Echoes Boutique Hotel and Restaurant

I stayed at the Echoes Boutique Hotel for one night with my son, we had two rooms. The views were incredible, the staff were really friendly and the hotel is just a short walk from the three sisters look out. Would recommend.

Booked a night at Echoes Boutique Hotel based on advertising displayed on the Qantas booking web site. The view from the "balcony" room photo looked spectacular and we had stayed previously at Lillianfels, so thought we would try this hotel which offered better scenery of the valley below. Received an email from Echoes the day before advising that there is no one manning the Reception desk and check in would be at Lillianfels across the road. OK, not a big issue so we parked at Echoes and checked in across the way. One of the receptionists then accompanied us back across to get our luggage and take us to our room which surprisingly was down a flight of stairs. Not the balcony room as advertised on Qantas, but a "garden view room" that had access to the cliff edge to look down the valley. Mind you we could just make out a sliver of the view from our bedroom but not the panoramic view promised at the time of booking on Qantas. I contacted Reception to enquire whether our room had been allocated incorrectly and was advised that the booking was "subject to availability" and obviously was notified somewhere in the small print conditions. Apparently there is no price differential between the Ground Floor and Lower Ground Floor - luck of the drawer I suppose! I have included a room map in the photos so that if you are able to book direct, you will know which rooms to request. Apart from the disappoinment of the room allocation the hotel provided excellent service, a clean quiet room, and access to amenities at Lillianfels (pool, spa, games room etc).

As an ex Guest House owner in the Blue Mountains myself, I can vouch that Echoes Guest House has arguably the best views of all Hotels in the Blue Mountains. This was my first stay at Echoes. The Guest House its self is a wonderful experience the breakfast was very good and the service excellent. The views are to die for ( on a clear day ) The swimming pool facilities at Lillianfels Hotel next door are excellent. Overall the staff were friendly and very helpful. That's the good stuff ! On the flip side the there is a need for a lot of upgrading of of furnishings and fittings. The wonderful lamp shades in the breakfast room are stained and dirty, window ledges have peeling paint, the canopy over the upper floor is dirty, canopy heaters are rusty. The bedroom carpets are quite worn, bedroom furniture is old and scuffed, internal drawers in the wardrobe are damaged , the bathroom air extractor fan did not work, the balcony floor had not been swept and badly needs pressure cleaning, the hedge and bush on the balcony required trimming . The Guest House requires a very keen eyed maintenance manager and cleaning manager to do a full audit of what needs to be done plus a substantial budget no doubt to rectify the issues . If this actually happens then Echoes will continue to be a much sought after destination in the Blue Mountains, until then , its just hanging in there by its finger nails as a 4 star location, if that. I still enjoyed my stay there as I could see what what potential it can return to, but I'm not sure many international guests would be as kind as I am being ! Spend the money guys, make it current, make it clean and current. its an amazing Guest House, it just needs a keen eye and the right money spend and it will again be the number one Guest House in the Blue Mountains.

Having really loved our stay here before, we didn't hesitate to rebook on our visit to the Blue Mountains this time. I had a few communications with the hotel prior to our stay with them and so it came as quite a shock when we arrived to be told that there was ongoing work and that workmen would need access to our room during the day to replace the sprinklers and that breakfast would be served at their sister hotel across the road. None of this was mentioned in advance of our stay, as if it had, we would perhaps have looked into other accommodation. We had breakfast at the sister hotel on our first morning, but found it very below par and 3 star at best. There was also no view, which is the main reason we stay at Echoes. We decided to get breakfast elsewhere after we had checked out on our final morning. Dinner, luckily wasn't affected so at least we had two meals in their restaurant with that breath-taking view. The food was all as we remembered, superb. They also had a fantastic pianist playing both nights, Annie Burbank. We loved her selection of tunes and both myself and my wife found it fun working out the tune (classic 80/90/00's tunes but played in her style on the piano). Our stay this time, whilst in parts was great, didn't leave us wanting to return, so will look elsewhere on our next trip to the Blue Mountains.

We were moved from a valley view room in Lillianfels hotel upon arrival as they said that several rooms, despite recent refurbishment, had been damaged by water ingress the previous night. The room at echoes hotel had a reasonable valley view but the bathroom was very small. It did not match up with the accommodation that we had paid for. We were offered ‘compensation’ of AUD 100 but then found out that the cost of the room in echoes hotel was nearly 270 AUD less than we had paid. Eventually the hotel offered 250AUD credit to our bill (note, not a refund). In our view this was a substandard response for a 5 star hotel especially as we found out that 50% of the rooms were vacant. A sensible upgrade offer would have been more acceptable, preferably to a slightly larger room. Breakfast at Echoes hotel was better than the buffet we had at Lilianfels- at least the food wasn’t luke warm. Dinner in the sister hotel Darnley restaurant did not live up to its culinary reputation. There were a few other substandard issues for which We have since received a letter of apology from hotel management. It is always a big disappointment when paying a premium price for a substandard experience.

Currently staying here, having decided to wind down in the Blue Mountains on first arriving in Australia, and I’m happy to say this hotel is very good, with extraordinary views and super breakfasts. Can’t really fault it, and it was good value for what you get, also well-located. And the whole area around Katoomba has been quite beautiful, relaxing, and with a good vibe.

The most stunning views, amazing food, minimal people staying because it’s boutique and the proximity to use all the facilities at their sister resort made this the most memorable experience. The breakfast with that view is worth every cent!

AC heater faulty and the staff only bright us a small portable electric heater for a night

I called ahead to let them know we would be checking in later than I thought which meant the hotel reception is not manned , check in would now be via their sister hotel Lilianfels, all ran smoothly and the staff were attentive. One thing to note about the Echoes is there is no lift, our room was on the lower level and quite a few steps to take our luggage down. Lilianfels sent across staff who assisted with the luggage which I thought was good. I thought with the rate $750 per night we had paid that the room would of been more inviting, was an odd shape and the furnishings are tired, the carpet was discoloured and sticky, a good carpet clean or replacement is definitely needed, bathroom could of been cleaner, and no fan worked whilst showering which filled the room with steam. Pros where the little walk out balcony to which you have a small view of the mountains on that level, upstairs is breakfast which has the views I think our next visit to the blue mountains we would definitely choose to stay at Lilianfels instead

Echoes Boutique in Blue Mountains Location 5/5 for access to Blue Mountains and 3 sisters Staff - 1/5. Reception staff in Lillyfells were nice. No staff other than breakfasts in Echoes. Service in Lillyfells was awful - slow and understaffed. Staff in Echoes for breakfast were mute - no idea whatsoever about how to hold a conversation. Indeed we are not sure they could even speak English as all they did was nod Ambience -0/5. Echoes is a dead beat old fashioned tired, very dirty hotel. The cleanliness in the orangery was disgusting. Look at the light shade and blinds and you’ll see years of dirt. Absolutely foul. Room 0/5. Small, appalling noisy aircon. Outdated. You can hear next door having a pee in the night so clearly I thought they were in our room! Facilities - 1/5. Gym was closed. Snooker table is old and outdated. Indoor pool in Lilly is ok. Food - 2/5. Breakfast was ok. Dinner was ok. Nothing special. Overall -1/5. A huge disappointment. I’d never stay there again or recommend it to anyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was closed down by health and safety. It’s in massive need of a capital injection and huge refurbishment.