Great Ocean Road is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Australia with around 9 million tourists visits every year.
Along this famous and iconic coastline comprising of surfing breaks, limestone cliffs and rainforests, you’ll find a range of stunning beach resorts that promise the perfect retreat.
However, in my experience as a local not all of them tick all the boxes. Whether it is the size of the resort, comfortable accommodation, closeness to the beach or the amenities that make the experience from good to a great one.
So if you are looking for a premium beachside holiday experience without creating a big dent in your pocket, keep scrolling down for discovering the best Great Ocean Road resorts.
The Best Great Ocean Road Beach Resort
RACV Torquay Resort stands out as the best Great Ocean Road in 2024 for its luxury accommodation and amenities.
It is also a perfect spot to make your base and explore the great ocean road while having access to the surfing hotspots and other beach activities.
- Luxury Accommodation and Amenities
- Surfing Beaches
- Great base at the start of Great Ocean Road
RACV Torquay Resort
RACV Torquay Resort is situated right at the start of the Great Ocean Road in Torquey, the surfing destination of Australia.
Just an hour and 20 minutes drive from Melbourne it is often a perfect weekend getaway away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
It is one of the better luxury accommodation you’d find on the Great Ocean Road. So if you are looking to be pampered this is the place to be at!
This 5 star resort is about a kilometer from the beach and has a 18 hole par-71 golf course that includes wetlands and overlooks the picturesque Jan Juc and Torquay beaches.
There are a number of accommodation options available in this resort and you could choose from Golf view rooms and Ocean view rooms or even the bigger family room options. The top end Spa bath room has a roman spa bath as well.
All rooms in this 5 star hotel are air conditioned, have a flat-screen TV with cable channels, private bathroom and soundproof walls.
You are also spoilt for choice here in terms of the facilities it has to offer for a premium holiday experience. A complimentary private parking is just one of them.
Health Club and Spa
The ultra luxurious “One Spa” is a spa retreat where you could rejuvenate yourself by taking a spa treatment from professional therapists.
Or you could indulge in water therapies like Hammam bathing which are available on Sundays. Or you could float in a floatation tank and relax your mind and destress yourself!
Then there is a inhouse health club that not only is fully equipped with various weight training and fitness equipment but it also has a 4 lane 25 meter indoor swimming pool and a children wading pool.
It is also accessible to outside guest members and thus it also runs group fitness classes, which being a resort guest you could also partake. How good is that?
Onsite Dining
Last but not the least, the food and dining scene at this resort is also top notch. There are three dining venues:
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The Number One restaurant on the second floor serves contemporary dinner and breakfast with buffet option also available
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White’s paddock is more of a casual diner and bar with full range of local and imported beers and wine
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Harding’s lounge is a lounge style casual restaurant to start your day with a light breakfast or enjoy a traditional afternoon tea
All three restaurants have a great ambience and views that compliment the good food! If you don’t feel like getting out of your bed, then they offer room service too 🙂
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Great Ocean Road Resort – Anglesea
As you go further on the Great Ocean Road, you come across its namesake resort in Anglesea called the Great Ocean Road Resort.
It is a very fine and modern hotel, which blows you away as soon as you step in. Located on the bank of the Anglesea river, the resort acts as a good base for travelers wanting to explore the Great Ocean Road.
With a coastal inspired décor its naturally lit setting is dotted with greenery including the palm trees.
The newly renovated facilities in the resort comprise of a day spa, a fine dining restaurant that serves modern Australian cuisine and a fully equipped gym so that you can stay in touch with your fitness regime.
The resort has multiple accommodation options ranging from the standard double and twin air conditioned rooms to the larger one and two bedroom apartments, some with the spa.
At the back of the property there is a spacious open outdoor party area with a sunken lounge and a fire pit completed by a private bar so that you could invite some guests over for an intimate gathering.
If not for a party then you could just soak in the fresh air and some sunlight while sipping on drinks if you are not in a mood to go out.
Also located at the back is a fairly large outdoor trampoline park, which I bet is a key highlight if you are a family with kids.
My kids even though they are grown up just love flipping on trampolines and it sure brings up the child in you too!
The resort also has an indoor heated pool and a flood lit tennis court as other recreational facilities for the guests to enjoy.
Anglesea beach is about 750m away from this place and it is a nice 10-15 minutes stroll away along the banks of the Anglesea river, where you could also do paddle boating and canoeing.
You are in for a treat (literally) when you are staying at this resort as the massively popular great ocean road chocolaterie and ice creamery, selling a vast assortments of delicious chocolates and ice creams that are made fresh at the venue, is only at a 5 minutes drive from here!
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Mantra Resort on Lorne Beach, Great Ocean Road
Nestled in the picturesque town of Lorne, Australia, this resort offers an unforgettable beachside experience that left me rejuvenated and longing for more.
Mantra Lorne resort boasts a prime location that perfectly blends coastal charm with breathtaking scenery.
It is situated in the heart of Lorne and is part of its history as it is built around the oldest guesthouse in Victoria.
