-favorite Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island).Christopher Cameron Robb Report
The Lidgbird Pavilion feels like a sailing ship crow’s-nest merged with a cruise liner penthouse and would qualify for all known listings of world’s best hotel panoramas.Susan Kurosawa The Australian
Capella Lodge, a beach house hotel between two towering volcanic peaks and the world’s southernmost reef, is perhaps Australia’s most singular luxury stay.Alexandra Carlton Prior Travel
With its remote location, pristine environment and restricted visitor numbers, UNESCO heritage listed Lord Howe Island is a dream destination for many, with Capella Lodge its most coveted resort.Australian Traveller
Resting above the jewel-toned lagoon, Capella Lodge is the only Island accommodation that commands spectacular views of the ocean and awe-inspiring twin peaks, Mounts Gower and Lidgbird.
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Capella Lodge holds a far-reaching reputation as Lord Howe’s knock-out dining destination. A regional approach to cuisine ensures the finest and freshest produce from Lord Howe Island and New South Wales is showcased in every inspired menu.
Whet your appetite
The petite Capella Spa indulges body and soul. A signature menu of rejuvenating and relaxation treatments embraces the island’s endemic kentia palms and marine environment.
TIME TO INDULGEFor more information about Capella Lodge
and the other properties in the Baillie Lodges
portfolio please download our brochure.