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The Best Luxury Accommodation Along the Great Ocean Road
Luxe lofts to stylish getaways, book the best luxury accommodation Great Ocean Road has on offer, for a glamorous road trip adventure.
Forever etched in Australian folklore, the Great Ocean Road has long captured global attention, from surf breaks that have found their way onto Hollywood’s big screens to rock formations recognised far beyond our shores. Yet Victoria’s most famous coastal drive is at its best when nobody is rushing it. Beyond Bells Beach and the Twelve Apostles, surf towns dissolve into eucalypt forest, dairy country appears between coastal bends and fishing villages reward anyone willing to stay a little longer.
The best Great Ocean Road accommodation is reason enough to turn the drive into a long weekend — or longer. Newcomers such as Surf Hotel in Torquay now sit alongside Aireys Inlet favourite Sunnymead Hotel, Lorne’s extraordinary Ocean House and Port Fairy heavyweight Drift House, joining vineyard cabins, historic cottages and spectacular private homes with the ocean almost at the doorstep.
Choosing where to stay on the Great Ocean Road can shape the entire trip: waking close enough to walk to the surf, disappearing into bushland for a night, or settling into a coastal town with excellent restaurants and a very convincing reason not to get back in the car.
From Torquay to Port Fairy, these are the Great Ocean Road stays worth building the journey around.
In This Guide
Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Torquay
Surf Hotel
Surf Hotel has taken Torquay’s former Surf City Motel and made it feel inevitable. Forum Studio and Pasquale Cook layer the original architecture with terracotta and cork, hand-glazed Japanese tiles, chiselled timber, surf photography and record players spinning vinyl curated by J Wray Records. The 16 rooms stay warm and restrained; king suites score circular baths beneath skylights, while the four-bedroom penthouse opens onto a deck overlooking the foreshore.
Downstairs is half the reason to book. 2024 Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year Jo Barrett and head chef Aaron Brodie cook to the farms and seasons: wild-boar dim sims slicked with chilli oil, house mortadella, focaccia with wakame butter, fried king oyster mushrooms and wild venison schnitzel with parsley cream. The hotel’s wellness space is still on the way, but with the beach across the road, nobody is exactly suffering.
35 The Esplanade, Torquay
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RACV Torquay Resort
RACV Torquay Resort is the full-service option for travellers who would quite like their Great Ocean Road weekend to contain golf, spa robes and zero logistical effort. Rooms and suites look across the resort’s par-71 course, Bass Strait or both, with the upper categories opening the coastline out beautifully.
One Spa handles the serious unwinding, while an indoor pool, tennis courts, restaurants and bars make staying put entirely viable. There’s also direct beach access, so you can move between the ocean, treatment table and an afternoon drink without overcomplicating matters.
1 Great Ocean Road, Torquay
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La Casa Cubo
La Casa Cubo feels more like borrowing the keys to a beautifully designed coastal home than checking into accommodation. Split between the intimate La Casita and a larger apartment, the property layers sculptural lines, tactile finishes, leafy garden paths and sunlit corners into a stay made for doing very little, very well. Couples can disappear into one side; groups can book the entire property and make it their own. Private, design-forward and blissfully removed from hotel routine, this is coastal downtime with serious aesthetic credentials.
Ella’s Rest
Ella’s Rest sits on seven acres at Torquay’s rural edge, an adults-only, two-bedroom retreat that takes off-grid living somewhere beautiful. Timber wraps the walls, ceilings and custom furniture, while floor-to-ceiling glass pulls the dam almost into the living room; shoji-inspired screens and custom clay lights sharpen the detail. Winter belongs to records spinning beside the log burner; warmer days to the sheltered deck, outdoor shower and north-facing firepit courtyard. Solar-powered and supplied with two bikes for rides into town, it feels gloriously removed from Torquay without ever losing touch with it.
Address available upon request
Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Anglesea & Aireys Inlet
Great Ocean Road Resort
Great Ocean Road Resort makes staying put in Anglesea feel entirely reasonable. Waterfront apartments open to river views, spa suites come with deep baths, and the beach is five minutes away on foot. Lux Spa & Wellness covers infrared sauna, Vichy showers, Shirodhara and full-body treatments, alongside an indoor heated pool and weekly yoga. Downstairs, The Coast keeps dinner close with grilled sardines on Zeally Bay focaccia, glazed pork cheek, pink ling and a sharp list of local wines.
