Key Facts:
- Risby Cove Boutique Hotel in Tasmania unveils new curated experiences combining luxury accommodation with immersive wilderness, culinary, and wellness activities
- Located on Macquarie Harbour, the reimagined hotel features 12 bespoke suites and offers signature experiences including private dining, wilderness encounters, and wellness activities
- Property sits on the historic Risby Bros sawmill site (est. 1889) and has been transformed into a luxury retreat showcasing local timber, Tasmanian art, and heritage elements
- New experiences collection includes The Jetty Table dining, crayfish experiences, e-bike tours, mining heritage tours, and wellness activities like harbour kayaking and cedar hot tubs
- Room rates start from £695 per night in high season (with 30% discount available in low season) including breakfast
April 2026 - Strahan, Tasmania
On the edge of Tasmania's UNESCO-listed wilderness, Risby Cove Boutique Hotel and Restaurant has unveiled a new collection of curated experiences designed to immerse guests in the raw beauty, rich history and remarkable produce of the West Coast.
More than a destination, Risby Cove now invites guests into a deeply considered journey where luxury is not separate from place but shaped by it.
Set on the sheltered waters of Macquarie Harbour, the reimagined boutique hotel blends heritage, design and nature-led wellbeing, offering travellers a rare opportunity to explore one of Australia's most remote and compelling regions with comfort, depth and authenticity.
The newly launched Experiences Collection introduces a series of signature, inclusive and exclusive journeys, ranging from tranquil to transformative:
- Private dining experiences such as The Jetty Table and The Piner's Table, set against the harbour and historic sawmill site
- Immersive wilderness encounters including river journeys, rainforest walks and remote scenic flights
- Signature Fresh Catch Crayfish Experience
- Unique Strahan Story Cycle on e-bikes
- The Summit to Shaft experience — a rare journey from alpine peaks to underground mining heritage
- Curated food, wine and spirit tastings showcasing Tasmania's finest producers
- Slow wellness moments from harbour kayaking, yoga, meditation and indigenous sleep stories to personal infra-red sauna and cedar hot tubs beneath the stars.
Each experience is designed to connect guests with the region's landscape, culture and stories from the legacy of piners and miners to the untouched stillness of the rainforest.
Located in Strahan, widely regarded as the gateway to Tasmania's wild West Coast Risby Cove sits at the intersection of wilderness, heritage and contemporary design.
Originally the site of the Risby Bros sawmill (est. 1889), the property has been reimagined as a luxury waterfront retreat grounded in story and craftsmanship, with locally sourced timbers, Tasmanian art and immersive design elements throughout.
A living art hotel where guests experience, not just observe, Tasmania's creative soul.
With just twelve bespoke suites, each oriented toward harbour or rainforest, the experience remains intimate, personal and deeply restorative.
Owner Jacinta Young describes the flow towards more meaningful travel as a natural extension of the property's philosophy:
"We're seeing a shift in how people want to travel. It's no longer about ticking boxes — it's about connection. Connection to nature, to story, and to a sense of stillness that's increasingly rare."
"These new Risby Cove experiences allow guests to feel Tasmania — not just see it."
As travellers seek destinations that are both remote and refined, Tasmania's West Coast is emerging as one of Australia's most compelling yet underexplored regions.
With its dramatic coastline, ancient rainforests and layered human history, the region offers a powerful contrast to more traditional luxury destinations: one where raw wilderness and considered luxury coexist.
Risby Cove Further Facts
OVERVIEW
On the edge of Tasmania's World Heritage wilderness, Risby Cove offers more than accommodation – it offers immersion. This is an invitation into the raw, beating soul of the island's wild west.
Here, luxury takes its cues from nature. The recently refreshed buildings and interiors are shaped by local hands, Huon pine and the deep‑grained timbers of Tasmania's forests. The region's finest produce from the ocean, the soil and cool‑climate vineyards becomes food that restores as much as it delights. At Risby Cove, the connection to land and sea is tangible. It's something you taste, touch and carry with you. Wilderness and refinement sit side by side.
