Glenferrie Hotel

We had previously been twice. Loved the menu, service etc. I had the Salmon arlmondeen last visit. I ordered it this time from the phone menu, as it was not on the restraunt menu. I checked with the waitress twice to make sure l got what l ordered. It came as salmon with chat potatoes and salad. I was hungry so l ate it. Nice but disapointing for me. I informed the waitress about the mistake and she appologised. No compensation given. Wont be going there again.

It is 3 star hotel (as classified on booking.com) but it charges 4 star prices. The official hotel website advertises "no prepayment needed" as does booking.com and the fine print says if there is no credit card provided a $250 deposit is required. Which is fine. However, when you arrive at the hotel you are advised you have to pay for your hotel room in full upfront. And the rate is often $226 a night (it can go down to $188, which is still overpriced for what you get) which means that for a four night stay you have to pay almost $1,000 upfront. We were advised they charged the full amount on arrival as reception is open irregular hours so it is more convenient for the hotel to do it this way. Also, it means you cannot change hotels if you are unhappy. My payday was the night before I left so my spending money for the trip was spent on my hotel room. We chose this because we were at a conference at Swinburne Institute of Technology and it was walking distance. But we quickly found out that no-one else we knew from the conference was staying there, citing that it was too expensive. And it was a long way from the city if you want to do any sightseeing. It is a very basic and very clean hotel room in a pub. I liked the room but it was very plain and had not been done up, though the carpet was fairly new. The free Wifi kept on dipping in and out so I used my own portable WIFI. No gym, no breakfast provided, no microwave. Just a jug and toaster. No mini bar, nice teas and instant coffee. Just small cups, no bowls, (so can't have breakfast cereal), and no tea towel so you can easily re-use cups. If it was $130 a night, I'd be very happy. It is worth that, maximum $140. There were much better places around that were much cheaper. Others in our party airbnb'd as it was much cheaper. On the bright side, the staff were very good and pleasant, sheets were crisp.

Good family room with 2 good sized beds. Large bathroom. Kept clean but benefited from a daily airing. Quiet enough, only annoying noise was the family with small jumping children at midnight on our last night - the bar did not disrupt sleep. Convenient for cafes, bakers, food outlets and Coles supermarket. Close to trams and train so easy to travel into centre. Friendly and helpful staff. We ate once in the bar - good pub food.