Hotel Review: The Hermitage Lodge, Hunter Valley NSW
When I booked a two-night stay at The Hermitage Lodge in the Hunter Valley for a special price of $500 (it’s normally $700), my internal monologue muttered, ‘It had better be good …. mutter, mutter, mutter’. I tend to think of things in terms of rent and that’s almost a whole weeks’ worth at Chateau la Hood.
It was for The First Husband’s 33rd birthday so I figured I should ease him into a middle age with a bit of luxury.
Sadly, luxury was not what we found. We lobbed up late in the evening, eyes-a-glisten with dreams of spas, open fires and fountains of wine until we saw our room: The Scarborough Studio.
It was a big hotel room. It didn’t even have a bath.
On the upside, there was a decked outdoor area overlooking a vineyard, limited Foxtel access and a self-serve continental breakfast stashed in the bar fridge that included creamy yoghurt, English muffins and plunger coffee that was included in the price. Also, the staff is truly lovely.
On the downside, we were paying $250 a night (on sale) for this?!
Nonetheless, we continued to throw money at the problem and booked into Il Cacciatore for dinner the following night. This went some way to making up for the disappointing room. The food, service and atmosphere were all outstanding. I have never tasted such delicious ciabatta.
The Hermitage Lodge is directly opposite Hope Estate which is the only reason I can think of that justifies the price. People go to concerts across the road and stumble home drunk, thus avoiding any pesky cabs or designated drivers.
For normal folk of average means, I wouldn’t recommend The Hermitage Lodge. You probably have some sort of ghastly nouveau riche hopes and dreams that are totally declasse. Apparently rich people like big hotel rooms; none of this fancy stuff.
I know what it’s like to fork over several hundred dollars on a room with the hopes and expectations that you’ll get something wonderful, but then in reality you get something that is just slightly nicer than a Formule One. This happened to me at The Plaza in New York of all places. Let’s just say while our room was nice, it certainly didn’t live up to anything I’d ever seen in a movie. And I definitely don’t think I got my money’s worth.
On the flip side the opposite has happened too. I’ve gotten a cheap room and been pleasantly surprised by the standard.
Yes, sadly I couldn’t get over the ‘hotel room feel’ for such a lovely setting, but it was great just to hangout with the newly OS returned First Wife.
Il Cacciatore was fantastic, so I do recommend this place if you are ever in the Hunter.
We have stayed in some great houses that we have rented in the past in the Hunter Valley, so I think next time we shall hit one of those up, or go the whole way and stay at ‘Peppers Convent’ which is awesome . If only it was still in the family and at a cheap rate 🙁