Macquarie Harbour's shoreline holds stories older than memory. The ghosts of Sarah Island, the resilience of early settlers, and the grit of piners, miners and fishermen linger in the salt air. Their presence is woven through the character of this coast.
Wrapped in warmth, comfort and quiet indulgence, Risby Cove becomes a sanctuary where time stretches. This is the West Coast experience – reimagined, restored and deeply felt.
OUR GUESTS
Risby Cove guests are drawn to the authenticity and refined elements of this West Coast boutique hotel, where wilderness and comfort meet. Nature lovers explore the region's protected waterways while others come with a curiosity for the stories, history and rugged character of the coast. Many simply seek the chance to slow down. They crave time in the sauna, lingering candle-lit dinners and the simple pleasure of sinking into a cedar hot tub beneath dark Tasmanian skies.
RISBY'S RESTAURANT: FLAVOUR, STORY AND PLACE
Risby Cove's restaurant — an award-winning Strahan favourite — remains one of the West Coast's leading dining destinations, reintroduced with renewed depth and refinement. Open for dinner (bookings essential), the menu celebrates Tasmania's freshest seasonal produce in dishes inspired by land, sea and story, paired with harbour views and understated elegance.
Conceived by the owner as an expression of place, Risby's brings food, beverages, art and design together to tell the story of Tasmania's wild west. Expansive windows frame the shifting moods of Macquarie Harbour, while a deep green interior palette intensifies the drama of the surrounding rainforest. Warm fluted timber, brass detailing and softly buoy-inspired lighting add intimacy and refinement.
The site's history is honoured through meaningful design gestures — from a rustic Huon pine bar top salvaged from Strahan's original jetty, to Birdseye Huon pine details referencing the former Risby Brothers' Mill. Custom Tasmanian oak tables, fire-finished and sealed by hand, form the heart of the dining room — tactile works of functional art that quietly echo a story of industry, destruction by fire, resilience and renewal.
OUR LOCATION
Risby Cove is located in Strahan on Tasmania's West Coast, about 4.5 hours by road from Hobart. Guests may choose to fly with Par Avion or take their time on the road and experience the journey as part of their Risby Cove stay. Curated itineraries are available to help guests travel slowly and well.
Positioned directly on the waterfront, Risby Cove is just 700 meters from the Gordon River Ferry Terminal and Strahan Village and less than one kilometre from Regatta Point Station.
THE 12 SUITES
Cove Pavilions (x 2) – Boatshed & Sawmill suites
Maugean Suites (x 2) – Barge & Jetty suites
Rainforest Suites (x 2) – Raft & Wharf suites
Piners Suite – Coast suite
Panorama Suite – Punt suite
Marina Suite – Beach suite
Skyline Suite – Shack suite
Macquarie Suite – Harbour Suite
The Storyteller's Suite – Theatre Suite
PRICING & INCLUSIONS
Stays are from $695 per night in high season with up to 30% off in low season (1/6 – 31/8) (Lead in Cost) with breakfast included.
RISBY COVE OWNER & STORY
Jacinta Young is a local Tasmanian who is the CEO of Allure Tasmania, an expanding eco -resort brand. She became the custodian of Risby Cove in October 2023. She envisaged a place that celebrates all things Tasmanian, from its unsurpassable food and wine, to its magnificent art and design, and ancient timbers upon which the original Risby Brothers' Sawmill was – in every sense—based.
"On my first visit to Risby Cove, I arrived as a guest – a stressed, exhausted executive running on empty. One early morning, tea in hand, I sat on the deck of what is now a Cove Pavilion and watched the sun rise over Macquarie Harbour. As light touched the water and birdsong mixed with gentle waves, something shifted. The anxiety eased, replaced by a deep calm and a powerful sense of connection to this place," explains Tasmanian owner, Jacinta Young.
"When I later learned the ageing property was for sale, I felt instantly that I was meant to be its custodian. Within days, the contract was signed. With my two teenage sons, I began reimagining Risby Cove — not just as a boutique retreat, but as a sanctuary of wellness, tranquillity and connection."
