When it comes to holidaying, deciding whether to go with the expected comforts of a hotel or the relaxed amenities of an Airbnb generally comes down to the guest and the mood of the trip.
For mum and businesswoman Alexandra Ormerod, travel has always been high on the priority list – and she had no plans for that to change when she and husband Tom decided to start a family.
But with a little one in tow, the pair soon realized that the simple pleasures they once took for granted in a hotel room were no longer applicable for a young family.
“We have a lot of family overseas… we are avid travelers and after our first daughter was born we quickly discovered in our travels that hotels were dead to us and that came as a bit of a shock,” Ms Ormerod told news.com. ouch
“We soon found it very challenging to be traveling with a small child and finding accommodation that was of a standard better than a serviced apartment.
“We realized quite early on that places like Europe and Asia have a more mature market than Australia, so there are a lot more villas to hire in different locations. Whereas when you came to Australia and you effectively had the option of a holiday home. That home would be hired through a real estate agent and generally you were restricted to a coastal location and picking the keys up from the local fish and chip shop because the office was closed.
Ms Ormerod said the “disconnected experience” and “transactional approach” to hiring holiday homes in Australia meant guests “never really knew what they were going to get” on arrival.
With a background in advertising, Ms Ormerod said her work in travel and tourism along with her husband’s involvement in property development and real estate meant they identified a gap in the market for couples, friends and family groups seeking options in the luxury end of the holiday homes market.
As a result, ‘Luxico’ – which essentially combines hotels and holidays homes into one – was born in 2013.
“Luxico was a bit of an obvious outcome,” she explained of the company, which is now worth almost $20 million.
“We found there was a real niche for designer accommodation which we identified as not really existing at the time Luxico was born.”
Having a house on the Mornington Peninsula, Ms Ormerod said a lot of neighbors and Melbourne residents had “big homes” in the area which sat empty for most of the year. So she and Tom started renting out properties in the area which signaled a huge area of demand for beautiful, high-end homes temporarily.
“We found there was a lot of demand for that $1000-a-night or more price point that was not being serviced,” she said.
“So we then built on that to try and service that demand, and try to take the experience away from a transactional offering to a more hospitality or hotel offering [within a luxury home].”
Each Luxico stay comes with a concierge service – essentially a local who ‘checks you in’ to the home. Each concierge acts as a point of call for guests, with no request too big, small or bizarre. The homes range from $250 to $15,000 or more per night.
“It’s bringing the human element back into that holiday home stay, and all our concierges are from the local area,” she explained of the company which exclusively manages $700 million worth of property across Australia.
“The extra services you can have – from chefs, to butlers and specialist touring – are all part of the optional extras.
“But for the everyday traveller, the feedback has been that the concierge had given them insider tips to the area … maybe told them of an amazing hidden gem they wouldn’t have otherwise known about that made their holiday.”
While celebrity clients make up a large bulk of the brand’s clientele, Ms Ormerod said “mums and dads” still make up the majority of bookings.
“Luxico is an end-to-end service so we exclusively manage all of the properties that we offer,” she said, adding that if a family is looking to book two or three hotel rooms – a home works out to be better value.
“So we are managing the guest experience not just through the booking process, but the experience they have in home and even afterwards.
“So from the slippers, to the towels to prepared toiletries, the concierge is going in there and provisioning and preparing the home so if you are traveling with small children we will bring in a toy box so they have something to play with. So it’s all those little touches that make the experience a continuance of the booking process.
“It’s more a holistic experience, connecting you with local products, experiences and service providers that will build on that stay.”
When it comes to holidaying, deciding whether to go with the expected comforts of a hotel or the relaxed amenities of an Airbnb generally comes down to the guest and the mood of the trip.
For mum and businesswoman Alexandra Ormerod, travel has always been high on the priority list – and she had no plans for that to change when she and husband Tom decided to start a family.
But with a little one in tow, the pair soon realized that the simple pleasures they once took for granted in a hotel room were no longer applicable for a young family.
