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Arcadia Cottages is situated at Olinda just east of Melbourne, on top of Mt Dandenong. Arcadia offers accommodation for couples in 4 separate cottages, all hidden away in 3 acres of forested gardens. Each cottage has a log fire and a conservatory, two have spa baths and two have timber circular hot tub spa. Full breakfast provisions are included. Arcadia is off the busy tourist road but only 500 metres to the villages of Olinda and Mt. Dandenong with over 10 restaurants to choose from. There is also dedicated day spa treatments available.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Romantic
Mid-range
Location
188-190 Falls Rd Enter from Monash Avenue, Olinda, Victoria 3788 Australia
Arcadia Cottages - Dandenong Ranges
4.7 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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This is not mere accommodation, but rather an ethereal experience and destination in its own right. The cottages are surrounded by bush and the interior of ours matched the website photos very closely. This place is somewhat pricier than others in the area but you get what you pay for - this was a very high quality place to stay. There was a very good breakfast (to cook oneself) included and many snacks also. We stayed in the Cottage Treehouse and it had a comfy bed with fine linens, hidden cubby area, sitting area, kitchen, big bathroom with spa, and a glasshouse area with a couch to sit in the trees. Every corner of our room had something special, be it a chocolate or view of the forest. I will never forget my few days of peace and quiet here. Can’t wait to come back.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in the Olinda Cottage. Your relaxation starts the moment you drive into the beautiful tree canopied driveway. The garden is filled with established camellia’s, fern trees, rhododendrons, oak trees, ponds and paths leading to each cottage creating a secret garden feel. You genuinely feel as though you are a million miles away from all of life’s pressures. Reception is a cute barn and is easy to find with great signage. Jess, the owner, is a lovely host who made us feel welcome. She was great at showing us the cottage, where to find everything we needed and how to use the amazing hot tub. When entering the cottage, you are greeted by the incredible natural light from the many highlight windows. Relaxation music was playing from the stereo and added an extra touch to assist in unwinding. The wood fire was prepared and ready to light and there was plenty of firewood for our stay. Breakfast provisions included what can only be described as “the best bread in the universe” from the local baker, sulphate free bacon, truss tomatoes, cereal, muesli, baked beans, eggs & juice. There’s also a great selection of tea & coffee which can be enjoyed in either the private courtyard or the glass breakfast conservatory. The cottage has been elegantly decorated and is immaculately clean. The kitchen includes a gas stove top, electric oven, dishwasher, microwave and all essential cooking items. The bed and pillows were perfect for us and felt the same as the expensive hotel ones. We had an amazing sleep. We will definitely be back.
If you’re looking for somewhere to really relax and get away from your everyday stresses, Arcadia Cottages is a must.
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:The main street of Olinda is quite a distance away, so driving would be the preferred option....
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent two nights at the Olinda Cottage, complete with hot tub/ spa and fireplace. It was a perfect, relaxing stay. Some lovely touches with a breakfast and goodies basket, chocolate hearts on the bed, and a vase of beautiful red roses. Thanks Chris for helping us settle in and for the lovely chats. Your love of Arcadia and your attention to detail really shine through.
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:The beautiful Botanical Gardens are just a few minutes walk down the road and definitely worth a...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I had the best time at the cottages. I could not find one flaw, it was absolutely beautiful. The owner was incredible and spoiled myself and my partner. You can tell how loved the cottage is by reading the guest book. The cottage was filled with loving and safe energy. Can't wait to come back. Thanks so much!
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
so firstly the room was very pretty with big grand windows, fireplace and hot tub..very very chlorine smelling hot tub., but there are so many amazing places to stay up there you don't need to be going here for that, and for the price you can do much much better in the area.
the room looked impressive but the bed was solid and not very comfortable, and as there are other cabins near by it's no where near as secluded as many of the other places in the area. the shower was also not great. for 400 a night you also expect little things like not having the cheapest toilet paper money can buy.
but now onto why I would never ever stay there again or recommend it to anyone.
I had the misfortune of losing my credit card the day before we headed up for a 3 day weekend. No problem we thought, as we always bill the remaining balance of accom to my husbands card anyway, and I had paid 600 (half the total) months previously to secure the booking.
when we arrived we were advised that the bank would not allow this (for what reason I don't know) and that they have to charge the full amount to my husbands card and then refund the deposit i paid. OK weird, but fine so we just put the whole total amount on my husbands card. it left us a bit short for the weekend as we are used to having two cards and now we are down to one with the full billing of the accom on it.
we are now informed that they will not reverse the 600 they took from me without a signed letter from the bank stating that 'the card was from a bonafide person –(yourself) ' and pointed out that they had been burned before and left without funds by a situation exactly the same as ours. how i don't know as they currently hold the 1200 full amount for the booking, a further 200 security deposit and an extra 600, so 2k in total, and we are just asking them to reverse the transaction of the 600 to the account it came from. they took copies of our licenses and my husbands cards also
they are flat out refusing to reverse the transaction without this letter even though the bank has told me there is no issue reversing to a cancelled card as the transactions are still linked and the account still active.
they also treated us very poorly on check in, with multiple insinuations that we may be trying to sneak pets in (our cats happily stay at home get looked after by a neighbor when we go away thank you very much) or we where somehow going to break things in the room.
it just felt awful to be looked at and treated like we were 'up to something' because i had the misfortune of losing my card. frankly because of this i would not recommend this place to anyone, we paid a lot of money to basically be treated like criminals. not exactly how you want to be made to feel from a 'relaxing' weekend away.
