Albert Hotel Daylesford

The location can't be beat. It is less than 5 min to the main street, the Convent, Botanical gardens. We loved how convenient it was to walk everywhere in Daylesford from the apartment. We weren't told or did any one reach out to us to let us know that there had been a change of management just prior to our stay. It was just fortuitous that we called them to confirm our booking. We had to call several times and leave messages before anyone called us back. We were told we would be sent an sms with details of how to access the apartment, which never arrived. We were told that we would receive a welcome sms, which also never arrived. So not a great start to the stay. The hotel is now completely contact-less. A key safe is located outside each apartment with the code provided in the envelope at the unmanned reception desk. The envelope has minimal information besides the code to the key safe for your apartment and a contact phone number which was the one we called previously to confirm our booking and rang out to a voicemail. Not sure what would happen if we actually needed to contact them during our stay. There are so many security holes in this process. Who's to stop someone coming into the unmanned reception opening the envelopes to get the codes for all apartments and getting the keys? I can see they are trying to follow the AirBNB model but atleast with AirBNB you are actually sent the details instead of the details being left for any one to find. We stayed in Apartment 2 and something to note about the door is that it doesnt look from the inside. You have to lock it from the outside and then close the door when you are inside. We only found this out as we were unable to lock the door from the inside at all. The apartment itself is in need of some renovation, the carpet is old and stained, the chairs at the dinner table were peeling, the cutlery and cups, plates were a bit dirty. The frying pan in particular was oily. We did a complete wipe down of the apartment and used over 50 anti-bacterial wipes in the process, all of which were brown with gunk - we only cleaned the surface of light switches, things we'd be touching. The apartment didn't seemed to have been properly cleaned. e.g. We found a wrapper under the arm chair. The bathrooms were tiny and the shower cubicles were 2/3 size so not sure how larger people would fit in them let alone shower. The kitchenette has a toaster, kettle, microwave/grill combo, mini fridge, rice cooker, electric frying pan, slow cooker, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, knives, chopping board, iron. We only used the microwave and kettle during our stay. No dishwasher. Thank fully we brought our own tea towels and detergent. Not sure what the hot water system is used but it sounded like a car engine each time we turned on any tap. An abundance of eco Spa toiletries were provided however for an apartment for 5 there was only 1 tissue box? We stayed for 3 nights and the tissue box was depleted by the 2nd d

Overpriced for what it is. Good: soft sheets and lots of space. Bad: saggy bed, kettle that leaks, I paid more for this accommodation to have a spa for 2. This spa held one 170 cm, 70kg adult or maybe 2 kids, spa is tiny and pointless. Utensils in kitchen to cook but no means to cook even though other places with kitchenettes offer electric pans. Disabled rails by toilet but huge step at front door and step into bathroom. Definitely not suitable for anyone with a disability. Would not book again.

Ultimately the building work done to convert this property into accommodation is very poor resulting in a disappointing stay. I booked through ‘Luxury Escapes’ nothing very luxury about it. Sound proofing is non existent between rooms could hear every time our neighbours flushed the loo or walked around. Our apartment had a stormwater downpipe partly hanging out of a wall. It rained quite a lot during our stay so this caused a lot of noise. We stayed in the accessible apartment - it’s not accessible. Please don’t stay here if you actually require accessible amenities. There is a step just inside the front door, large lip at the bathroom door etc etc. No ability to lock the entry door internally. I’d hate to stay alone here. It would be very easy for someone to mistake a door for theirs and enter the wrong room. Water from the shower nearly runs out the bathroom door. Even small things like hanging a picture where a bed head should go making it impossible to sit up in bed comfortably.

We stayed in no. 1 and, while spacious and thoughtfully heated prior to our arrival, we found that it was in need of some repair, cleaning and maintenance. There was a musty smell, the carpet had definitely not been vacuumed, there were lots of cobwebs and the whole apartment was in need of a good dust. Graffiti written on the exposed brick walls is also an eyesore and disappointing. Added to this, I searched for a hairdryer and sent a message asking about it at 9.00am, but it is now 9.00pm and I am yet to receive a reply. While these apartments are well located and housed in a beautiful old building, I would not be recommending Unit 1 until some attention to detail and cleaning are done.

It is a contactless venue and we did not receive the required text to give us the room password. Luckily someone answered our phone call and could give us this info. You need to be aware that access to the rooms is via a steep, descending staircase, 15 steps. We did discover a side door that is on the street level but once again you need to be aware that access to this side door is via a narrow passage, not suitable for large luggage items. The room was tiny, tiny tiny. The bathroom door couldn't even close because it bangs into one of the bedside cabinets. The room was unheated and freezing, but after a phone call and a few text messages someone came and discovered that the heater for our room had been turned off. There was no continental breakfast in a lovely antique room as advertised, only a voucher to be used in the Franco Hotel. It was the worst breakfast I've ever had. I ordered the breakfast bread roll and I could have used the egg as a frisbee. Disappointing all around.

We had three rooms booked and the rooms were all well furnished in keeping with the building. Contactless checkin went well with an envelope at desk with our name and code inside it for key safe outside each room to obtain key. The beds were very comfortable. Two rooms had external private bathrooms but this wasn’t a problem being just across the hall. Only issue was the building had central heating which could not be adjusted in room and became hot and stuffy. When we booked the rate also included breakfast but as under new ownership this was now not offered and instead we were given a $25 voucher per room at a hotel / cafe also owned by the same people but we were out of pocket still as $25 did not cover breakfast for two people!