I am an experienced traveller and after reading the reviews decided to book this hotel. All I can say is that by selecting a hotel based upon reviews does not always work out. This is one of those times. The other reviewers obviously were not used to the standard required for a 41/2 star hotel. This one fails to make the grade. Although good, clean and tidy with friendly staff, it is simply not up to the grade as advertised. I suspect that the grade has been selected by the hotel to justify the price. Therefore it is overpriced as it is really at 3 star level.

There is a strange feeling staying at this (or any other B & B) that you can never escape the feeling that your staying in someone's house. Whilst the owners have transformed the Haymarket into what could easily pass a a English country hotel, the lingering sensation that the owners are sleeping in the room next door never goes away. Rooms are filled with old antiques, and lovely old spring beds, free wireless internet, LCD tv's and cable.
The honour bar, which is often mentioned on their website , and clearly used as a selling point, closes at 9pm, best get in before that if your thirsty, but beware, there are cameras all over you wherever you go in the B & B.

The Haymarket Boutique Hotel made a good base for tasting the pleasures of Geelong, sitting at the top of the town, with a 10 min walk to the waterfront.
The accommodation was very clean and well presented, the rooms were well appointed with a mix of antiques and modern conveniences, and the bathrooms well executed. The room was freshened during the day with a new dose of chocolate on the bed.
The bar was a groovy touch, and worked well, although having only three stools did not work for our 4 bodies! The range of drinks was fantastic for our thirst after a big day on our bikes.

The guest lounge was a bit of a mystery, as it seemed to be separated from the staff area only by a curtain, which didn't invite a feeling of privacy.

Our bedroom window was double glazed, which was a good thing considering the proximity to a nearby hotel - this did not turn out to be a problem because the hotel's specialty seemed to be opening at 7am, not staying open late! This was also a concern for car parking, as the parking in the Haymarket property is limited, leaving us parking in the street for two nights. All turned out okay though.
The staff were helpful and friendly, and were keen to make our stay pleasurable.

I stayed at The Haymarket with 4 colleagues and all had the same reaction - gorgeous hotel, and the most comfortable beds ever slept on away from home.

This is a lovely restored heritage building from 1855 that has been beautifully decorated and fitted with antiques sourced locally (I chatted with the manager over a relaxed breakfast in the courtyard to find this out). Morning papers are delivered to the rooms, and if you want more reading material, each room has a collection of old Penguin paperbacks, in addition to the library in the lounge. Rooms also have plasma tvs and games collections, like cards etc.

Everything is perfectly appointed, right down to the Lindt chocolates on the bed for arrival.

Breakfast is help yourself to cereals, toast, coffee and fresh fruits and juices. You can choose to eat at the breakfast bar, or outside in the courtyard. I just love the honesty bar that operates for the rest of the day - you can take anything you want, when you want it - just leave the cash there on the counter.

Not so good things - its a very old building so the rooms are not big and the staircase is narrow - tricky bit not unmanageable with big cases. There are not enough accessible powerpoints - fine if you live in the 1880s - but the modern traveller needs to power up the phone and camera. However, these are minor complaints - this is a wonderful hotel!!