The Louise is part of the esteemed Baillie Lodges collection, where a stay is the start of a wonderful addiction to the luxury of travel. Each of the Baillie Lodges properties is located in an extraordinary destination, where a personal connection with the people and place makes every stay a memorable one. At The Louise, guests have personal access to the region’s iconic wineries alongside small scale cellar doors, to producers and their premium produce, to artists and their works.
The Louise is styled in the manner of a Southern European villa, with French doors in townhouse suites opening onto private courtyards and outwards to views of the vineyards and surrounding pastures. Suites open to a central walkway framed by seasonally changing grapevines, lavender, and rosemary, which leads to the main lodge, lounges, bar and restaurants.
The Appellation restaurant is set within The Louise and has a long-held position as the world class dining destination in South Australia. Generously sized windows frame the multi-award-winning restaurant and offer views of the vineyards and countryside. Appellation is renowned for showcasing premium local ingredients, offering a real sense of place for diners. Appellation dining is available for guests at The Louise and for Barossa visitors and residents.
After a day’s adventuring, wine tasting and feasting, there are options to get back on track at The Louise. Perfectly positioned to watch the sun set over the vineyards is the wet-edge lap pool, while the nearby fitness centre is fully equipped with cross trainer, treadmills, bikes and weights. Adjacent is a cedar sauna with dry or humid functions and a shower to refresh.
The Louise was opened by hoteliers Jim and Helen Carreker in 2005, having spent a decade searching for an ideal property to transform into a luxury lodge that would be an essential part of the place and its community. The Louise’s previous incarnations were as Peppers Hermitage or The Hermitage at Marananga. The Louise is the birthplace of the Luxury Lodges of Australia collection, and in 2021 Baillie Lodges purchased the property as a natural fit for the collection.
In the Baillie Lodges sisterhood, The Louise aligns with Capella on Lord Howe Island and Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree Rainforest, each offering a luxury base from which to explore, with generous inclusions. Longitude 131° at Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island are fully inclusive lodges which include personally guided tours. Overseas, New Zealand’s Huka Lodge, Canada’s Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge and Tierra Atacama and Tierra Patagonia in Chile are recent additions to the growing portfolio.
The Louise founders Jim and Helen Carreker believed that luxurious accommodation complements a truly memorable food and wine experience. Indeed, the couple coined the term ‘culinary tourism’ for this specialist approach. Frequent travellers to France, Spain, Portugal and California, the Carrekers modelled their own property on their favourite experiences. Principal to the model is the restaurant and carefully planned cellar as primary destination while luxurious accommodation is an essential accompaniment.
Luxury Lodges of Australia is a collection of independent luxury lodges and camps offering unforgettable experiences in Australia’s most extraordinary locations. There are 19 lodges in this stellar collection of the nation’s most celebrated properties. The Louise is a member of the collection alongside Baillie Lodges sister properties Capella Lodge, Longitude 131°, Silky Oaks Lodge and Southern Ocean Lodge.
The Baillie Lodges environmental commitment is best expressed by each lodge’s interaction with its local natural and cultural surroundings. How we support travelling for good
The Louise employs a large proportion of its team from the local community and actively supports local initiatives and events like the Barossa and Marananga Wine Shows and the Seppeltsfield Road Business Alliance. The Louise also supports social organisations like the Barossa Foundation, Room to Read, Ronald McDonald House and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
Singing fresh greens and vegetables that appear on Appellation’s menu each evening are from The Louise’s own kitchen garden, just metres from the restaurant. The use of producers based within 100km to provide an average of 85% of ingredients served in the restaurant results in significant economic return to the local community, producers and smaller markets, helping to keep local family businesses viable.
Paper and glass recycling is practised throughout the property. A worm farm has been established to recycle all wet waste from the kitchen and provide rich fertiliser for the grounds, thus minimising waste removal requirements from the property. A waste water treatment plant has been installed to recycle all waste water from the property to maintain the grounds and gardens.
South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent in the world. Water conservation and recycling is an imperative for all who live here. Water served in the restaurant is filtered, collected rainwater. For sparkling water, the restaurant carbonates the filtered rainwater, not relying on imported bottled water, thus reducing landfill and carbon emissions.
The Louise team is close-knit, attracting hospitality professionals from around the world and creating a remote family for guests and staff alike. Renowned for their relaxed and friendly first-name service, our people offer the magic that keep our friends returning for more.
