![The ski locker and boot drying room has a peanut-shaped cedar-batten bench in the middle.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/x/g/8/n/3/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gxg5o2.png/1501123882110.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324im_/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/i/g/p/h/e/image.imgtype.afrAuthorAvatar.120x120.png/1437396229730.jpg)
On arriving at ski-in, ski-out Astra Lodge in Falls Creek, it's obvious why it won Australia's Best Ski Boutique Hotel at the 2016 World Ski Awards. Attention to detail is evident throughout, reflecting the fact its owners, Rosy Seaton and Seumas Dawes, are skiers themselves – and have good taste. The couple and their four children lived for 13 years in London and stayed in the best resorts in Europe – assiduous research for their Victorian Alps project.
"The thing you notice with hotels in Europe is people return year after year," says Sydney-based Dawes, who is the chairman of Pepper Financial Services Group. "Of course, you need good accommodation and a pool and that sort of thing, but you really need to create an atmosphere so people bump into each other each season and it grows from there."
Indeed, the weekend in July that Life & Leisure visits Astra, the place is jumping. Word is out that Nicky Bomba of the John Butler Trio is playing in the cocktail lounge. There are deep leather sofas, animal-skin rugs on the oak floors, swivel armchairs, a huge stone fireplace, custom-made snowflake wall lights and plenty of that atmosphere that Dawes wants to foster. David Walsh, the owner of Tasmania's MONA, has been in there all afternoon and now wants to ditch his lodge and move into Astra – along with his 18 family and friends.
Alas, there's no room at the inn.
![The Astra features leather sofas, animal-skin rugs on oak floors and a huge stone fireplace.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/x/0/0/c/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1501072019121.jpg)
Dawes and Seaton bought Astra Lodge in 2014 after acquiring neighbouring Huski Apartments in 2012. Dawes (ranked 180 on the 2017 Financial Review Rich List with a net worth of $480 million) opened his wallet generously ("many millions" is all he'll say) for Astra's three-stage revamp and extension. Melbourne architect Grant Amon, who designed the original building in 1987, took the project on and has given it a seamless continuity, working with leather, lighting and furniture artisans to create a warm, alpine atmosphere.
The four-storey lodge has 20 guestrooms, including six studios and a two-bedroom apartment, with Triumph and Disaster products in the bathrooms and views through the snow gums. Guest facilities include a reading room, children's entertainment area, heated indoor magnesium mineral pool, wet and dry saunas, physiotherapy, massage, a day spa, plus a barber and hair stylist.
Next to the ground-floor workshop of Skimetric boot master Bert Leibetseder, Dawes has installed a cedar-lined, 1200-bottle cellar with private dining space for six at a raised timber bar table.
"All the wines are from domains near ski areas, such as South Tyrol and the Valtellina, which is in Italy but quite close to St Moritz," says Dawes. "Others are from the local Bright area, like Mayford." The dearest is a $1000 Vega Sicilia 1996 from the Ribera del Duero in Spain; there's also some $330 Achaval Ferrer malbec from the foothills of the Andes.
Access to Astra's rooms, ski lockers and facilities is via rubber wristband. Tom and Sally Simpson are live-in managers, while over at the kitchen, the pasta is made in-house daily. After a day's skiing, that's a drawcard in itself.
![The rooms are luxuriously appointed, with linen and furnishings sourced by Rosy Seaton worldwide.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/x/i/i/8/g/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1501072019199.jpg)
The writer was a guest of Astra Lodge.
NEED TO KNOW
- Astra Lodge 5 Sitzmark Street, Falls Creek. Rooms start at $622 a night in peak season and $246 in low season. Tel: (03) 5758 3496 astralodge.com.au
- Getting there Albury Airport offers four airlines and 180 flights a week to and from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Connection choices are by car, bus or helicopter. Astra Lodge can arrange your preference. There's also a heli-shuttle between Falls Creek and Mount Hotham to combine the best of both resorts.
![Architect Grant Amon's seamless extension of the original Astra Lodge he designed in 1987.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/x/g/8/i/q/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1501072019320.jpg)
![Chef Emma Handley oversees Astra's kitchen where the emphasis is on locally sourced produce.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170728031324/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/x/g/8/o/4/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1501072019262.jpg)