“We have a lot of family overseas… we are avid travelers and after our first daughter was born we quickly discovered in our travels that hotels were dead to us and that came as a bit of a shock,” Ms Ormerod told news.com. ouch
“We soon found it very challenging to be traveling with a small child and finding accommodation that was of a standard better than a serviced apartment.
“We realized quite early on that places like Europe and Asia have a more mature market than Australia, so there are a lot more villas to hire in different locations. Whereas when you came to Australia and you effectively had the option of a holiday home. That home would be hired through a real estate agent and generally you were restricted to a coastal location and picking the keys up from the local fish and chip shop because the office was closed.
Ms Ormerod said the “disconnected experience” and “transactional approach” to hiring holiday homes in Australia meant guests “never really knew what they were going to get” on arrival.
With a background in advertising, Ms Ormerod said her work in travel and tourism along with her husband’s involvement in property development and real estate meant they identified a gap in the market for couples, friends and family groups seeking options in the luxury end of the holiday homes market.
As a result, ‘Luxico’ – which essentially combines hotels and holidays homes into one – was born in 2013.
“Luxico was a bit of an obvious outcome,” she explained of the company, which is now worth almost $20 million.
“We found there was a real niche for designer accommodation which we identified as not really existing at the time Luxico was born.”
Having a house on the Mornington Peninsula, Ms Ormerod said a lot of neighbors and Melbourne residents had “big homes” in the area which sat empty for most of the year. So she and Tom started renting out properties in the area which signaled a huge area of demand for beautiful, high-end homes temporarily.
“We found there was a lot of demand for that $1000-a-night or more price point that was not being serviced,” she said.
“So we then built on that to try and service that demand, and try to take the experience away from a transactional offering to a more hospitality or hotel offering [within a luxury home].”
Each Luxico stay comes with a concierge service – essentially a local who ‘checks you in’ to the home. Each concierge acts as a point of call for guests, with no request too big, small or bizarre. The homes range from $250 to $15,000 or more per night.
“It’s bringing the human element back into that holiday home stay, and all our concierges are from the local area,” she explained of the company which exclusively manages $700 million worth of property across Australia.
“The extra services you can have – from chefs, to butlers and specialist touring – are all part of the optional extras.
“But for the everyday traveller, the feedback has been that the concierge had given them insider tips to the area … maybe told them of an amazing hidden gem they wouldn’t have otherwise known about that made their holiday.”
While celebrity clients make up a large bulk of the brand’s clientele, Ms Ormerod said “mums and dads” still make up the majority of bookings.
“Luxico is an end-to-end service so we exclusively manage all of the properties that we offer,” she said, adding that if a family is looking to book two or three hotel rooms – a home works out to be better value.
“So we are managing the guest experience not just through the booking process, but the experience they have in home and even afterwards.
“So from the slippers, to the towels to prepared toiletries, the concierge is going in there and provisioning and preparing the home so if you are traveling with small children we will bring in a toy box so they have something to play with. So it’s all those little touches that make the experience a continuance of the booking process.
“It’s more a holistic experience, connecting you with local products, experiences and service providers that will build on that stay.”
Now that TVs are getting progressively thinner, manufacturers are having a tough time building decent speakers into them. It doesn’t help either that TV speakers often face downwards, creating low audio that loses much of its detail.
By comparison, soundbars have speakers that actually face towards you, making sound clearer and speech more understandable.
In fact, you would be surprised by how much your audio can be improved even with just a budget soundbar.
RELATED: Best Australian TV deals and offers
RELATED: Sonos Ray Soundbar hands-on review
Many soundbars also have Bluetooth integrated too, so you can play your tunes and get more dynamic sound.
Ready to ditch mediocre audio for a better entertainment experience? We’ve rounded up the best soundbars available in Australia below, based on our own experience with the products and real customer ratings and reviews.
QUICK LINKS
BEST SOUNDBAR UNDER $1,500
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
This premium soundbar delivers fantastic audio with clear vocals and deep bass, while offering an immersive sound experience thanks to its side speakers.
If you do want to kick things up a notch, you can also pair the Arc with other Sonos speakers (such as the Sonos One SLs) to create a full surround sound setup. The Arc comes with plenty of great features too, including Dolby Atmos playback, a quick and easy set-up process and Alexa and the Google Assistant built-in.
