Hotel Ernest Bendigo - Bendigo, Victoria

Danielle R.

Return visitor. Stayed two nights, the location couldn’t be better, and I stay in the “pet suite”, so my furry friend can enjoy some luxury, too.
The furnishings are super stylish and the king bed is next level comfortable.
The room is also suitable for mobility challenged people as there aren’t any steps.
Perfect when visiting Bendigo, it’s literally walking distance to everything you could need.

tracyzus

Lovely hotel. Very central location, near art gallery, restaurants and town centre. We had room 6, large corner suite with balcony and views at 2 sides. Very peaceful stay. Restaurant Terrae excellent. Open for lunch and dinner. No breakfast but room has kitchenette and many cafes nearby. Bayleaf did a great breakfast. A 10 minute walk into town. Also loved Bunja Thai restaurant. Wine Bank looked good, next time!

Kim J.

First time in Bendigo, only stayed 1 night unfortunately but wow what a great impression. Our room was beautiful and the building was beautiful. We sat downstairs at the vaults and for some drinks before dinner, staff are lovely and drinks were great.
Highly recommend!

Athena G.

We absolutely love Bendigo Ernest Hotel and have stayed here several times—it’s become our go-to place whenever we visit Bendigo. Our preferred spot is on the ground floor, and we’re particularly fond of Suite 01 Robin Wallace-Crabbe, which is just off the charming, French-inspired courtyard. It really feels like being transported to a quaint European village, but with all the modern designer touches. The hotel and grounds simply offer the perfect balance of elegance and comfort. A special mention goes to Fletcher, the resident Airedale terrier—he’s an absolute joy and was a highlight of our last stay! We’re already looking forward to many more visits ahead!

Marcus H.

Brilliant room overlooking Rosalind Park! The high ceilings and elegant fittings perfectly complement the charm of this historical Bendigo building.

The bed and pillows? Easily some of the best we’ve ever had at a hotel—pure comfort!

We stayed here the night of our wedding and were blown away by the experience. The manager, Tia, was incredibly friendly and helpful, greeting us out the front and even offering a couple of drinks to help cool down on a hot mid-30s day.

Exceptional service, an amazing room, and an unforgettable stay. Hotel Ernest is a must for anyone looking to experience one of Bendigo’s finest hotels!

Michael B.

Hotel Ernest was a lovely old building that used to be a bank converted into a wonderful hotel. We had a room on the top floor and had lovely views of both colonial buildings and the botanical Gardens. We absolutely love this place it was comfortable, clean and really friendly service. Ella, who was our host could not have been more personable and helpful. We would happily come back and stay here again. There are lovely walks from the hotel. There are a lovely cafes, eating places and restaurants or within walking distance.

Steve I.

My partner and I have recently returned from a short break in Bendigo, staying at the Hotel Ernest. I am afraid I cannot be as fulsome in my review as many of the other reviewers. Perhaps we are difficult to please but the suite was not as well appointed as one would expect from the website description. It was suggested we take Suite 6, being told over the phone that it was the best room in the hotel. While the room itself was fine, the unshaded balcony was rather tired and unkempt, with dying untended shrubs, rather uncomfortable metal chairs and with only a glimpse of Rosalind Park – the view from the bathroom was better! While there was internet connectivity for our computers, for some reason while we could connect to Wi-Fi, our iOS devices could not connect to the internet and our TV would not connect to streaming services. The complementary drinks in the fridge consisted of two bottles of water and two cans of Coca-Cola(!) – one of which was zero sugar. Given the existence of a separate dining area, I would have hoped for a toaster - our request to be provided one was unfulfilled. All in all, I fear that the hotel, as is so often the case with Australian boutique hotels, overpromises and underdelivers. At $339 a night, I don’t believe that the hotel is good value for money.

QueenoftheLabyrinth

Suite 6 is lovely and the bed was quite comfortable…however, if you plan on staying here for any events, I would highly reconsider.

We were looking for a location to be a base for our wedding for the bridal party to get ready, consisting of 5 girls with 2 hair and makeup vendors and a photographer.
When searching I came across H.E and saw that they had an occupancy rule for the rooms. I contacted them via phone in May 2024 to discuss this and spoke to a male who noted that the hotel had no issues with bridal parties and would understand that we were have vendors going in and out of the hotel. He also noted that the occupancy rule was only in place to stop parties in the evenings. Our group were only gonna be in the hotel from 9am-3pm. Following this conversation, I was sent a Facebook message from the hotel homepage reconfirmed the above discussion. We booked the hotel.
Fast forward to our wedding last week and we enter the hotel to be greeted by an older woman who asked about where we would be getting ready for the wedding, I told her we would be getting ready here and that it was approved back in May. She repeated the occupancy rule and went quiet.
That same day, I had some family come upstairs to drop off some wedding stuff, literally 5-10 minute visits and the same receptionist told them they couldn’t go up or that too many were in the room (they were there to drop off the wedding dress). Thankfully I was able to go down and get them but not without some dirty looks from the woman.
Then to our wedding day, all our vendors were either given dirty looks when coming to the hotel which I was told about when they reached our room. Our photographer even noted how she was blocked from going up the stairs when she first arrived by the woman.
Another issue we had was with photography. We also asked the hotel a few times both over phone and in person, if we could get some grooms party photos done in their bar/bank vault lounge. We were told this wasn’t an issue and that the only thing was that the area was public so they couldn’t guarantee other people not being there, we were fine with that.
While the grooms party was downstairs in the bar trying to take photos, the same receptionist decided to open cupboards etc “purposely” (noted by our photographer) to disrupt the photos. When the group asked if they could order a drink from the bar to take photos with, they were told the bar was closed. It was clearly open and serving other guests eating there. So they asked if they could then get a soft drink from the restaurant attached and have that. They declined and then decided that they could “break the rules” to give the boys some.
If we were told this booking was gonna be an issue for wedding parties, we would’ve said thanks but we’ll book somewhere else. The fact that both us the wedding couple, our parties and our vendors faced attitude on our weekend was appalling and thankfully our wedding was fantastic but this did put a slight damper on the pre wedding lead up. If there was some miscommunication between who we spoke to in May and the month leading up to the booking, and the lady working (13th/14th Feb), we would’ve appreciated her coming to speak with us and we would’ve shown her the messages we had confirming. Instead we were met with passive aggressive attitude our whole stay. Every other staff member we interacted with were lovely!

However, due to this treatment, we will not be staying here again.