The former Mercure Clear Mountain has reopened as Peppers Clear Mountain following a multi-million-dollar renovation, becoming the only five-star hotel in the City of Moreton Bay. Owned by Mandala Hotels and Resorts and operated under Accor’s Peppers brand, the property sits at Clear Mountain, roughly 35 minutes from central Brisbane, close enough for a same-day escape yet genuinely removed from the city.
All 51 rooms have been fully renovated, with the transformation delivered by design and construction firm Dezign and touching every part of the property. The centrepiece is the Glasshouse Restaurant, now built around a monumental fireplace with banquette seating, a lounge, a contemporary bar and two private dining rooms, with a garden-to-table menu supplied by the hotel’s own kitchen garden. Outside, there’s a refreshed pool, a re-equipped gym, a new billiards room, and the property’s existing spa and 20 hectares of vineyard and bushland, all looking out over Moreton Bay and the Glass House Mountains.
Function spaces now hold up to 150 guests for a wedding or seminar, positioning the property well for exactly the kind of corporate retreat, offsite or celebration that benefits from being close to Brisbane without feeling like an extension of it. Mandala’s chief operating officer Gemma McCourt described the renovation as centred on reconnection, with oneself, with others, and with the landscape, while Accor Pacific chief operating officer Adrian Williams framed the reopening as setting a new benchmark for Queensland hospitality, pointing to rising tourism demand and increasing airlift capacity into Brisbane as the region builds toward 2032.
That timing is worth paying attention to. Brisbane is actively seeking high-end accommodation outside the CBD ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery welcomed the reopening as a sign of investor confidence in a region already seeing strong demand for tourism and major events. Upgrading existing nature retreats within an hour of a major city, rather than building new ones from scratch, is shaping up as a clear pattern in the run-up to 2032, and Peppers Clear Mountain is a solid early example of it.
For a corporate group or wedding party planning an event for up to 150 guests, the appeal of a venue this close to Brisbane is obvious, but coordinating everyone’s arrival still takes planning, particularly for interstate guests converging on the same day. Adagold Aviation’s private jet hire to Brisbane and business charter services can bring a whole group in together rather than leaving arrivals scattered across the day, and with Brisbane’s profile only set to rise over the next few years, it’s worth having that option in mind early.
