Guest User
January 31, 2023
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.