Quick Facts
- Event Spaces: The Karawerra Meeting Room — a large, country-style function space with natural light and sweeping garden views — plus the Lakeview Restaurant for group dining and the manicured estate grounds for outdoor events and team activities.
- Capacity: Up to 70 guests in the Karawerra Meeting Room; Lakeview Restaurant for group breakfasts, lunches, and private dinners; outdoor lawns and gardens for evening events and activities.
- Accommodation: 31 rooms across seven Hamptons-style garden cottages — including Garden Suites with private courtyards and Loft Rooms — plus three Lakeside Canopies, all set within a 28-acre heritage estate.
- Point of Difference: A fully private, estate-style retreat set within 28 acres of manicured grounds adjoining the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park — minutes from Govetts Leap Lookout and the Grose Valley, two hours from Sydney.
The Blue Mountains Retreat That Feels Like a Private Estate
Some venues change the pace of a group. Parklands changes the entire atmosphere.
Set on a 28-acre heritage property in Blackheath, Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges is the kind of retreat that makes delegates wonder why they don’t do this more often. Century-old pines, manicured lawns, a private lake, Hamptons-style cottages with gas fireplaces — it’s a setting that strips away the noise of the office and replaces it with the kind of quiet focus that a standard conference hotel simply can’t manufacture. For leadership retreats, senior team offsites, and intimate incentive programmes where the experience matters as much as the agenda, it’s one of the most compelling properties in regional New South Wales.
Key Features & Event Spaces
Karawerra Meeting Room — Intimate and Well-Appointed: The property’s dedicated conference space accommodates up to 70 guests and is equipped with state-of-the-art AV — wide-format projection screens, data projectors, and sound systems. Natural light, garden views, and a country-house aesthetic make it a genuine alternative to the corporate meeting room. A dedicated event coordinator is assigned to every programme, managing logistics from first contact through to post-event debrief.
Lakeview Restaurant — Group Dining Overlooking the Estate: Morning light fills the Lakeview Restaurant as it looks out across the private lake and gardens — a natural setting for working breakfasts, conference lunches, and private group dinners. The full buffet breakfast is a well-regarded start to a conference day, and the kitchen team tailors menus to suit the event format.
Estate Grounds — The Programme Extension Most Venues Can’t Offer: The 28 acres of manicured lawns, tree-lined avenues, and the private lake give planners a rare resource: genuine outdoor space that belongs entirely to the group. Welcome drinks at sunset on the lawn, a morning walk through the gardens before sessions begin, or an informal evening gathering by the lake — these are the moments that make a retreat memorable, and Parklands makes them straightforward to deliver.
Accommodation — Seven Cottages, Real Privacy: Guests are accommodated across seven open-plan Hamptons-style cottages, each featuring gas fireplaces, day beds or Juliette balconies overlooking the gardens, and either private courtyards or loft-style rooms. Three Lakeside Canopies add a premium, more secluded tier for VIP delegates or senior leadership groups. Complimentary Wi-Fi and on-site parking are included across all accommodation.
Parklands Day Spa: An on-site day spa provides a wellness dimension for multi-day programmes — massage, treatments, and the kind of genuine downtime that helps a leadership group reset between heavy sessions.
Team Activities & Surroundings: Govetts Leap Lookout and the Grose Valley are minutes from the property, with Blackheath village a short drive away. Bushwalking, guided nature experiences, and Blue Mountains regional activities can all be incorporated into a programme, with the estate’s own grounds providing a self-contained starting point.
Why Choose Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges?
Parklands suits planners running smaller, high-value programmes where the setting is as important as the content — leadership retreats, executive offsites, senior team strategy days, and intimate incentive programmes where the group needs to genuinely connect rather than simply sit in a room together.
It’s not a large-scale conference venue, and it’s not trying to be. What it offers instead is something harder to find: a fully private, beautifully maintained estate two hours from Sydney, where the surroundings do as much for a group as any facilitator could.
Save hours on your venue search and secure the right space, first time. Enquire with The Conference Shop to compare, brief, and lock in Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges, Blackheath for your next event.
