The owners of Southern Ocean Lodge, Baillie Lodges’ James and Hayley Baillie, have vowed to resurrect their former flagship retreat within two years after it was gutted by bushfires that swept through the western end of Kangaroo Island just days into the new decade.

The devastation to befall Southern Ocean Lodge on 3 January 2020 came just weeks after Baillie Lodges’ reported one of its best years to date for its three-property stable which also includes the luxury retreats Capella Lodge on Norfolk Island and Longitude 131° at Uluru-Kata Tjuta. (Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree Rainforest will also join the collection following upgrades later this year).”It’s been another busy year at Baillie Lodges with Capella Lodge, Southern Ocean Lodge and Longitude 131° seeming even more popular than ever! Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island was voted #21 in the world in Travel + Leisure magazine’s prestigious Top 100 Hotels List and best resort in Australia in Condé Nast Traveler’s 32nd annual Readers’ Choice Awards,” the Baillies said in an update the week before Christmas.

Commenting on the Condé Nast accolade, Baillie Lodges’ Founder and Executive Chairman, James Baillie said, “We consider the awards a reflection of the outstanding guest experience consistently delivered at Southern Ocean Lodge since it opened in 2008, and of the ongoing hard work and passion on the part of the team”.

Southern Ocean Lodge had also only recently launched a brand-new website that features “a confident yet quietly luxurious look and feel which speaks of the privilege of the Baillie Lodges experience,” the December newsletter said.

But inside a week of the devastation bestowed on Southern Ocean Lodge, and after a global outpouring of sorrow at the resort’s loss, the business and life partners reiterated their intent to rebuild in an open letter.