105 Great Ocean Road, Anglesea
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The Sundowner
The Sundowner is the ’80s beach house you wish your family had never sold. Lucy Fenton worked with its cork floors, exposed beams, timber panelling and gloriously brown original tiles, layering in rattan, leather, velvet and jolts of colour without polishing away the nostalgia. Downstairs, two living rooms — one with a wood heater, the other with its own bar and kitchenette — spill onto a deck among the gums, complete with barbecue, chiminea and outdoor shower. Sleeping nine across four bedrooms, it was built for the rare group chat that actually makes it to Anglesea.
Address available upon request
The Monty
The Monty is what happens when a 1980s roadside motel gets a very good second life. Cera Stribley has turned the old Anglesea Motor Inn into 16 rooms of Surf Coast escapism: forest green and white outside, orange doors, checkerboard floors, curved forms, chrome and warm hits of pink and red within. That Paper Joint’s collages keep the Palm Springs references from taking themselves too seriously.
The outdoor pool, wrapped in breeze blocks and desert planting, makes staying put dangerously appealing, although the Anglesea River boardwalk and beach access sit directly opposite. Come 3 September, Nina will join the party with an all-day Mexican menu and margaritas overlooking the river, available to eat downstairs, poolside or back in your room. Road-trip motel, thoroughly upgraded.
109 Great Ocean Road, Anglesea
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100 Steps to the Beach
The name is wonderfully literal: step out the front door, count to 100 and your feet are on the sand. Set along a quiet Point Roadknight cul-de-sac, this sun-soaked beach house sleeps 10 across five queen bedrooms, with three living spaces for spreading out and north-facing windows catching the day. Outside, a plunge pool, spa, outdoor shower, lawn and long-lunch deck turn the backyard into its own summer headquarters.
There’s even a separate one-bedroom bungalow next door when two people want the same glorious location without the entourage.
Anglesea, Great Ocean Road
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Sunnymead Hotel
Sunnymead Hotel is the Great Ocean Road motel revival with its holiday dial turned all the way up. Twenty retro-styled rooms wrap around a solar-heated magnesium pool, with breeze blocks, striped umbrellas and local minibars keeping the ’70s beach-break fantasy intact. Then there’s Cera Stribley-designed Indie Spa, a colour-soaked bathhouse with a rasul, Vichy shower and cocktails between soaks. Dinner at Santara runs from pork momo and crisp prawn pakora to lamb tikka and Butter Chicken Ruby. Suddenly, one night in Aireys Inlet feels supremely insufficient.
64 Great Ocean Road, Aireys Inlet
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The Pole House
You’ve driven beneath it; staying there is another proposition entirely. The Pole House hangs 40 metres above Fairhaven Beach, reached by a 23-metre walkway that appears to launch straight into the sky. Reimagined by F2 Architecture in glass and steel, the one-bedroom retreat wraps its living spaces in floor-to-ceiling glazing, leaving Bass Strait to provide almost all the decoration required. By day, watch the coastline unfurl towards Lorne; after dark, light the fireplace and realise you’re sleeping inside one of the Great Ocean Road’s most audacious landmarks.
60 Banool Road, Fairhaven
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Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Lorne
Ocean House
Ocean House began as architect Rob Mills’ own Lorne escape, and it still feels like someone was allowed to design the ultimate beach house without compromise. Circular bedrooms sit inside sculptural concrete, while the glass-and-timber pavilion opens almost completely to ocean and eucalypt views. Wraparound terraces follow the coastline, designer pieces by Piero Lissoni and Patricia Urquiola furnish the interiors, and the rooftop deck saves its best trick for last: an open-air bath above the trees. Sleeping 10 across five bedrooms, it sits just 100 metres from North Lorne Beach.
2A Trade Winds Avenue, Lorne
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Lorne Hotel
Lorne Hotel has mastered one of travel’s great pleasures: dinner downstairs, ocean upstairs. Eleven rooms sit directly opposite Lorne’s beach, with ocean-view options and an Executive Suite made for two, while Mountjoy Parade starts outside the door. Downstairs, Totti’s turns the pub stay into something far tastier, sending out wood-fired bread, antipasti, handmade pasta and its famously generous Italian plates beside the sea.
A swim before breakfast, spending the day roaming Lorne, then coming home to pasta and another glass of wine? The logistics are almost indecently good.
