Very disappointed with the child-unfriendly "hotel policies". Room felt like it was still stuck in the 70's. Musty smell and noisy a/c kept us awake. Awful stay.

Clean hotel, friendly staff. Got the room at half price ($99). The most amazing birds were around the hotel and the manager was feeding them which attracted people. This was a great bonus for tourists. 2 kms from restaurants but next to a grocery store. Room was fine and there was wireless but no internet room.

We stayed a single night before starting our trip on the Great Ocean Road. Flew into Melbourne Avalon Airport and drove to the Lorne Coachman Inn (about 1.5 hrs drive). Lorne is a nice place to stop over on your trip along the Great Ocean Road.

OVERALL HOTEL: The property is relatively small with nothing particularly special to look at. It’s a narrow space, with free covered parking under the rooms. The rooms are stacked three floors high with no elevator to assist you in carrying your bags; instead you must use an outdoor staircase to get to your room. The view from the walkway/balcony can be nice; however it is somewhat limited due to trees. There are no on-site activities (that I was made aware of), but again, if you are staying one night like I was, it isn’t an issue.

ROOM: I really didn’t have big any issues with the room. If you look at it for what it is (a motel essentially), it was quite nice. Very clean, had enough room for the night and had a basic kitchenette including a microwave, fridge, kettle, etc. The queen-size bed was comfortable and clean. The room also had a desk, television and small sofa. The bathroom was also very clean, and a little small, with a stand-up shower. Overall, the room was more than adequate for the night and helped provide a good night’s sleep. No complaints.

SERVICE: The manager Terry greeted us and was very helpful with respect to our stay as well as helping us plan our Great Ocean Road adventure. He provided us with some free maps of the Road and gave us info on what to see and do in Lorne itself. Very nice man.

LOCATION: The Coachman Inn is located just at the entrance to the city, a little away from the downtown strip. It is a 2minute walk to a good-sized grocery store (Foodworks). The start of the downtown strip begins after an easy 5-minute walk on flat terrain, where you will find lots of restaurants, shops and even a Great Ocean Rd visitor centre where you can load up on maps and info for your trip. The entire downtown core isn’t very large, it takes about 10 minutes to walk from end-to-end, but it is a nice walk. The town is beautiful; the houses are all tucked in amongst the trees on the hill overlooking the ocean. The small size of the town also gives it character and makes you feel very safe even at night.

Two must see spots in Lorne are: Teddy’s Lookout giving a beautiful elevated view of the Road and ocean that lies ahead. Also Erskine Falls is a quick 10-minute drive inland from Lorne, with beautiful view of the falls, rainforest and you are likely to see kangaroos darting into the bushes as we did several times on the short drive out.

We stayed here for four nights in mid September. The room was really two small for a bed and sofa sleeper and the housekkeping was a bit hit and miss. The motel is just before you drive into Lorne so is about a 10-15 minute walk to town which wouldn't be a problem except that when we were there it was freezing cold.

There is a Foodworks supermarket next door, but you really need to walk into town for a nice meal.

A guest laundry was a priority when I booked this motel and the day after we arrived I went to do some washing and the machine was full of the motel's tea towels. I finally got the washing on however the laundry was locked before I could finish it. If I was leaving early the next day I would have been very cross. Pattern continued where the owners did motel washing after housekeeping was finished so you had a limited opportunity to use the 'guest (when owners aren't using it) laundry.

The dodgy camping ground mentioned in other reviews was empty when we stayed but I could imagine it would be very noisy and not a great vista in summer when it is full.

There is only one unit on the ground floor, and the rest are on the first and second floors and access is only via stairs.

We had room 10 which was a great location as it was next to the BBQ area with some seating so we had some outside seating area, otherwise the rooms just open onto the narrow verandah.

I was going to summarise that this would be a great one night stopover, but if I was only there for one night I would stay closer to town and the water.