Orangewood is a traditional bed and breakfast inn located in Alice Springs, the famous town at the centre of Australia's vast Outback.

Orangewood is now maintained exclusively for guests and promises quality accommodation and superior friendly service in our once family home.

Orangewood Bed & Breakfast at 9 McMinn St, Alice Springs is located in one of the older suburbs of the town, close to the Todd River (which is usually waterless!), and the town centre, and within easy walking distance along the river and through the hills to the Telegraph Station National Park, the original "Alice Springs".

Rooms:

Orangewood offers guests the choice of three bedrooms, attractively furnished with antiques, special family pieces and original artworks and a comfortable self-contained garden cottage.

Luxurious curtains and bedspreads, thick carpets and soft pillows enhance the feeling of comfort and indulgence.

All bedrooms have private en-suite bathrooms with ample fluffy towels and special Orangewood soaps. Other toiletries, hair dryers and emergency supplies (such a toothbrush to replace the one you left at your last hotel!) are available on request.

The garden cottage has a separate bedroom and private bathroom.

Orangewood is air-cooled in the summer and all bedrooms have ceiling fans. In the winter, log fires provide cheerful warmth in the sitting rooms and breakfast room. Electric heaters warm other parts of the house and all beds have electric blankets.

Lemon Tree Cottage:

Orangewood's "Lemon Tree Cottage" has a private sitting area overlooking the pool with TV and a music player, a refrigerator and tea/coffee making facilities.

The separate bedroom is attractively furnished with family pieces and an extra large double bed which can be converted to two single beds if requested. The private bathroom has a shower over the bath, a toilet and vanity.

The cottage is air conditioned and has gas heating for our cold winter nights. A private patio with outdoor furniture, shaded by the lemon tree, joins the cottage to the pool's edge and the garden.

Other Rooms:

Orangewood is maintained exclusively for our guests who have the use of a formal sitting room with its open fireplace, piano, antique sideboard with built in music system and a selection of CDs, tapes and records.

The sitting room has television, shelves of first edition books and wonderful paintings of local scenery. Adjacent is the reading room and library with more books (including a paperback exchange section), a small refrigerator, tea and coffee making facilities and a regular supply of home-made cakes, biscuits and fruit in season.

Garden:

In the rear garden is a swimming pool surrounded by lawn and a grove of citrus trees - orange, grapefruit, mandarin and lemon - hence "Orangewood".

Breakfast:

A full breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice (from our own trees), home-made muesli, a variety of fresh and cooked fruits, yoghurts, toast, freshly baked muffins, cooked dishes of your choice is served in the breakfast room which overlooks the garden and swimming pool.

Your Hosts:

Lynne and Ross Peterkin have lived in Alice Springs for over 30 years. Ross is a medical practitioner presently employed by the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Ayers Rock.

Lynne’s career has evolved over time from teacher to mother of three sons to medical practice manager to tourism.

In 1988 while Ross sailed off to the Antarctic to spend a year as doctor at the Australian Antarctic station at Casey, Lynne was appointed executive officer of the Alice Springs Regional Tourism Association a post she held for four years during which time the Association won a National Tourism Award. She then moved into tourism consultancy taking on a number of projects developing Aboriginal tourism in the region.

In 1994 Lynne and Ross visited the United States and Canada choosing where possible to stay in bed & breakfast accommodation and realised that the family home, Orangewood, now vacated by the boys would make an ideal bed and breakfast.

1995 was spent in builder’s rubble while the house was extensively renovated and Orangewood, Alice Springs Bed & Breakfast welcomed its first guests in early 1996.

Lynne is active in the local tourism industry and continues her consultancy work. She is chairman of the Australian Bed & Breakfast Council the national industry representative body. Ross, on the other hand, prefers the quiet life of the part time medical practitioner, content to spend his spare time in the workshop making fine furniture for Orangewood and their new house next door.

Both like to travel and have travelled extensively though not so often together. Lynne prefers the "Stately Home" circuit in the UK and Ireland while Ross is happier on trek in the Himalayas.

Both are determined that guests at Orangewood will benefit from their personal experiences of travel. Comfort, superior service and above all friendly hospitality are the essentials of a stay at Orangewood.