176 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne
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Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Apollo Bay, The Otways, Johanna & Birregurra
Bootmaker’s Cottage
Bootmaker’s Cottage has stood on Birregurra’s Main Street since 1864, when bootmaker, saddler and horseman James Townsend built the cottage and adjoining stables. Inside, original fireplaces, exposed brick, wood panelling and colonial windows keep its history close, with three bedrooms sleeping six. Out back is the knockout: an iron bath beneath the stars, firepit and hammock, while Townsend’s former workshop and stables now house a private bar, games room and projector for movie nights. Brae sits just beyond town; Birregurra’s bakeries and produce shops begin at the front door.
73 Main Street, Birregurra
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Otways Loft – Train & Tree House
Some stays are designed; Otways Loft feels invented. Timber designer Michael Patterson spent years hand-building this three-storey Forrest oddity from mountain ash logs, vintage train-carriage parts and salvaged church flooring. Climb higher and things get better: the king bedroom has a claw-foot bath facing the treetops, another room opens through an old carriage door, and the loft is reached by ladder. A wood fire anchors the living room, there’s deliberately no television, and 70-plus kilometres of mountain-bike trails begin practically at the gate. Utterly eccentric, wildly tactile and impossible to mistake for anywhere else, it’s one of the Great Ocean Road’s most enchanting stays.
Forrest, Great Ocean Road
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Waabiny at Marengo
Waabiny gets the beach-house brief exactly right. Less than 100 metres from the sand, with the Great Ocean Walk joining the street, this leafy Marengo hideaway pairs ocean and hill glimpses with timber ceilings, a huge barbecue deck and an outdoor shower waiting for sandy feet. Two bedrooms sit across separate levels, each with its own bathroom; downstairs even scores a claw-foot bath and kitchenette. Cupboards crammed with books, games and DVDs handle rainy afternoons beautifully. It’s relaxed, generous and wonderfully easy to settle into.
Address disclosed after booking
Steam Carriage
Steam Carriage has better travel stories than most of its guests. Built at Newport Railway Workshop in 1926 as first-class carriage 61AW, it crossed regional Victoria, ran the Melbourne–Sydney route and even survived a train crash before retiring to Forrest. Now its original compartments hold three bedrooms beneath chandeliers, polished brass and oxblood velvet; the master commandeers two and exits to a private claw-foot bath outdoors. A wood fire warms the living room, original Smoking signs remain and there is deliberately no television.
Fun fact: Airbnb named it Australia and New Zealand’s Best Unique Stay in 2023. Fair call.
Address disclosed after booking
The Boomerangs
The clue is in the name: three architect-designed cottages sweep through the Johanna landscape in the unmistakable curve of a boomerang, surrounded by green valley, Otway forest and flashes of ocean. Inside, two queen bedrooms, a deep spa bath and crackling wood fire make stormy Great Ocean Road weather almost desirable. Johanna Beach is five minutes away, while the Great Ocean Walk passes nearby. Strange, sculptural and gloriously Australian, this is one roadside icon worth staying the night for.
3815 Great Ocean Road, Johanna
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Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Princetown & Port Campbell
Alkina Lodge
Alkina Lodge makes architecture part of the Great Ocean Road experience. Glenn Murcutt and Wendy Lewin designed its three private four-bedroom eco lodges to “touch the earth lightly”, placing stone floors, sky windows, European furniture and Gaggenau kitchens among the wild Wattle Hill landscape. Passive solar design and natural ventilation keep things beautifully restrained; after dark, those windows turn the night sky into the ceiling. Kangaroos frequently wander past the glass, Wreck Beach is close, and the Twelve Apostles are an easy drive away. Luxury Great Ocean Road accommodation rarely feels this connected to the land.
35 Parkers Access Track, Wattle Hill
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Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Warrnambool
Warrnambool Retreat
Warrnambool Retreat’s Henna is made for arriving, dropping the bags and disappearing indoors for a while. The light-filled stay pairs a green velvet sofa and open fireplace with a record player, freestanding bath and private courtyard strung with festoon lights. Book it as a one-bedroom escape for two or open the second bedroom for four; either way, a full kitchen and easy 10-minute walk into town make settling in remarkably easy.
