Southern Ocean Lodge on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island has been named as the American Express Travel ‘‘One To Watch’’ at The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025.

According to the team at The World’s 50 Best Hotels, “If ever there was an excuse to invoke the cliché about clouds and silver linings, the resurrection of Kangaroo Island’s Southern Ocean Lodge might be it. As part of this year’s World’s 50 Best Hotels, this slice of island paradise scooped the American Express Travel One To Watch Award. Here’s a snippet of what the W50B writers had to say:

“Stretched along a limestone clifftop in the rugged wilderness of Australia’s third-largest island, this luxury lodge was destroyed in catastrophic bush fires in 2020. Parent company Baillie Lodges didn’t take this lying down, engaging original architect Max Pritchard to not only recreate his sculptural original but to subtly enhance it. What was already an icon of wilderness-based luxury became more so when the lodge re-opened in 2023, its 25 glass-walled suites elongated and repositioned to take in more of the immense coastal views, a new spa sheltered from the Great Southern Ocean gales and a premium four-bedroom, two-plunge-pool villa installed on the highest point of the property. In short, it’s a rebirth that manages to refresh a cliché. Here are six sensational reasons to fall for this hotel phoenix.”

The Australian Financial Review also applauded Southern Ocean Lodge for the nod, which they deemed “the list-maker’s course correction for exceptional stays that might fall between the cracks of the academy’s travel itineraries.`’

Read the article on the World’s 50 Best website here and in the Australian Financial Review here.