Capella Lodge

At the untouched southern end of Lord Howe Island, nine suites sit low against the base of Mounts Gower and Lidgbird, the twin peaks that anchor this UNESCO World Heritage island and the southernmost coral reef on earth. Opened in 2003 as Baillie Lodges' first property, it favours a barefoot, beach-house register over anything showy: raw teak, linen, recycled timber flooring, walls of glass turned toward Lovers Bay. Furniture leans on Australian designers, including custom pieces from Pierre and Charlotte Julien, kept deliberately spare so the volcanic silhouette outside stays the point of every room. There is no real traffic on Lord Howe beyond a handful of bicycles and a short airstrip, and the lodge's rhythm follows that quiet — snorkelling the lagoon by day, a kitchen built on the island's own fish and produce by night. Suites range from the original Capella rooms to the elevated Lidgbird Pavilion, each stripped back rather than dressed up, letting the landscape do the work.