I travel a lot for work and get sick of the big slick hotels, so thought I'd give the Glenferrie a try (i normally stay 4 - 4.5 star). If you are after immaculate, sterile hotel rooms this won't be for you, but if you enjoy some character, read on. This is an old Hotel that has been restored. No lifts so if you get a 2nd floor room you will need to lug your luggage up the stairs. But rooms are very big, clean and functional. Parking is easy and provides quick access to rooms. Staff are very friendly and food is fabulous. I had dinner and breakfast and was impressed both times; definitely eat here. Locations provides quick access to Esatern suburbs without city traffic hassles. I'll stay again.

I stayed at the Glenferrie Hotel on a Friday night in May 2006 because I wanted to be near my niece who lives nearby. The hotel is a very popular "pub" and on Friday nights and some other nights has live bands at the very back of the large hotel. The entrance to the accommodation is through the attached Glenferrie Cafe and there is a locked entry to the reception to which you are given a key. The hotel cafe has a good reputation although we didn't eat there, preferring to try the food at the nearby bar and restaurant "The Undertaker" - where the tapas was to die for.

The rooms are all the same although some are "family rooms" with a connecting door. I stayed in Room 1 and it was about 5 metres by 4 metres and with nice old fashioned high ceilings with a huge light fitting that would do a room twice its size. That said there were also bedside lamps and a reading lamp beside the small two seater sofa. Each room has wifi but I moved down from the 2nd floor to the 1st (no lift) because the wifi was not reaching my room and I did not want to use slow dial up.

Each room has a very good sized bathroom with spa bath and overhead shower with a shower head that was about 25 cms diameter - obviously no water restrictions in Melbourne this year. The bathroom was very clean and had good complimentary shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, body lotion, shoe shine and lots of soap and also lots of white towels of various shapes and sizes. Unfortunately there was no complimentary shower cap which I have suggested they supply although I brought my own in case. The only thing wrong in the bathroom is that above the shower there was a sign of a leak from the shower above that I have suggested they fix before it is a problem. Otherwise everything is fairly recently and very nicely renovated.

I believe there is parking available in secure parking but you would need to check. Transportwise, it is about 300 metres from tramstop 27 on Route 75 (from Flinders St near the station) and about 150 Metres from Glenferrie Station on the Lilydale Railway line. Glenferrie Road is a nice old shopping strip with 2 storey shops of the Victorian era (say 1890s or so) with awnings along the street. A nice non touristy area of Melbourne.

After dinner my niece and I hit the mini bar after dinner and sat for hours chatting and quaffing a 1/2 bottle of red. a half bottle of white, a mini champagne and 2 bottles of beer plus a chocolate bar - the cost of our binge was a mere AUD42, so the mini bar is not a rip off - I just wished there were another couple of 1/2 bottles of wine. Despite being on a busy road and half a block from the even busier Glenferrie Road, the double glazed windows and separate reception kept most noise out and I slept very nicely. The room price of AUD130 included a huge breakfast for two (my niece and her boyfriend joined me and I just paid for his breakfast) which included eggs on toast any way you like them and done to perfection (2) plus heaps of bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. My niece's boyfriend's breakfast and coffee for three (good coffee) cost only an extra AUD15.30. It was great - no need for lunch after that!

The staff were really nice from original booking by phone, to book in, to helping me to work out how to get connected to WIFI (you have to try once from your room then come down and they find your attempt and connect you) to housekeeping (a really nice woman who left doing my room until I booked out at my request - I wish I had left her a tip (guilt) and the young guy in the bar who served us breakfast there the next morning. I will stay at the Glenferrie everytime I visit my niece. The hotel has a website.