Ormiston House

Our hosts, Rose and Terry, were welcoming and provided us with a memorable stay, giving us a glimpse into the history of the town and the original house owner and his family. Well worth the stay. The rooms are furnished with period pieces, they are large rooms with high ceilings. The breakfast choices were varied.

In 50 years of travel this must rate as one of the worst establishments I have ever visited. On arrival at Ormiston House , we noticed it was for sale . Never a good sign, it set the scene for a very unwelcoming visit . The impression being that the owners never really wanted you there , I don’t know their names as they never introduced themselves. Our room was dark and had a musty smell , a small creaky bed and an en suite badly in need of an upgrade. The room was grubby , not inviting .Breakfast was a tedious continental type affair , with several couples picking about on a piece of toast with a weak cup of coffee in total silence , all with the same intention of getting out as soon as possible. Discover The World booked this on my behalf . We couldn’t wait to leave

Don't be fooled by the appearance of the exterior of this grand old house, inside is dark, dusty and in desperate need of some maintenance and restoration. We booked and paid for a two night stay, the breakfast interrogation was unusual in the respect that in most B&B establishments there is generally a selection laid out to choose from, not so here. The Amelia room is where we were initially assigned, on entry the lock was in need of repair and tricky to gain entry. The bathroom lock did not engage at all, the door had to be secured by a toiletry bag. The room was tired, dusty and shabby. The jug in the room did not fit under the tap and had to be filled over the bath and the biscuits were stale. All of which we could put up with until we turned the bedding down and discovered body hair and other matter, the give away was that the pillow cases were crushed and crumpled, unlike clean bedding which is smooth and crisp. We alerted Thomas, out host, who came within about ten minutes and his indifference and lack of empathy was palatable. However he moved us to the Christina room which also was tired, shabby and had a shower over a spa bath set up in the bedroom, hardly suitable for a pair of mature guests. Breakfast was not enjoyable, Thomas was uncomfortable, obviously expecting confrontation but instead we moved on after just one night. Poor Thomas seems lost in his position as host and is remarkably similar to Basil Fawlty.

Very very disappointed with Ormiston House. We were met by Rose who sat us down at a table to get our breakfast order even though we had had a long journey. They apparently needed to know to the nth degree what kind of toast what spread what cereal tea or coffee quiche or not etc. who knows what they fancy in the morning and it was only continental. This continued with our room. Did we want tea or coffee bags biscuits or not. We ate the biscuits but they were not replenished. We were given a list of local eating plates which Rose went through telling us which ones to avoid. The room was tired and unkempt. We had a dirty kettle that didn’t fit under the tap. Milk was somewhere else in the building. The toilet rolls were in a container you see in public toilets difficult to get the second roll down. On the second day we came back to our rooms with only the towels being changed. The beds had not been made and the rubbish bins un emptied. The mattresses and pillows smelt fusty and the rooms dusty and shabby. We hated staying here but loved Strahan. I would rate it 2 star only. We were glad to leave after two nights. Fawlty Towers was modelled on this place.

This is a grand house that would have been sparkling in its heyday. The gardens were well maintained and Bianca and Thomas did a wonderful job making us feel welcome on arrival and at breakfast. The house is in need of some repairs, but it is comfortable and clean and was a base to see all Strahan had to offer. The breakfast was generous and yes you do have to choose on arrival but it’s not a big deal. Appreciate this lovely house for what it once was and is today and appreciate the history behind it.

We had big hopes here, on our honeymoon with another o/s friend with us, met by Bianca at door, leg ins and bed hair, set the standard, assumed nice uniforms, not to be, escorted to bar where drinks still there from night before, dusty, dirty and place smelt of varnish/paint. All 3 of us, almost like an interrogation, had breakfast orders taken, very uncomfortable actually, then showed to room, 90s renovation totally out of sync with 1880s house, very rundown and desperately needs TLC Booked 2 bedroom suite, however, neither room had doors! So on honeymoon and there r no doors, and we had to walk past our friends bed to get to toilet! No privacy at all, we did get some champagne tho, room was Jessie room. Next morning had breakfast served, very tasty and lots of it, BUT don't need to be served by Thomas in shorts, daggy old t shirt, bum crack on display, doesn't fit with the setting. Asked if we needed our towels changed, we said no, that is apparently code for "we don't want our room serviced" got back that afternoon to room in disarray, nothing washed, beds unmade, towels draped over bath, no coffee, milk etc, went out to complain, got it sorted, reported banging and crashing in walls, when I finally got one of them to answer was told "it's probably possums" and was dismissed. Again all staff scruffy, dishevelled hair, shorts and leg ins, highly unprofessional But more to come, go to toilet at 5.40am to find no toilet paper, anywhere, unit locked so couldn't get into it, went to public toilet in hall, you guessed it, no toilet paper either! Called Thomas, clearly not happy, came in and then the crescendo, screaming match in hallway as I dared to say this was perhaps because they didn't make up the room,glaring angrily at me, he informed me this was my fault due to not wanting my towels changed which means I didn't want our rooms serviced, asked him how the hell that works, then snapped and told him he had no idea on service and slammed the door, absolutely disgusting. As Blanca explained when we checked in, the owner lives in Victoria and they run it for him, I suggest he comes back and sorts this place, and them, out - they have clearly had the run on their own too long and think they are doing a great job, they most certainly are not. And the sort of people that are there are cashed up tourists, being greeted by weeds, rudeness, and sub standard accomodation is not good