Four-star Two MICHELIN Keys Daintree, above the Mossman River, Port Douglas
Silky Oaks Lodge
Forty timber suites on the Mossman River, in the Daintree rainforest, twenty minutes up the road from Port Douglas. Some have a fireplace on the deck.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Two Keys, 2026
- Suites
- 40, in six categories
- Reopened
- December 2021, after a full rebuild
- From the airport
- 78 km from Cairns, about 80 minutes
The hotel
A river lodge, rebuilt.
Silky Oaks was already a lodge on the Mossman River in the 1990s, just downstream from Mossman Gorge, where the World Heritage-listed Daintree rainforest begins. James Baillie, who founded Baillie Lodges with his wife Hayley, ran it as general manager in the mid-1990s. Years later the company took it on, and redesigned the lodge from the main building down to the last suite.
The rebuild took twenty months and about twenty million Australian dollars. The lodge reopened in December 2021 with forty suites in local timber, set out among the trees on the slope above the water. Guests swim in the river below. In 2026 the MICHELIN Guide gave it two Keys, and the lodge now belongs to Beckons, the group that joins Baillie Lodges and Tierra Hotels.
- The river Clear water below the suites for swimming, and the Figtree Rapids trails starting from the lodge.
- Healing Waters Spa Six treatment rooms facing the forest or the river, among them a room for couples and a Vichy shower.
- Dinner included A four-course dinner with matched wines, breakfast, evening drinks and a daily shuttle to Port Douglas are all in the rate.
Rooms & suites
Hammocks, stone baths and the canopy.
All forty suites look into the rainforest or over the Mossman River, and many have a hammock and a bath out on the deck.
- In the trees Treehouse Retreat 50 square metres, with a king bed, a bathtub on the private deck and an open-air shower.
- Fireside Billabong Suite 92 square metres, with a fireplace and an open-air bath on the deck.
- Two bedrooms Daintree Pavilion 323 square metres, laid out in two bedroom wings.
Dining
Eating in the canopy.
As listed by the lodge. Queensland has no MICHELIN restaurant guide. Shown for information.
- Treehouse Restaurant Contemporary Australian, with Mediterranean and Asian notes Open-air, over the river
- The bar Evening drinks and snacks Included in the rate
Recognition
Awards and listings.
- Two MICHELIN Keys 2026
- Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards No. 1 hotel in Australasia, 2025
- Gourmet Traveller, Best Resorts in Australia 2025
- Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2024
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 2 pm, check-out by 10.30 am.
- Children Guests must be ten or older.
- Pets Not accepted.
- Further north Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the sea, is 68 kilometres beyond the lodge.
Getting there
Flying to Port Douglas.
Cairns is the airport for scheduled flights and private jets. The lodge is 78 kilometres north, about eighty minutes by car, or a short helicopter flight to its own helipad.
- Brisbane 2 h 10
- Sydney 2 h 55
- Melbourne 3 h 25
- Bali 4 h 50
- Singapore 6 h 55 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Silky Oaks Lodge have?
- Two, in the 2026 Australian selection.
- How far is Silky Oaks Lodge from Port Douglas?
- About 22 kilometres, or twenty minutes by car. A daily shuttle to town is included in the rate.
- Can children stay at Silky Oaks Lodge?
- From the age of ten.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Port Douglas?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Port Douglas, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Port Douglas
Other hotels worth the trip.
Staying at Silky Oaks Lodge?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Port Douglas, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.