This hotel has aspirations, but it just doesn't make it. Nice friendly staff, lovely antiques in the room, good bed & bedding, nice bathroom, chocolate on the pillow, lovely little sitting area downstairs. But overall not great, and too many small details missing and jarring. The location is a bit odd - up past some dubious shops and my room looked out over a distinctly unscenic tyre replacement yard.
It's a renovated period building - but whoever didn't bother to replace the ceiling cornices, which made the bedroom look oddly unfinished. The hotel promotes itself as offering 'luxury', yet supplied a very ordinary DIY breakfast complete with ordinary bread and little Kraft plastic packets of butter, honey, marmalade etc. Not my idea of luxury. Good marks for real coffee, but overall it's 3 1/2 star. Once was enough.

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.