It does only have one HDMI port with no passthrough, and there’s no Bluetooth streaming, but the Arc remains a top choice for those who can afford it. You can also grab it in white here.
Equipped with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, along with Samsung’s Acoustic Beam virtual surround technology, the HW-Q700A bar produces balanced and neutral sound and clear dialogue.
It does struggle with low and mid-bass, so you won’t get the full effects of action-packed scenes or the deep immersion you get with higher-end bars. There’s plenty of great features that make it seriously decent for both TV and music though, such as a dialogue enhancement feature, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2 compatibility, graphic EQ and bass and treble adjustments.
You may get some distortion at maximum power, but it remains a top-rated option for mixed use.
pros
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support
Graphic EQ and presets
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi compatibility
get’s loud
Cons
No Chromecast built-in support
Lacks low-bass
BEST SOUNDBAR UNDER $500
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Despite being much more compact than its predecessors, the Ray offers a surprisingly wide soundstage, with audio that can be fine tuned through adjustable EQ in the Sonos app.
The two-channel speaker is compatible with both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS Digital Surround information, although it doesn’t include support for Dolby Atmos surround sound. It also packs in a Speech Enhancement function to clarify dialogue, Wi-Fi for music streaming and support for Apple Airplay 2 and Spotify Connect.
Unlike the Beam and the Arc, there is no voice assistance included with the Ray, so you won’t be able to control it with Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. In fact, there is no microphone array at all, but that could actually be a bonus if you’re particularly concerned about privacy. The Sonos Ray is also available here in white.
pros
Adjustable EQ through the Sonos app
Conveniently compact size
Can be wall mounted
Cons
Not HDMI
No Dolby Atmos surround sound support
No voice assistance
RELATED: Sonos Ray hands-on review
Yamaha YAS-209 Sound Bar, $495
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Arriving with a subwoofer in tow, the YAS-209 smart combo has an impressively wide soundstage and crisp, clear audio.
The sound profile is nicely balanced and the subwoofer helps to boost low-end frequencies, making the duo great for bass-heavy music. There’s also DTS Virtual:X for simulated surround effects and built-in Alexa voice control for easy music streaming.
On the downside, there’s also only one HDMI port on the back of the YAS-209 and it doesn’t support MusicCast, so you won’t be able to connect it to other Yamaha MusicCast-enabled speakers. For the price though, it delivers powerful sound and plenty of great features.
pros
Amazon Alexa built-in
great for music
DTS Virtual:X
Cons
Only one HDMI input
No MusicCast
Additional space needed for subwoofer
BEST SOUNDBAR FOR SMALLER SPACES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
While it doesn’t look a whole lot different from the first generation, the Beam (Gen 2) brings a range of great upgrades including HDMI eARC support, immersive Dolby Atmos interpretation, a new CPU and more audio formats.
It doesn’t have the upfiring tweeters needed for ‘true’ Dolby Atmos, but you do still get a seriously decent performance out of it. Audio is rich and detailed and can also be fine tuned to suit your space through TruePlay in the Sonos app.
The Beam is also a smart speaker, which means it pairs with both Alexa and the Google Assistant, and it can be paired with other Sonos speakers to further expand your system. It’s also versatile and straightforward to use, making it the best soundbar for most people.
pros
HDMI eARC support
3D audio with support for Dolby Atmos
True Play tuning
Choice of Alexa or Google Assistant on-board
Cons
Doesn’t support DTS:X
No additional HDMI ports
Not Bluetooth
BEST SOUNDBAR WITH DOLBY ATMOS
Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar, $3,999.95
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Even without the addition of satellite speakers or a subwoofer, the Ambeo produces rich, natural sound and delivers a convincing surround sound effect.
It can get very loud, making it ideal for movie nights and parties, and includes features like speech enhancement, DTS:X support, Google Chromecast built-in, 4K HDR pass-through and a night mode for a better listening experience. The Ambeo is also controlled entirely by remote control, making it incredibly simple to use.
It’s definitely a luxury buy and it is a huge unit that requires a lot of space, but it’s also arguably the best-sounding bar money can buy.
