Blue Mountains Bliss

Garry and I have abandoned Sydney for Christmas. This year we’re celebrating the Yuletide season at Echoes Boutique Hotel in the Blue Mountains. This hotel is part of the famous Lilianfel hotel complex sitting on the edge of a spectacular escarpment in Katoomba. We’ve talked about dining at Lilianfel for years so this is another of those bucket list moments for us.

We booked two nights at the hotel, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The weather kindly played its part and after a few brief showers, we enjoyed plenty of sun-speckled experiences during our stay. The view from our hotel room was magical. While the room itself was a classic hotel room and slightly cluttered, the view outside was breathtaking.

Every morning we sat in our courtyard looking out over immaculately manicured gardens that fell away in a series of hedged tiers to reveal the neighbouring valley in all its glory. I’ll let the photos in the post speak for themselves.

Our Christmas degustation lunch was equally memorable. We debated endlessly which option to choose as the hotel complex offered several Christmas meal options during our stay. However, the menu and venue we ultimately settled upon proved a real winner. A copy of the lunch menu we enjoyed at Darley's restaurant is posted above. The Lamb Rump was insanely tasty.

We also took time out after our hearty Christmas lunch to wander down to Echo Point (just a block away from the hotel) to soak up the classic Blue Mountains vista that is the Three Sisters and Jamison Valley below. These first two days on vacation have certainly set the tone for what’s to come.

Oh yes, the scrambled eggs below? Just a fancy breakfast I made myself before we headed off on vacation.What better way to kick things off than fresh ground coffee and scrambled egg brioche sliders finished off with truffled cheese.