General Manager Hannah McGregor brings her trademark sparkling positivity to the table at The Louise along with global industry experience spanning Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada and The Savoy in London. Hannah joined the team as Assistant General Manager in 2022 and quickly set about fostering partnerships in the close-knit Barossa community. Today, The Louise is well-placed to offer guests local insights and sought-after bookings, a real backstage pass to the Barossa.
Janelle Amos lives and creates just over the hill from The Louise on her family vineyard property. Janelle's art practice is informed by the energy of the natural rural environment surrounding her Barossa life, expressing a felt sense of connectivity and observation.
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Lise Temple's art practice has been influenced by the vivid colours and atmospheric light of rural South Australia. The studies represent her intention to constantly experiment with and broaden technique, working to address time and movement in relation to place.
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Emma Hack works in the unique medium of body paint installation and photography to evoke a rich array of visual narrative and magical realism. The collection created for The Louise features lush garden settings with Emma’s muse painted to be at-one with her environment.
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Lynka is an abstract figurative artist whose creative practice explores the intimate portrayal of womanhood. Examining both the vulnerabilities and triumphs of the feminine psyche, Lynka symbolically exercises an aesthetic of restraint to provoke quiet contemplation within her viewer.
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Catherine Fitz-Gerald is a prominent Adelaide artist recognised for her masterful skill in handling the colour and luminosity of food, particularly fruit. Her vibrant oil paintings celebrate the inherent beauty of food throughout the seasons.
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Figurative artist Renee de Saxe is inspired by her relationships with others, her daughters, family and community and their sense of place within the environment. Along with fellow artist Kirsty Kingsley, Renee co-founded the Barossa’s first independent gallery, Wonderground.
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Barossa-based abstract artist Tanya Wales employs a variety of techniques to create an otherworldly narrative balanced by a sense of ambiguity and the illusion of simplicity. The scale and tranquillity of Tanya’s works invite the audience to pause, to breathe and to feel.
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Adelaide Hills artist Diana Laidlaw imaginatively interprets the age old tradition of mosaic, giving the medium an unusual twist that often redefines an outdoor landscape. Her signature poles make strong and thoughtful, individual statements that create a special sense of place.
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Deb Jones’s installation of 28,000 pieces of glass make up the runnel water feature leading to The Louise’s front door. Some 20,000 of the 'glass rocks’ were machine finished, while Deb and a team of JamFactory apprentices individually blew and shaped the remaining 8,000 stones.
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Adelaide-based Kerryn Levy is a ceramic artist who aims to bring people together through a shared love of clay, landscape and beautiful objects. Using traditional hand-building techniques, Kerryn makes sculptural vessels that nestle and dance with one another when grouped.
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Kirsty Kingsley seems to live life from the heart, trusting in the power of saying ‘Yes’ to all the possibilities put before her. Kirsty’s current ‘Yes’ weave stories of immense joy through her use of abstract mark making and colour.
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Nicole Eliza is an abstract artist who paints intuitively, influenced by nature, emotion and lived experiences. Her paintings are a reflection of the colours and sounds of the landscape, the charm of small towns and the allure of travelling to untouched environments.
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Adelaide-based Llewelyn Ash has always been connected with his surroundings. When not creating a new work in the studio, he’s generally in nature and more often than not surfing waves off the South Australian coast, a lifestyle which inspires his striking glass designs.
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The Louise can craft an itinerary based on your interests and tastes. Or, you can follow your nose; locals talk of a ‘Barossa referral system’ indicative of the region’s community spirit.Imogen Eveson Australian Traveller
The Barossa is overflowing with history, food, art and, of course, wine. But beyond the bold and rich Shiraz that put the region on the map, it’s a place where community is life and a stay at The Louise puts you at the epicentre.Aleesha Callahan Luxury Travel Magazine
If you visited the Barossa and didn’t imbibe in fine wine, did you even go? Wine flows through the veins of The Louise, sitting as it does surrounded by iconic vineyards.Krysia Bonkowski Delicious
Generously spacious and offering relaxed luxury with a chic Southern Europe vibe, villa-style suites open on to sun-dappled private courtyards and look out to the vineyards criss-crossing the country landscape.
Find your suite
The culinary experience for guests at The Louise and its destination restaurant Appellation has been essential since first opening in 2006. The local, seasonal, and artisan-produced ingredients reflect a genuine sense of The Barossa and its people.
Whet your appetite
Experience first-hand the journey from vine to vino with guided winery tours; float high about the valley in a hot air balloon or get the wheels rolling on a bike tour and cruise at your leisure.
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