This place advertised itself as having the biggest beer garden in Ararat and it certainly didn't…read morelet itself down in that regard. In fact it was probably the only pub in Ararat that had a beer garden, and I would even go as far as suggest that it comes close to being my favourite (actually it is). Okay, don't expect a huge selection of beers, but then again it is a country pub so I wouldn't expect too much from it anyway. However, it was pretty quiet, and as I mentioned, has a large beer garden, so it does stand out in my books.

Comfortable and adequate for an overnight stay. Very close inside. For example, the basin in the…read morebathroom is very small and very close to the shower. When I tried to get dressed in there, I kept knocking into walls and knocking things over. However, if you don't mind this, the rooms were clean and the facilities were good and the price was reasonable.

So the problem with booking things last minute is that your options run low as most places are…read morealready filled and have no vacancies. This was the case for my spontaneous weekend away. But nonetheless, Stawell happened to be the town in between two places we wanted to go to, Ararat and Halls Gap. Lucky for us, this place was not booked out. They have everything you need. Including a free continental breakfast, it's mainly toast and cereal, but anything is better than starting your day with nothing. It's one less thing to worry about. They also have a indoor spa, a heated pool, a gym. Each room has a mini fridge and microwave and water heater with kitchenware. Oh and shout out to the water pressure in the shower, that was top notch. In the reception are movies to rent. They are fully licensed, and have a restaurant for dinner. It's independent and family run, the couple is so genuine and nice, they easily make you feel welcome and can help with tips on the local area. For a place we were only staying at to sleep, this was a bit dated, but had all the essentials you need for a stay.

Made this place base camp for some time away around halls gap. It's definitely dated (reminds me of…read morea 70s movie) but it was clean and had everything we needed for our stay away. The owners were great. The fact that the spa wasn't functioning was the only downer.

I was greatly looking forward to the chance to eat here. It even made my pre-itinerary list of…read morewhere to try. But actually eating here was tough. I found the hours to be weird, one day we showed up around 3pm, to be told that they weren't serving lunch anymore. But we could sit down for a drink and a cake. Which we did. And yes, the carrot cake was delish. The next day we gave it another go and popped in a little after noon and we were told that the kitchen was closed because they ran out of food. Seriously? What a disappointment. The look of this place is very minimal with a touch of nature, it fits perfectly into Halls Gap with their living local standards, it's displayed clearly in the menu. You even have the opportunity to stay here, as accommodation is available. Or maybe pop in before a hike, they have some ready made goodies in the fridge along with many local products for sale.

The excited and warming reception you receive from the young owners is wonderfully welcoming. They…read morestrive to have an amazing array of locally sourced ingredients and whilst a few dishes fell short many are fantastic. The hosts are also very knowledgeable on the area and after a short series of questions were able to suggest a different itinerary that ended up in the most amazing experiences for us. We visited a few times in our stay and always enjoyed the food, coffee and wonderful wine. The is a wide selection of things you can take back to your accommodation or hike to have happy belly memories of halls gap.

This is a comfortable and warm establishment. The host was super friendly and full of advice for me…read moreupon arrival. The room very clean and tidy if somewhat dated. My only complain is the noise. The highway traffic at night woke me several times, but this is no fault of the establishment.

Staying at the Lodge overnight when coming to Ararat for a tour of the gaol and asylum made all the…read moreexperience and ensured a cosy night after several hours digging up history. Although this hotel's features are quite dated, for a budget hotel the room itself was quite spacious and very homely. There was a nicely set out lounge area, with a small table and chairs next to the full length window next to the door where I was able to set up my laptop and not be facing against anything. A definite winner. The kitchenette area had a bit of a strange layout. The bathroom sink in some way doubled up as a kitchen sink, with the mini bar fridge and microwave to the left of it on a type of low bench with coat hanging railing above it. The bathroom was in a separate space to this mind you. The shower went over the bath tub, with no glass screens or curtains, which was also capable of being a single person spa bath. The motel offered up a selection of room service breakfast items. Fairly traditional western foods like toast, cereals, variety of spreads, coffee and tea. The bathroom also came with a generous amount of hygiene products, including a conditioner and a bubble bath/body wash, which I've noticed a lot of places don't bother offering. The Lodge was a lovely place to stay. The owners are Chinese I think, and there is a Chinese restaurant at the reception area of the motel which is handy. On Saturdays they offer up a buffet dinner, and Sunday's the restaurant only do dinners for patrons who ask for room service dinner. I'm yet to try out the restaurant, which I'll do one day as I would consider staying at this motel again. Was a great experience.

Okay, this wasn't one of the best pubs that I have been to in Ararat, but it still had some country…read morecharm about it. Actually, I probably shouldn't say that because it really came across as being rather basic, at least on the outside. Still, it wasn't what I would call a bad pub, just a rather standard one. The service was okay, though as can be expected, they didn't have a huge selection of beer available.

Not quite a gastro pub but the food was hot hearty and enjoyable. I had the fish and chips with…read moresalad and a couple of cold beers. Great place to stop for a traditional pub meal.

Comfortable stay in Ararat! This is a clean and well-run…read moremotel in a great location just a couple of blocks from the centre of town. The rooms are clean, spacious and well-equipped with a huge flat screen TV, DVD player, basic kitchenette, good bathroom and super comfortable king bed. The owners are really friendly!! We wish that we could take the room with us on our travels!!