Blue Ocean Motel Apollo Bay

The room was fine for a one-night stopover, but be ready for a tight space. We booked the standard double, I think, as we saw a larger room on our way out. It was very small for a couple, though it might suit one person. The price was reasonable and the location was good. At first glance it seemed modern, and the bathroom was nice, though also small. The shower and hot water were fine. We did find hair on the floor that the cleaner had missed, and there was only one tissue left in the box. The room was noisy at night whenever anyone walked down the corridor. The blind left a gap of about two inches, so bright white light came in from a window across the alleyway that seemed to stay on all night.

We paid almost $500 for one night during peak season, and there was no hot water. The instructions they provided made it clear they knew about the issue: run the water for five minutes, and if that doesn’t work, wait five minutes and try again. When I complained in the morning, they said I should have called and they would have sent someone out. It was very late at night, so we didn’t bother. If they know there’s a problem, they should fix it instead of expecting guests to call. That might be understandable at $50, but not when they regularly charge hundreds per night.

We couldn’t stay in the room. It smelled overpoweringly bad, like melting plastic mixed with an old fish and chip shop, and poor ventilation left it feeling like a hot porta-loo. Our room looked straight onto the back-of-house area where bins are emptied. We ended up driving more than an hour and paying over $350 extra to find somewhere else. We’d paid over $300 a night, including extra for a “deluxe” room, which felt like a total rip-off. The room seemed like a dodgy renovation, with cheap plastic everywhere, even on the floor. The building looked like it should be condemned, yet they charge premium rates. The online photos were completely misleading and didn’t reflect what we thought we’d booked. The way the property is marketed feels very dishonest. When we called them out on this, they refused a refund and cited “policy”, which is a load of bullshit when travellers are being misled. This place is drastically overpriced, poorly renovated and dishonestly represented online. Beware, don’t book here. Save your money and your sanity.

Not good. The hot water barely worked, the power tripped so nothing was working, and the toaster was broken. We called and they sorted it out, but being above a restaurant meant loud music until 10pm. Wouldn’t stay again. Stay somewhere else.