Strahan Village

Central reception manages multiple properties. Our room was nice and well enough equipped.

They are cashless. When the listed washer/dryer turned out to be coin-operated laundromat, we didn’t have any coins, and staff refused to let us use credit or debit card until we begged. I mean, they’ve got a big stash of coins from their own laundromat. WTF?

Everything. Rooms comfortable. Plenty of parking and scenery amazing.

Nothing

Bed was comfy

Rooms noisy

View from room was of the harbour. Trees obscured the view, but it’s good to have trees. The location is central to the village and everything you need is in walking distance. Room nice and spacious, and warm without using heating. There is a fireplace and aircon if needed. Bathroom is roomy too.

A microwave is always handy in any accommodation, only a small bar fridge and kettle were provided. All rooms are a bit of a hike from street level, so if you have walking issues, you will need to drive to and from the village centre. There is a big eating area at the accommodation but it was closed (unsure why).

Spacious room, good water pressure, really comfortable bed.

There was an odd smell on the entrance to the hilltop rooms. And I was disappointed to find the restaurant closed for the winter.

STAFF WERE GOOD

THE WIFI WAS NOT UP TO STANDARD, AS IT WOULD SHUT DOWN AFTER 90 MINS AND WOULDNT RESET UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. SO, IT SHOULDNT SAY FREE WIFI, IT SHOULD SAY LIMITED WIFI.

Solid and enjoyable! Lovely location. During late autumn we stayed in the harbour-facing Gordon wing on the top floor, with matching views, be it from the balcony or inside! King-sized bed came in two mattresses, with a range of pillows, and additional cover over the doona. Slept very well. The room comes with a comfy shower, superb bathroom heating (even with one of the lamps requiring replacement, though it is an area showcasing some shoddy asset management type maintenance around a reinstalled toilet holder, overhead hatch, imprecise painting of door handle) and lighting. There’s an electric fire place in front of a sofa with blanky. Next to the bed is a table with chairs suitable for work. Powerpoints were readily accessible. Didn’t spot a safe. The usual coffee/ tea making facilities, provided filtered water and there’s a fridge/ minibar. Airco/ heating features a silent mode. Unfortunately the Wi-Fi featured an Aruba/ HPE captive portal with some daily quota, that we managed to hit without any streaming. Performance perfectly fine (on my dated tablet it did about 70 Mbps on the download according to Fast). Unlimited car parking on the property, some x hours of parking limitations around the Esplanade, where there’s a range of retail showing products from the region. There’s also a theatre and saw mill. Even in the off-ish season - occupancy from the lights on, cars parked seemed to be about 2/ 3s - there was enough for us to do, including Henty Dunes, Ocean Beach, Hogarth Falls (only a 2.4 km walk from the Esplanade), … The boat ride - with upper and lower level choices - from the terminal taking in Macquarie Harbour as far as the Hell’s Gates entrance was sheltered by Cape Sorrell, visit to the mid 1800s penal colony on Sarah Island, and disengaging the marine diesel for battery power up the Gordon River, part of the Southwestern World Heritage area encapsulating the Franklin - Gordon Rivers system. The guided tour featured both pre-recorded spiels and live commentary. (The enclosed photo/ map shows the extend of the area, including aquaculture.) The property provided a bunch of explore and adventure, history and heritage and food and beverage (numerous, though level 2 View 42 Degrees restaurant/ bar were closed the lounge was accessible, fireplace included, and it has a path back down to reception, especially in the area) suggestions. Near the Esplanade we found Hamer’s pub to be great value for money. (The Kitchen Cafe feels more like a lunch room, and could do with some greenery and decoration, but the service was quick and attentive, the food on par with that of the pub.) Ditto the Coffee Shack near the roundabout. Our best dining experience was at Charlotte’s at Franklin Manor, following a brief show around of lounge, billiards, cellar, essentially a French service interpretation using Australian produce. They did a set menu for about a dozen diners, with optional wines pairing. The not so good dining experience was at Risby Cove’s Restaurant where they seemed distracted by some non-performing ICT, despite being less than half full, and ran out of oysters and scallops by a little after 18:15, besides overcooking fish and being uncertain what to do with parsnip. The lamb was fine, unlike the truffle fries which were cold. The highlight was the desert (chocky brownie with ice cream). We didn’t get around to doing Zeehan. By way of Hamilton (pub/ post office/ cafe) we made our way to (snow along and some on the high way above about 600 meters)/ from Strahan (a travel guide apparently refers to it as ‘the best little town in the world’, we’ll be back one spring or summer possibly), Orange Pete’s in Queenstown, the potholes to the Pumphouse near Lake St Clair even.