Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley

After five years of planning, Emirates opened the 1,600-hectare Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley in October 2009, making it one of Australia’s first luxury conservation resorts. Nestled in the Wolgan Valley beneath spectacular sandstone escarpments, this environmentally sensitive resort is in keeping with its setting in the unique wilderness of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area in New South Wales, about three hours drive from Sydney. Bordering the Wollemi and Gardens of Stone National Parks, the resort provides guests a true wilderness experience during their stay while still offering the finest luxury hospitality.

The resort buildings themselves take up less than 2% of the conservation reserve and have been designed with green building principles in mind; they boast the latest designs to minimize energy and water consumption, such as heat pumps, solar panels, and passive ventilation systems. To further confirm this commitment, Emirates was proud to announce that, on opening, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley became the first carboNZero^©™ certified hotel in the world, and the first carbon neutral resort in the world to be certified through an internationally accredited greenhouse gas program.

The property is located a short distance from a secret canyon in the Wollemi National Park, in which the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) was discovered by an intrepid naturalist in 1994. The Wollemi Pine belongs to a 200 million-year-old plant family, the Araucariaceae; its discovery in modern times is one of the most exciting botanical finds of the century. The significance of its discovery has been compared to finding a live dinosaur in the present time. A number of Wollemi Pine specimens have been planted in an appropriate habitat on site, and the tree's distinctive leaves are the basis for the resort’s emblem.

Emirates invested more than AUD 125 million into this project to ensure the conservation of the unique biodiversity of this valley and has planted more than 175,000 native trees and shrubs across the site. Learn more about Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley (Opens in a new window).