Australia's favourite independently rated accommodation, chosen by Australia travellers, is revealed by Star Ratings Australia in the April 2016 Gold List of Australian Accommodation.

The bi-annual Gold List showcases the 'best of the best' accommodation Australia-wide by collecting and combining traveller ratings from hundreds of websites in 45 different languages across the globe.

Gold List winners include all accommodation types from hotels to caravan-holiday parks and are listed nationally as well as by state, capital city and region so where ever you're travelling and whatever your needs, you can find the best accommodation for you. 

Michael Reed CEO of Star Ratings Australia comments, “What makes the Gold List unique is that Star Ratings Australia doesn't just look at traveller ratings on one website but collects data from multiple sources so in each case many consumer voices are converted to one accommodation score, and scores are then ranked to produce a definitive list of Australia's best independently rated accommodation.”

“From the opinions of those who have actually stayed with Star Rated properties to our own independent quality standards; Australian travellers can trust that anyone featured in the Gold List will almost always exceed their expectations,” Michael Reed adds.

This year's results have uncovered some interesting new trends. Queensland has emerged as a clear winner in Australian accommodation, accounting for 30% of all national Gold List winners. Of the Queensland winners, Brisbane is an epicentre for quality accommodation with the highest amount of Queensland winners, accounting for 22% of all properties, and the highest ranked hotel – The New Inchcolm Hotel & Suites.

Brisbane also contributed to Queensland's domination in Australia's best serviced apartments, accounting for 60% of the Gold List winners in this category. New South Wales also made a significant contribution to the serviced apartment category but overshadowed other states in less formal accommodation categories, accounting for 40% of Australia's best motels and holiday-caravan parks.

Regional areas across Australia outdid their urban counterparts accounting for five out of the six accommodation category winners in Australia and 77% of all national Gold List winners. Australia's highest ranked property is Beechwood Apartment, in Warrnambool Victoria, which had an aggregated ranking of 0.996.

The breakdown of winners across states:

NSW

In New South Wales 15% of state winners are from the South Coast region with Merimbula taking the title as the leading Gold List town outside of Sydney, accounting for over 50% of South Coast winners.

VIC

In Victoria 17% of winners are from Great Ocean Road region but Ballart takes the prize as the town, outside of Melbourne, with the greatest number of state winners, accounting for 7% of all Victorian winners.

QLD

In Queensland 12% of winners are from the Sunshine Coast region with over 1/3rd of winners in regional South East Queensland, with inland accommodation making up a significant percentage of these Gold List properties. Noosa is the town, outside of Brisbane, with the most state winners but there is a fairly even distribution across Queensland.

WA

In Western Australia 28% of the state winners are from the South East region with 15% in the Margaret River area. Perth and Broome were both beaten by Margaret River, and Broome come out in front of Perth for most state winners with 13% of the Gold List accommodation providers.

SA

In South Australia the Barossa Valley region has 9% of the state's Gold List winners but the town outside of Adelaide, which has the largest proportion of winners is Coober Pedy at 7%.

TAS

Excluding Hobart which has a significant majority of the Tasmania Gold List properties, the North West Coast region is home to 28% of Gold List winners, and the town with the most winners is Launceston closely followed by Devonport which has 7% of all state winners.

To give you a taste of Australia's best of the best, the top three independently rated, national winners in each category are listed below.

Hotels

1. The New Incholm Hotel & Suites (QLD)
2. Avenue Hotel Canberra (ACT)
3. The Provincial Ballarat (VIC)

Serviced Apartment

1. Snowgoose Apartments (NSW)
2. Beaches International (NSW)
3. Meriton Serviced Apartments – Broadbeach (QLD)

Motel

1. Motel on A'Beckett (VIC)
2. Best Western Injune Motor Inn (QLD)
3. TuckerBox Motor Inn (NSW)

Self-Catering

1. Beechworth Apartment (VIC)
2. Serenity Holiday Accommodation (SA)
3. Big Brook Cottages (WA)

Hosted Accommodation

1. Thorngrove Manor Hotel (SA)
2. Mia Mia Bed & Breakfast (QLD)
3. Clarence River Bed & Breakfast (NSW)

Caravan-Holiday Park

1. Tathra Beach Family Park (NSW)
2. Noonamah Tourist Park (NT)
3. Capricorn Caves (QLD)

To find out more about the top 18 Gold List winners visit www.star-tripping.com.au

To view the full Gold List head to http://www.starratings.com.au/ 

For more information please contact: Clara Lubbers at Horizon Communication Group

clara@horizoncg.com.au / (02) 8572 5600

About Star Ratings Australia:

Star Ratings Australia is the leading independent accommodation accreditation scheme in Australia. The scheme uses 'star' symbols which are a licensed trademark and are an internationally recognised symbol for quality accommodation standards that are used in more than 70 countries worldwide.

The 'star' symbol reflects the cleanliness, quality and condition of guest facilities and provides a trusted and reliable rating that can only be used by properties who have been licensed to use them by Australian Motoring Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian Auto Clubs.

The Star Ratings scheme enjoys a long and distinguished heritage with the Australian Auto Clubs, dating back to the 1950s when the clubs first started assessing accommodation on behalf of their members.

For more information, please visit: http://www.starratings.com.au/