If living in the NSW Southern Highlands appeals to you, you may want to check out Keyton’s 73-unit Annesley retirement village in Bowral.

Keyton owns and operates 76 retirement villages across Australia and chose Annesley Bowral as its Village of the Year.

“Bowral put an exceptional event to celebrate their Village of the Year win. We started with champagne in the gardens with all the resident dressed up and eager to tell me why they loved Bowral so much,” said Keyton CEO Nathan Cockerill, who was on hand to present the award.

“Moving inside for a sit-down lunch the conversation continued around how great the staff were, the gardens and the location. Residents love the new cinema and the overnight stay room. The village has come a long way in the last three years. One resident stood up late in the day and passed a motion that staff at Bowral were to stay and it was unanimously passed.  Days like this, spending time with residents and staff go to the heart of why we do what we do.” 

He added deciding on a winner for Village of the Year was an “easy choice”, and that Annesley Bowral’s collaboration with residents was the key.

For the award, villages had to meet criteria regarding resident engagement, survey results, sales, leadership, performance, and collaboration.

Village manager Sarah Dayball (pictured) said the village was the overall winner of the resident satisfaction survey and had the biggest jump in its net promoter score.

Commercial landscaping services operator SureGreen, the team behind the village’s gardens, also won a gold medal at the 2023 Landscape Excellence Awards.