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Twinstar Guesthouse & Observatory, located 20 km south of Stanthorpe in Ballandean on New England Highway, is a unique B&B with an in-house observatory. A FREE guided tour of the night sky is offered from the observatory with a large 46 cm reflecting telescope from 20:30 every night (weather permitting). The Guesthouse is ideally located for visits to national parks (15 min to Girraween NP) and many wineries/orchards on the Granite Belt. All 3 guest rooms have an air-con, a free WiFi, own bathroom (toilet & shower), fridge, microwave, TV & DVD, and own entrance off the verandah. The room rates remain the same throughout the year; $95 single, $118 double, $135 twin and $155 triple per night including a night sky tour. An optional home-cooked dinner is available at $18 pp (24-hour advance booking required). Dinner is delivered to guest rooms at 19:00. The menu is changed nightly (Japanese meal is also available).
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Our room was very clean and well presented. The beds were comfy and warm. The meals were delivered to our room and really delicious and home cooked. The highlight was the night sky tour and observatory which was included. There are many attractions in the vicinity to visit. We stayed for two nights although three nights would have been better to explore more.
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Date of stay: June 2023
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What a wonderful place to stay. Naomi & Eiji, the owners of the guesthouse & observatory are very welcoming & friendly couple. Room was comfortable, clean, spacious. The position is great as it is close to Girraween National Park. Eiji offers an observatory tour, night sky viewing which is included in the room cost. He was so informative & funny. There website does not do them justice this place is so much better than expected. We would stay here again.
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Date of stay: July 2022
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Room Tip:If you are into astronomy this place has perfect night sky
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Naomi and Eiji gave us a warm welcome when we arrived at Twinstar. We have stayed at Twinstar before and always enjoyed our visits. Naomi cooked us dinner that evening and it was delicious. Later that night we spent some time with Eiji in the Observatory. It was magical. Eiji is so knowable, we thoroughly enjoyed our time star gazing and learning a little bit, there is so much to know. Thank you so much, hope to see you both again soon.
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Date of stay: January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you have any interest in the stars then you should visit Twinstar Guesthouse. The welcome is warm and the rooms are clean and comfortable. Perfectly located to visit local attractions, wineries and restaurants by day. If our hosts could control the weather to allow for sky gazing by night it would be perfect but they keep a close eye on the sky and advise when there is something to see. We'll be back.
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Date of stay: July 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Very clean rooms, lovely couple Eiji and Naomi who own the guesthouse so welcoming. Will definitely return. Although quite cloudy Eiji showed us the moon and some stars as much as could with the weather the way it was so my 7 year old grandson could still see something.
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Date of stay: April 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We visited Twinstar in late December 2020. We were delighted with our clean and comfortable accommodation in Balladean. It's a tiny village, but with a Tavern, Cafe and the Guesthouse catering, we really didn't need to leave Balladean to have a lovely meal, drink or a good coffee. They also have a post office, pharmacy, general store, petrol and the Washpool! Our Host organised an excellent wine tour when we wanted to take a break from nature, and of course., star gazing. Our continental breakfasts were perfect for us and ready and waiting in our fridge on arrival. Thanks for catering for my food allergies.Beautiful gardens and lovely locals.
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Date of stay: December 2020
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Room Tip:all rooms face the main road but are shaded and pretty quiet.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We came to Twin Star specifically for the Observatory and star tour. At 8:30pm there was a knock on our door and Eiji was there, explaining there was some cloud cover but that it may clear. He lead us to his Observatory and, on cue, the clouds cleared enough for crisp, clear viewing of the planets and stars he wanted to show us. There are an unbelievable number of stars visible to the naked eye, but looking through Eiji’s telescope, you soon realize there are infinitesimally more stars that you CAN’T see than how many you can see. It’s like being on another planet. The country night sky in all it’s brilliance, is nothing like what we can see in the city. An incredible difference. As Banjo Patterson said, “And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended And at night, the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars” The milky way is like a diamond studded pathway. Saturn was amazing, it’s rings clearly visible. Jupiter was bigger, with three moons visible and a fourth casting a shadow on the planet’s surface. The jewel box has red, green/blue and white stars and the southern cross and pointer has twin stars, clearly visible through the telescope but appearing as single stars to the naked eye. Eiji is a gifted amateur whose interest spans over 50 years -since the first Russian sputnik in fact. TwinStars Observatory is a bucket list item you didn’t know you need to do. Oh, and the accommodation was clean and tidy, warm and comfortable. Highly recommended. …
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Date of stay: July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I drive the New England so much for Uni but I never get to stop because I'm in a rush... A weekend away with my daughter was on the books and we had seen the sign for the observatory previously. What a gorgeous place to stay, the place was spectacular inside and out. The gardens were amazing, tidy, clean, emaculate & the room was absolutely gorgeous. We included breakfast and my daughter loved all of it. I cannot recommend this stay anymore. Definitely the highlight of our year and definitely keen to return and explore the area further. They were so welcoming upon arrival and just so passionate about this little business. Included in the stay is a tour of the night sky in their observatory.which was just phenomenal we spent an hour looking at moon, Jupiter, Saturn and it's rings, the jewelry box... Eiji was very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions. This gorgeous place is nestled in amazing scenery and landscape.…
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed here during a bush walking trip to Girraween National Park. The rooms are spacious and sparkling clean and the hosts are superb. The real icing on the cake was the tour of the stars we got from Eiji who spent an hour showing us planets and far away galaxies through this huge telescope. The guest house is also an Observatory and the star gazing tour is a lovely (and free) extra. I would definitely recommend staying here. We will be back!
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Date of stay: October 2019Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Response from Naomi T, Owner at Twinstar Guesthouse & Observatory
Responded 31 Oct 2019
Thank you for your lovely comments, Denise. Glad to hear that you enjoyed your stay and stargazing. Yes, our night sky tour by Eiji is intimate and personal as we take only 1~6 guests at a time. The main telescope inside the 4.5m dome is a 46cm Dobsonian, which is one of the largest telescopes in Qld. We hope to welcome you again!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
About my 4th visit. Not just a hotel, an experience (but that could be weather dependent). Comfortable enough room, reasonable price and food is provided on request at reasonable money. Lovely people. Eiji's night tour in the backyard observatory is only on if the sky is clear but we were lucky this time around. The hotel is close to Giraween National Park for fabulous bushwalking. This won't suit everyone as it isn't central to town for drinks/eats but fine for us. We enjoyed the difference our hosts provide.
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Date of stay: August 2019Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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