1 Henna Street, Warrnambool
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Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs
Deep Blue is Warrnambool’s best reason to end the Great Ocean Road in a robe. Beneath the hotel, mineral-rich water rises from 850 metres underground, feeding 14 geothermal experiences that move from steaming rock pools and colour-lit sensory caves to thermal waterfalls and a bracing cold plunge. Book an ocean-view room or one of the larger penthouses, then head back outside for an adults-only twilight session as steam gathers against the night sky. There’s an indoor bathhouse, infrared sauna, salt therapy and day spa for anyone determined to take the assignment seriously.
1 Worm Bay Road, Warrnambool
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Luxury Great Ocean Road Accommodation: Port Fairy
Basalt Wines Retreat
The trouble with sleeping at a winery is how quickly driving anywhere else loses its appeal. Basalt Retreat places two adults-only villas right inside its 24-year-old Killarney vineyard — a rare proposition for luxury Great Ocean Road accommodation. Tempranillo runs warm and earthy; Pinot Noir borrows softer tones from the nearby coast, with both offering fireplaces, stone bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling vine views and private decks. Best of all, the cellar door is a short stroll away for guided tastings and Mediterranean-leaning lunches. Wander home through the vines; breakfast is already waiting in hamper form.
1131 Princes Highway, Killarney
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Old Market Inn
Port Fairy does heritage exceptionally well, and Old Market Inn might be its loveliest sleepover. Built as the Market Hotel in 1871, the Georgian bluestone beauty now holds just three self-contained suites, pairing soaring ceilings, sash windows and original Baltic floors with serious bathrooms, Sonos and beautifully equipped kitchens. Order the breakfast hamper for Irrewarra sourdough, Schulz Organic dairy and other Great Ocean Road produce. For Port Fairy luxury accommodation with history in its bones, this one is difficult to resist.
51 William Street, Port Fairy
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Oak & Anchor Hotel
Oak & Anchor wears its 1857 bones beautifully. Behind the heritage-listed Port Fairy façade sit seven individually designed suites, pairing original stonework and old-world proportions with natural stone, warm timber, handcrafted bedheads and enormous open-plan bathrooms. Go all out with the 50-square-metre Bridal Suite, where a freestanding bath and private balcony overlook the courtyard, then wander straight onto Bank Street for the best of town. Breakfast is reserved for hotel guests, making mornings downstairs pleasingly private.
Sitchu Tip: Couples remain the sweet spot, although selected suites can accommodate one child by prior arrangement.
9 Bank Street, Port Fairy
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Oscar’s Waterfront Boutique Hotel
Oscar’s is Port Fairy for people who still believe hotels should spoil you a little. Seven rooms sit directly on the Moyne River, dressed in Belgian linen and surrounded by rose gardens, open fires and deep verandahs made for watching boats drift past. Breakfast is cooked to order with regional produce; cake and snacks appear throughout the day; sundowner drinks arrive complimentary on the terrace. Book a Riverfront Suite and wake with the Moyne outside your window.
Think less coastal hotel, more exceptionally well-run house party you’re reluctant to leave.
Temporarily closed for maintenance
41B Gipps Street, Port Fairy
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Cove Beach Luxury House
Cove Beach House has the sort of beach access usually exaggerated by real-estate copy. Here, step out the back door, follow the private path and your feet are genuinely in the sand at East Beach. The four-bedroom house sleeps eight, with vast windows facing the water, a sprawling entertaining deck, lighthouse views and an outdoor heated shower waiting after a swim. Port Fairy is only a short walk away, but for Port Fairy luxury accommodation this close to the ocean, abandoning the house may prove surprisingly difficult.
Griffiths Street, Port Fairy
Drift House
Drift House is Port Fairy luxury accommodation with architectural bite. Six adults-only suites splice an original Victorian house and Edwardian villa with Multiplicity-designed additions in local stone, salvaged timber and perforated metal, each room playing by its own rules. Breakfast in garden pavilion The Salon is included, with excellent local produce and Market Lane coffee; later, settle in for modern Australian cooking with a Spanish accent. A Michelin Key and a place among La Liste’s World’s Best Hotels 2026 make the reputation entirely understandable.
Address available upon request
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Ready to make a weekend of it? The best luxury accommodation on the Great Ocean Road puts beaches, rainforest, coastal towns and those famous clifftop views within easy reach. Book your favourite stay, map out the ultimate Great Ocean Road trip, then keep exploring with our Victorian bucket list of places worth travelling for.
