We have found a slice of heaven in NSW's Southern Highlands

Hotel Review: Moss Manor

Where: 1A Throsby Street, Moss Vale, NSW

How much: From $350-$750 a night, including breakfast and afternoon tea. Whole-house bookings are also available.

Built as a council chamber and mayoral residence in 1890, the Georgian-style two-storey Throsby Manor had been by turns since 1971 a commercial premises and private home until its purchase by long-term Southern Highlands resident Louella Grattan-Smith and her husband Tony. Teaming up with architect Luke Moloney, they transformed the landmark into a small art hotel that opened in August, 2022, and has been collecting architectural gongs since.

The historic town of Moss Vale, population 9500, is a hub of homewares boutiques and artisan shopfronts - there's even a cobbler, and the celebrated textiles designer Tigger Hall has a showroom here. Argyle Street where these designer delights cluster is just around the corner from Moss Manor so shoppers beware: this is a holiday, however brief, that could hurt your wallet.

As Louella points out, there is nothing generic here. Eight original rooms have been transformed into sumptuous boltholes with a design aesthetic that mixes new and old, and layers it with textures, patterns and splashes of colour in artworks and features such as padded chintz bedheads. Objects of beauty, from ceramic Chinese urns to vases bursting with fresh arrangements, are showcased liberally. At the back of the building is the Glass Room, a dramatic yet cosy extension in black steel and glass where we eat breakfast and snuggle into plump couches for nightcaps.

Each of the eight rooms has its own name and personality. Daisy, for instance, has buttercup-coloured drapes and an artwork in yellow above the marble fireplace; Violet's lavender drapes are a shiny, silky, show-biz affair; while Ruby has a striking dark red toile bedhead. We stay in the neutral-toned king-sized Sophia suite. She's a real looker with the imperious flourish of a Roman marble bathtub in the sitting area, atop a reinforced section of the floor. All rooms have ensuites, luxury linens and minibar.

A marvellously fresh and delicious breakfast is served in the Glass Room overlooking the back garden and its centrepiece weeping cherry tree. On our first morning, yoghurt with blueberry compote and puffed wheat is followed by juicy local figs and stracciatella cheese on toast, scattered with pistachios and honeycomb from nearby Kangaroo Valley. Come dinnertime we get the chance to check out local eateries recommended by the Moss Manor team. Flour Bar just up the road does a tasty line in share plates, and Bistro Sociale at Bowral's Berida Hotel serves excellent French-inspired cuisine. When we return to Moss Manor after dinner, there are homebaked treats tempting us from beneath a glass cloche, alongside a bottle of local dessert wine.

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From bushwalks to winery visits, there is much to do in the Southern Highlands, and Moss Manor is generous with the details both in person and on its website. Its role is to welcome you back after a day of adventure, "to a pod of comfort and peace and warmth and beauty," says Louella.

Throughout the manor, walls are hung with original art by some of Australia's leading contemporary artists and emerging ones, too. The collection is curated by Campbell Robertson-Swan, director of the Defiance Gallery in Sydney's Paddington. All art is available to purchase, and we are sorely tempted.

Explore more: mossmanor.au

The writer was a guest of Moss Manor.