Featuring 12 speakers (including the accompanying wireless subwoofer), the U5120G delivers rich, multidimensional audio with plenty of depth and detail. HDMI eARC support also allows you to experience uncompressed Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, though Atmos’ immersive sense of height is still better delivered on higher-end soundbar models.
There are plenty of other great features though, including 4K Ultra HD Pass Through, optimized sound through Eilex PRISM and Bluetooth connectivity for music streaming.
It may not quite stand up to its pricier rivals, but its great features and wide speaker array will make it a solid addition to your lounge room.
pros
Affordable Dolby Atmos sound bar
HDMI eARC support
DTS:X support
Bluetooth-connectivity
Cons
Remote control is hard to read
No voice assistance
Not Wi-Fi
BEST SOUNDBAR WITH SUBWOOFER
Samsung HW-Q950A Atmos Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer, $2,099
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Both the HW-Q950A soundbar and the rears are fitted with upfiring drivers which bring Atmos-enabled height to your audio, while the sizeable sub gives you plenty of bass.
There’s also 3D audio format support from both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, two HDMI inputs and one output with support for eARC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. On the music front, Spotify is the only music source incorporated in the accompanying SmartThings app, but Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2 support and Alexa compatibility gives you plenty of other ways to stream.
The HW-Q950A is also about as close as you can get to a true wired system too, making it great for those who hate the clutter of cables. It’s not the most nuanced soundbar out there, and you will need plenty of room for the whole system, but it’s extremely impressive for movies thanks to its room-filling sound.
pros
Dolby Vision and HDR10+ passthrough
DTS:X support
Bluetooth-connectivity
Rear speakers and sub included
Cons
expensive
Sound could be more refined
Requires plenty of space
BEST SOUNDBAR FOR TV
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
The TV Speaker doesn’t have a tonne of features, but it’s well-equipped for watching your favorite shows thanks to a dialogue enhancement feature and a bass adjustment feature.
There’s no Dolby Atmos support, which is what we would expect at this price point, but there are HDMI ARC and Optical ports and Bluetooth compatibility for music streaming. Audio is smooth and reasonably well balanced though it does lack low-bass, so sound isn’t as immersive as other bars on this list.
If you’re looking for a simple option with an easy setup though, this is the way to go.
pros
bluetooth supported
Dialogue enhancement feature
simple-setup
optional subwoofer
Cons
Doesn’t get very loud
No Dolby Atmos support
Lacks low-bass
CAN I USE A SOUNDBAR WITH ANY TV?
Generally speaking, yes you can use a soundbar with any TV, although you will need to check that they have compatible connections. To get the most out of your soundbar, it can help to match the brand of your bar to that of your TV, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule you need to follow.
WHERE DO I PLACE MY SOUNDBAR?
Most soundbars are designed to be placed in front of your TV, though it’s always worth taking measurements to ensure the bar can fit comfortably on your stand without blocking your view. Plenty of models are also able to be wall-mounted and either come with brackets included or have compatible brackets that can be purchased separately.
HOW DO I CHOOSE A SOUNDBAR?
The three main considerations when buying a soundbar are the price, the dimensions of your TV and the size of your room. Most soundbars are suited to small to medium rooms, though large, powerful bars will likely overwhelm rooms that are on the smaller side.
The best rule of thumb is to look to single-bar systems for smaller TVs and rooms and to soundbar/subwoofer combos for medium rooms and higher-end TVs. It is worth noting that combination units are more expensive, so you’ll also want to factor in your budget before committing to a purchase.
Looking to discover more great devices? Head to our Best Of electronics section to see all the latest product guides and reviews. You can also sign up to our Best Of shopping newsletter to be kept in the loop about popular products and upcoming sales or head to news.com.au Coupons to see a list of current deals and offers.
lauren chaplinBest Of Writer
Lauren is news.com.au’s Best Of consumer technology writer. She previously worked at comparison site Finder as the senior shopping writer where she reported on everything from tech gadgets to the latest home products. She has a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of South Australia and prior to cutting her teeth as a journalist, she worked as a media advisor for JB Hi-Fi where she sold the very products she now writes about.
