The Victoria

The location was great, and the staff were really helpful, especially Kerry. Rooms and bathrooms vary, though: some have been refurbished, while others feel tired.

The apartments are usually top notch, but this third visit in 12 years was a real letdown. Port Fairy is great, and I hope the cleanliness and maintenance problems get fixed so we can come back. The two-bedroom layout and facilities are good, but ours was filthy. Dirty fingerprints covered the walls, doors and most surfaces below a metre, especially around the handles. There were prints all over the glass on the print above the queen bed. The toilet had permanent skid marks, the bathroom sink took ages to drain, and the insect screens were dusty, as if they hadn’t been cleaned in years. The carpet looked fairly new, but with grime elsewhere I wasn’t sure it was clean. It was hard to relax in that environment. The kitchen itself was good, but cooking was too difficult because the cookware wasn’t safe to use. Both frying pans were burnt out and scratched, and the pasta pot had burnt-on stains. At the top of the stairs, the plaster looked like someone had kicked it in. The downstairs neighbour’s bathroom fan ran most nights and disrupted our sleep. In summer, a cotton blanket might be better than the heavy winter doona, since the bedrooms don’t have air conditioning. People should keep a closer eye on their children, because the grime looked like it came from dirty little fingers.

We’ve stayed at Victoria Apartments for a few years, and it always makes for a relaxing, enjoyable visit. The place is clean, spacious and well-equipped, and its location puts us close to everything. It works so well for families: our kids love coming back, especially because they can walk to the beach and explore the town. Highly recommend!

The spot in Port Fairy made a great stop on our Great Ocean Road trip, with easy access to the harbour and the town’s cafes and restaurants, though there aren’t many restaurants. Check-in was smooth, and the instructions were given kindly and with a bit of humour. The clean, comfortable apartment was well kept and had a secure garage. The main drawback was the patchy Wi-Fi. It made streaming anything on the room’s TV impossible. I’d recommend it as a stopover.