We spent a lovely weekend in Hepburn at Mooltan. The privacy has great appeal to us, self-catering and suit yourself when you come and go. There are so many foodie shops and good restaurants not to mention the Daylesford market! Our bed was comfortable and we slept in until 8 am. What a luxury. Our little apartment was warm when we got back after dinner, an important feature in this town that can get so cold at night.

Walking to the bath house makes it feel like you are a real local, no need to take the car.

We received a call from someone at Mooltan well before check in time telling us that room opening on to the car park had been allocated to us and that a key would be left in door. This sounded a bit strange as from what we had seen on the website we expected a room overlooking a garden. Our room turned out to be one of three tucked under the old guest house, each with its own front door. These rooms are isolated from the main house.
The area immediately outside the room was unkempt, with lumps of concrete rubble, a cracked and broken pillar and loose earth and stones lying around. There was a recycling box for food scraps which had encouraged lots of large flies to congregate around the dingy looking door. The room had a certain character but the overall impression was shabby and tired apart from the bathroom which had been renovated in the last few years. The only information supplied for guests was a list of local eating places, there were no details about facilities available at the house. Next morning walked around from the car park to the front of the house and rang the doorbell, no reply.The house looked neglected and untidy with a lot of rubbish on the veranda. There was a kitchen attached to the side of the house that had been left open for use, it was grimy and uninviting. There did not seem to be any guests staying. We left without setting eyes on the managers, we were relieved that we had not booked in for two or three nights, it would have been very disappointing if we had.

We stayed one night and the only reason we didn’t walk out upon viewing the place was that my sister had pre-paid. I cannot begin to describe the experience. This 'guesthouse' is noisy, dirty, dusty, smelly and dark. There was very little natural light in the stairwell and passage which is quite hazardous as they are also full of memorabilia and knick-knacks, the type of which no-one ever bothers to look at.

So many things are wrong with this place. The unwelcoming hosts, the spider in the bed, the inch of dust behind the bed (where the spider hid from us), the general state of neglect. This was a once proud house that has seen better times. The rooms hadn’t been aired out for quite a while, everything smelt stale and dusty. The downstairs room first allocated to us had the ‘aroma’ of cat’s pee, whether inside the room or from out in the garden.

When we finally got to sleep we were woken about midnight by our hosts saying goodbye to friends. They had taken over the ‘lounge’ for the night and were quite loud going down the stairs and getting into cars. I’m used to being woken up by other guests, but this time it was the hosts. Customer service is not a priority.

It is a short distance from town but that’s about the only advantage. We gazed longingly at the 3 and a half star motor inn as we drove past ($110 twin room), my brother quipping that it was ‘4 stars more than where we were staying’.

Mooltan House is expensive ($140 a night or $110 with a shared bathroom). What we didn’t know was that we shared the bathroom with the hosts as it doubled as their bathroom.

The family will be paying out on my sister for years to come as penance for booking this place. I know this is a very negative review, but it is an honest one.

If you do stay in Hepburn Springs, which by the way is lovely, have dinner at Ruebens, just down the road from Mooltan House (and not far from the motor inn). The meal and staff were fantastic. It will be a long time before I forget this experience.

My husband and I stayed at Mooltan House for a weekend away in one of their studio apartments. The apartment was comfortable, very clean and the kitchenette was well appointed (e.g. leaf tea, coffee plunger). Bathroom featured a Japanese bath which was great. No nice soaps etc in the bathroom.

Our room looked out over the mineral springs reserve, which was a beautiful place to sit and watch. We only saw the owner for a few minutes when we arrived, otherwise we were left to our own devices even for check in. The main house had a library and a pool room which we used - very comfortable with the open fire.

the downsides?
The room was noisy - we could hear conversations etc of the people staying around us, which made for an interrupted night's sleep. The plumbing was also noisy.
The hot water varied depending on whether other people were using it - in the morning I was unable to have a hot shower at all. The water pressure also varied.

I'd go back, but would take food with me to avoid paying for an over-priced breakfast in town. Don't expect a warm welcome from the owner - but if you don't mind being left to your own devices, then it's fine.