Quest Orange has been named one of the best hotels in Australia.
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The 2023 Travellers' Choice Best of the Best Hotel Awards were announced in May, which saw Quest rank third in NSW and 12th for the entire country.
The rankings are based on the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings posted on Tripadvisor between January 1 and December 31, 2022. Each winner also has to pass "rigorous" trust and safety standards.
Quest Orange business owner Amy Van De Ven said she was proud to be promoting the city on a global scale.
"This is so exciting for our region and my team. It all comes down to our strong focus on delivering a home away from home experience for all our guests here at Quest Orange," she said.
"We do that through curating an immersive experience. From our elevators to the rooms, everything is curated - from music to the temperature and even the scent."
After opening just before the pandemic, Ms Van De Ven said 2022 represented a time for the business to grow.
"Our nature-based experiences like star gazing with picnic hampers proved incredibly popular, and many guests also loved going for a pasta lunch with local wine," she added.
"As a small business owner, I'm conscious we don't operate in a vacuum. Everything we recommend we've tried and tested ourselves on our regular family trips to local wineries and restaurants."
Guests nominated the front desk concierge team as their favourite part of Quest Orange.
"As a group, we meet owners and producers in Orange and look for ways to support each other, whether it's creating packages or just learning who their target market is," Ms Van De Ven said.
"Our ability to personalise the guest experience also comes down to how flexible we can be.
A great example is how we modified our accessible rooms for guests who found our beds weren't compatible with their mobility equipment due to the height - so we adjusted the beds and now they've become regular visitors to Quest Orange."
The rooftop terrace at Quest Orange was also selected as a highlight by guest reviewers.
"Right now, the view from our terrace captures the beautiful autumnal colours across the city and is the perfect spot to take in the sunset over Mount Canobolas," the owner added.
Cellar door's revival
The owners of an award-winning cellar door which closed due to the Covid pandemic are enjoying being back in action.
Simone and Sam Statham of Canowindra's Rosnay Organic Wines turned their old cellar door into a production room as the business was forced to shift throughout 2020 and 2021.
But towards the end of 2022, they wanted to bring back a "dedicated" cellar door experience and decided to put to use their old machinery workshop.
"It actually had the best view on the whole farm," Mr Statham said.
"People gravitated towards it already because it had interesting stuff and it had a nice view, so we decided to get the tractors out of there and convert it into a new cellar door."
It opened just in time for the Canowindra Baroque Music Festival at the end of September and Mr Statham has been enjoying a fresh challenge ever since.
"We're finding it very unpredictable. Some weekends we'll get 40 people in a day and others we'll only get four," he said.
"We're not requiring bookings any more, so we don't know how many are coming, but on the other hand, it's nice to not have to be that organised and take bookings."
With a fresh approach to the business also comes fresh faces giving the cellar door a try.
"We've had bus tours of old people, and that certainly didn't happen years ago," Mr Statham added.
"We're also hoping to connect with the younger people. We try to do a bit of both."
The cellar door at 510 Rivers Road is open 10-4pm on weekends and public holidays.
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