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Date of stay: August 2016
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:stay somewhere else
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michael R, Manager at Arcadia Cottages - Dandenong Ranges
Responded 9 Aug 2016
From our first experience in meeting this guest we were confronted with a situation that is an exact template of the type of credit card fraud most commonly experienced in the accommodation industry. We sought guidance from our bank regarding the situation and proceeded according to their instructions. Unfortunately the guest refused to appreciate the validation procedures requested of us by the bank. Despite our attempts to explain the necessity of this process, we received a succession of colourful and demanding emails from her including (in her words) “..a couple of reviews on trip advisor et al.” Unfortunately we have been branded as “Horrible People” for having acted with due diligence in accordance with our administrative responsibilities relating to Lost and Stolen Credit Cards.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
It looked very big and nice on the pictures but in reality it is so small that when you go in the front door you trip over the back gate.
The place is very dirty and there is a horrible smell in the room, we saw blood on the blanket, mold in the shower, toilet and in bathtub.
Toilet Fan was not working.
The fridge doesn't work good and has no light.
See the pictures
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Date of stay: December 2013
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michael R, Owner at Arcadia Cottages - Dandenong Ranges
Responded 24 Feb 2014
Seems rather a radical and unfounded review. During the declared period of stay we have not had a guest called Harry M stay with us and we have not charged anyone $400 a night to stay in our Treehouse Cottage. This cottage is $280 / night mid-week and weekends is a minimal 2 night stay at $680. We did have a couple stay in December who left the cottage in an appalling state, left large wine stains on a new doona (it was a wine stain, NOT blood as claimed). We do our best to portray our cottages as accurately as we can. The virtual tour on our web site allows anyone to view every corner of the cottage to see for themselves the features and size of the cottage. The virtual tour can be enlarged to full screen viewing. The fridge has no light because it is a compact bar fridge and we have checked it for correct operation. We apologize for the broken cord on the exhaust fan. This is a recent occurrence and we have another fan on order. The grout between the tiles is naturally a grey colour. The silicone around the edges is tired and is due for replacement. We do acknowledge the stain in the spa from a dripping tap, this has now been fixed. Regarding our rating for Value, Location, Sleep Quality, Rooms, Cleanliness and Service please see our other reviews which are all quite different to Harry M’s
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Recently stayed two nights in the Olinda cottage. Delightful mountain retreat, extremely private and romantic. Owners provided excellent communication and the cottage was welcomely warm on our chilly June afternoon arrival. The cottages have been modernised to a very high standard whilst still retaining their old world charm. The kitchen is an absolute highlight and a delight to prepare meals in.
The cottage also has a very large hot tub which we didn't use as we found the bromine used to treat the water had too strong a smell. The quality of the mattress, towels and sheets could do with an upgrade.
The extra touches is what sets this accommodation apart from others; the port and chocolates, breakfast provisions, firewood allocation, mood lighting, late checkout and the luscious mix of old and new. Really enjoyed our stay at Arcadia Cottages and loved the Olinda area.
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Date of stay: June 2015
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had 3 nights and enjoyed every moment. Plenty of breakfast supplies. Loved the hot tub and wood fire...Lesley was very friendly and helpful with directions and places of interest to visit. Bed nice and comfortable and cottage very cosy.
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Date of stay: May 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If needing a getaway from city life or a romantic weekend away- arcadia cottages is the place! Beautiful cottages to choose from with great fireplace and spa options. Breakfast and service is well worth it!
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Date of stay: September 2017
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I had this accommodation booked for the 29th of March for my hubbys birthday surprise. I was telephoned a few days beforehand stating that my credit card did not go through I appologised and attempted to make other arrangements but was stopped short by an abrupt rude bully of a woman who threatened to blacklist my name if I didn't cancel the booking within half an hour. I was imformed several times in the course of a 7 minute phone conversation that blacklisting my name was out of her control and my name would be on a list that is available to other vendors of accommodation to warn them away from me. Apparently this is all explained in their terms and conditions. Now that was my error....I didn't read their terms and conditions. This woman also went on to tell me that no one will accept booking to be paid on arrival anymore. Funny about that I canceled her booking just as she demanded I do and booked into an amazing place in Olinda and that was perfect! !
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Date of stay: March 2016Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michael R, Manager at Arcadia Cottages - Dandenong Ranges
Responded 5 Apr 2016
We were threatened with a bad review if we did not accept her booking despite her not having funds and the booking being contrary to our conditions. Her credit card was declined. The booking was contrary to our conditions of booking This is a review by someone who has not even stayed with us.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
There are more places to choose from in the Olinda area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$242 - AU$469 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
AustraliaVictoriaOlinda
NUMBER OF ROOMS
4
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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