Old Leura Dairy

Delightful eco-friendly self-catering lodges (sleeping 2-11) on the edge of the attractive town of Leura in the Blue Mountains

An unusual, rustic and relaxed place to stay, Old Leura Dairy is a 5-minute drive from Leura on a quiet residential road. It offers 6 self-catering lodges of varying sizes, all of them cleverly converted and renovated using tin, wood and mud brick walls, and recycled materials. We found them a wonderful, welcome change to spartan contemporary design - there are cupboards made of old fence palings, renovated cast iron baths, coffee tables magicked out of traditional ovens, white goods clad with distressed wood, wacky oil paintings, milking stools, ancient cream urns and butcher’s blocks turned into kitchen work tables.

Pretty landscaped gardens dot the property and there’s a communal outdoor hot tub. Come here to chill out or go bushwalking, mountain biking or pottering in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains. The largest house sleeps up to 11 people and you can rent all 6 lodges at one time, so this is a great place for a family get-together, party or business retreat; or you can do as we did - choose a smaller property and cosy up as a couple.

Highs

• Truly eco-friendly: straw bale walls, rainwater collection, recycled toilet paper, environmentally-friendly cleaning products and a cooling tower for temperature control
• Hot tub made from a recycled milk vat
• Unique, cleverly designed lodges that are cool in summer and warm in winter - The Straw Bale House is made with 80% recycled materials
• Perfectly based to explore the Blue Mountains but a good distance away from tourist hangout Katoomba

Lows

• The property is on a residential road (albeit a quiet one) and the lodges are quite close together
• The rustic, old-fashioned and reclaimed furniture won’t please everyone - it's by no means 5* accommodation but it's super cool
• If you didn't have a car, you'd feel pretty isolated and find it hard to make the most of the area