Name: Caledonian Inn
Address: 1 Victoria Street, 5276 Robe, Australia, Robe, Robe, Robe, 5276, Australia
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

No elevators

General

Non-smoking rooms

Linens

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Restaurant

Bottled water

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Barbecue grill(s)

Bowling

Hiking

Picnic area

Fishing

Recreation

No parking

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Diving

Darts

Cycling

Snorkelling

Sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Robe Lake Buttler Marina

Caledonian Inn

Robe

Best meal we had in Robe at the Caledonian. I had pork chops and my wife had the salt and pepper squid.  Both ample serves. Real "pub like" atmosphere, felt like I was in an English Tavern.  It was a Sunday night and the place was packed.  Great staff and a great night out.

Lovely meal

Great value $99 for the night, room only.
Well presented, very clean and tastefully styled room in the heart of Robe. 
Had everything you needed. Bathroom close by. Food at the hotels restaurant “The Clay” downstairs was amazing 🙌🏻 well priced, high quality, delicious.

Exceeded Expectations ⭐️

Group of 5 at dinner last Saturday night- very busy.
4 of the meals were sufficient and of good quality, but the barramundi dish was meagre, very thin tail portion of about 100 grams at the most.
Waitress invited feedback, so I mentioned the above, & she said she will tell the chef.
The waitress didn’t return to report any response from the chef, so when I went to the counter to pay the account in full I enquired about the chefs reply.
The same waitress responded with a wry smile that he’ll “make it up next time…”
Not good enough, because there won’t be a next time.

A busy night is no excuse to respond properly to a complaint.

We waited several minutes whilst the barman was engrossed in his phone. 
My husband had to leave the bar and find the entrance to the opposite bar to draw his attention. He was completely unapologetic.

Disappointing

Over all experience was terrible, I don’t think they know what hospitality means,  we where advised by trip advisor to return the next day for a refund, we where swore at then told to leave town and never come back, seriously this was not called for.

Hospitality terrible

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 recommend it.

Personally telephoned booking.Email confirmation then last minute cancellation leaving us stranded

The Caledonian Inn is an iconic local pub, with a great bar and beer garden offering genuine “country pub” hospitality and ambience (an open fire in the bar on a cold night😊).

Last October, I stayed here - in one of the “ye olde” pub bedrooms above the pub; they offer more modern accommodations as well.

This was a pleasant experience. The room, although small, had clean and comfortable bedding. 

The shared bathroom facilities were clean and modern.

They have a common room and an outdoor sitting area; during my visit, these were quiet.

The hotel is well located in the Main Street, and a short walk from the beach.

If you’re staying in Robe, this is a good place to visit, whether to patronize for a drink or for overnight accommodation.

During my stay, they recommended I have breakfast at the adjacent Drift Cafe - this was a good recommendation: I had a nice breakfast, including an excellent coffee!

Well worth your consideration

Old fashioned country style pub accommodation with shared facilities

I lay in bed listening to the sea at night!  The Juliette balcony opened up to view the foreshore from the first floor.  A very relaxing stay with everything you could need, including firewood for the wood heater.  

Relaxing stay

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 the cupboards.

Beach cottage stay 

Glad we booked as restaurant very busy. Menu choice good and food quality pretty good. Service generally very good and a friendly style. Nice ambience in the restaurant. Prices above average but reasonable value for money.
Would recommend it.

Caledonian Inn

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