Caledonian Inn — Restaurant in Robe

Finding it a bit hard to write this review...... ||We did not dislike the beach cottage we stayed in but for the price I suppose we hoped we would love it more...... also, I must confess to naively assuming we’d almost be ON the beach or at least be able to see rather more of it than the tiny glimpse from the upstairs bedroom window, which isn’t exactly a spot to just hover all day as there is no room to pull up a chair. In saying that, the communal lawn area at the front is a good spot to pull up a chair, yet there are only four chairs. Had all cottages and the beach house been full and everyone had been out enjoying that spot, 20 chairs would be needed!||Drift Cafe next door is great for breakfast and it is probably owned by the Cally. We loved it, so it was no issue to us that breakfast provisions were not provided but that did seem awfully odd to us for self contained mid range accommodation- surely offer a breakfast option it at a supplement? ||We were comfortable as a couple in the cottage but try to put the maximum four people in there and it simply would NOT work unless you are exceptionally friendly or intimate with the other two - or those two are your own little children!!!||It is pretty noisy trying to get to sleep at night but it’s a pub and I’m only saying that because it’s a reality not because it really bothered us. Don’t stay here if you want an early night! The fact is however that the vibe at the Cally is buzzy and it’s nice to be amongst it as it certainly seemed the ‘place to be’ for the long weekend. We had a fab dinner, which we’ve reviewed separately and would definitely recommend you eat there.... so long as you don’t encounter one waitress on a super power trip!! ||Also a comment about one of the bar staff (which is a shame since all the rest seemed so pleasant, just as we’d imagined all in Robe would be!!!!): we didn’t appreciate at all being snapped at rudely when we asked for a receipt (a pain for them as the paper had run out of the machines) and being told ‘really, no one asks for receipts these days!’ Well, I do!! ||Basically the cottages are as described on the website and the stay was satisfactory but what you can’t see on the online photos is that someone needs to invest some time in a deep clean!! It would be good to try to do something about eliminating the musty smell in...

Like many visitors to Australia, we were really looking forward to experiencing an iconic road trip along ‘The Great Ocean Road’. We’d planned our last stop (before arriving in Adelaide) to be in Robe, and having checked availability and reviews, decided upon the Caledonian Inn. We did have concerns about previous reviews mentioning the ‘pub noise’ and bathrooms being shared by pub customers, but after calling and speaking with Henry, he sympathised and offered us one of their self contained cottages. He later confirmed the one night booking by email. We’d booked 2 months ahead of the trip, to ensure that everything was in place. A few weeks later we receive a call from Henry. It’s now dawned on ‘the owners’ that we’d booked a single night stay on a Saturday night, which happened to fall on a long weekend. They now had a bit of a dilemma, try and hold on to the little respect and positive reputation that they had and honour the booking, or leave us stranded, and go for the possibility of more money. They didn’t have to think too long. Henry apologised, but our booking was now cancelled. Now closer to our trip, with availability shrinking, it was a case of ‘phoning around’. Hopefully we’ve now found somewhere to stay, but no thanks to ‘the owners’. If you ever decide on a ‘Great Ocean Road’ trip, you’ll know that it’s recommended that you book your overnight stays in sequence and in advance. One hiccup in the sequence, especially if late in the day, can ruin the whole trip. The owners of the Caledonian Inn will be fully aware of this, but clearly, they put profit way above reputation and their customers. Who knows, pub noise and shared bathrooms apart, it may have been a good stopover, so if you’re happy to take the risk of having accommodation cancelled at the last minute, give it a go. I ( obviously) wouldn’t...

Like many visitors to Australia, we were really looking forward to experiencing an iconic road trip along ‘The Great Ocean Road’. We’d planned our last stop (before arriving in Adelaide) to be in Robe, and having checked availability and reviews, decided upon the Caledonian Inn. We did have concerns about previous reviews mentioning the ‘pub noise’ and bathrooms being shared by pub customers, but after calling and speaking with Henry, he sympathised and offered us one of their self contained cottages. He later confirmed the one night booking by email. We’d booked 2 months ahead of the trip, to ensure that everything was in place. A few weeks later we receive a call from Henry. It’s now dawned on ‘the owners’ that we’d booked a single night stay on a Saturday night, which happened to fall on a long weekend. They now had a bit of a dilemma, try and hold on to the little respect and positive reputation that they had and honour the booking, or leave us stranded, and go for the possibility of more money. They didn’t have to think too long. Henry apologised, but our booking was now cancelled. Now closer to our trip, with availability shrinking, it was a case of ‘phoning around’. Hopefully we’ve now found somewhere to stay, but no thanks to ‘the owners’. If you ever decide on a ‘Great Ocean Road’ trip, you’ll know that it’s recommended that you book your overnight stays in sequence and in advance. One hiccup in the sequence, especially if late in the day, can ruin the whole trip. The owners of the Caledonian Inn will be fully aware of this, but clearly, they put profit way above reputation and their customers. Who knows, pub noise and shared bathrooms apart, it may have been a good stopover, so if you’re happy to take the risk of having accommodation cancelled at the last minute, give it a go. I ( obviously) wouldn’t...