Set on 12 acres of land, this luxury accommodation offers something for everyone – be it an indoor heated mineral pool or tennis courts or 18 hole putting green. But my favorite was watching people play Bocce and Croquet.
The resort offers a range of accommodation options, including stylish standard air conditioned rooms, luxurious suites, and even private villas.
The facilities are great and include a gymnasium, a day spa and separate male and female steam rooms. Plus you don’t have to worry about parking as there is plenty of free parking space!
The onsite restaurant, The Larder, serves delicious Italian cuisine. However, you are not limited to just this as a dining option because as soon as you step out of the resort, the famous Lorne market strip has plenty of options to eat and drink any time of the day. All within walking distance of the resort!
My top pick: The Bottle of Milk for its gourmet burgers and milkshakes.
The hotel provides and easy access to the beach shore and surfing is a common water sport on the beach. You could even get surfing lessons here.
One of my family friends have stayed at both Cumberland Lorne Resort and the Mantra resort on the great ocean road.
According to them both of them are pretty good and while the Cumberland Lorne resort has great staff and an elevated location however, the Mantra hotel inches ahead of it by being a newer hotel with more amenities.
Another advantage of staying here is being able to visit the Lorne country club situated at a height overlooking the town of Lorne.
Book a tennis court or a tee time for 9 or 18 holes at the picturesque golf course as a visitor and you are guaranteed a great time here!
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Chocolate Gannets – Apollo Bay
Chocolate Gannets is a unique luxury accommodation amongst the hotels in Great Ocean Road that comprises 4 two bedroom villas – 2 beachfront villas and 2 luxury villas with partial ocean views.
It is located at a 5 minutes drive from Apollo Bay, a quiet fishing town on the Great Ocean Road.
The laid back property has all the elements to make your beach break a peaceful and relaxing escape. All villas have a private Spa room with double spa bath.
The beachfront villa spa room with wide front glass doors offers uninterrupted full view of the Sea. The doors when opened, make you feel like you are having a bath in a hot tub on the beach!
Both types of villas have a front deck where you can spend the day on a sun lounge and a back deck with a barbeque area.
The villas have their own kitchen although if you are not in the mood to cook, you could take a 30 minutes stroll along the beach or a short drive and reach the Apollo Bay town center, which has a number of local shops that offer variety of sea food options.
Being a foodie, my favorite food pick to try while there is the award winning Dooleys Ice Cream with 40 flavors to try from!
As this hotel is quite close to the great Otway national park, there are a couple of excursions you could take when you are staying at Chocolate Gannets – A 50-55 mins drive to Otway Fly for Zip lining and treetop adventures and a 30 mins drive to Cape Otway Lighthouse which are both fun and adventurous.
Or, this could be your well deserved resting place after doing the 110 km great ocean walk in the reverse from the 12 apostles.
The laundry facilities at the venue will also come in handy then!
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Seafarers Getaway – Apollo Bay
About 100 mins drive on the Great Ocean Road from where it begins and situated very close to Chocolate Gannets, is another stunning Apollo Bay beachfront resort called Seafarers Getaway.
This huge 8 hectare 4 star property has four kinds of accommodations. You could choose from the Beach view lodges and the Beach studios that are closer to the beach or the Ocean view studios and the Top lodges that sit at an elevation offering great Ocean views.
All rooms have a self contained kitchen, an on-deck BBQ and a coffee machine. What’s more, and this is where it really gets interesting.
You’d also find a telescope in the Top lodges and Ocean view studios for stargazing in the clear night skies.
I’ll let you in on a secret: the Great Ocean Road is a great place to be if you want to see and capture the Milky Way Galaxy. With the telescope in company, if you have a good camera and are able to wake up early you might get lucky here!
The hotel does not have a in-house restaurant but the restaurants and cafes of the Apollo Bay are only a few minutes away.
On the Apollo Bay beach you could indulge in surfing and kayaking or if you are into hiking, the Otway national park rainforest backdrop provides some very good hike options around nearby waterfalls.
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Sea Foam Beachfront Villas – Port Campbell, Great Ocean Road
This wonderful accommodation in the beautiful quaint town of Port Campbell is one of the few Great Ocean Road resorts where I have stayed more than once.
Located on the far end of the Great Ocean Road and about 230kms from Melbourne, the Soft Foam villas is a relatively older property but is still worth the peaceful and scenic stay it offers in front of the Port Campbell foreshore.
Local shops and other conveniences are at walking distance in this quiet neighborhood that you could spend a relaxing weekend without any worries.
The Penthouse accommodation with large front balconies are a key highlight of this property. The only thing that I don’t particularly like about this place is perhaps the on premise could be a little cramped.
There are many things you could do when you are staying in this resort as it is close to many attractions on the Port Campbell National Park like the famous Twelve Apostles, which is only a short 15 minutes drive from here or the Loch Ard Gorge, which is also within 10 mins of this place.
However, for me when I am here, I always make sure to carry my lightweight hiking shoes so that as soon as the day breaks, I can go for a quick 20 minute hike up the hill next to the beach. From the top you have the glorious panoramic views of the town, the beach and the Ocean.
Isn’t that just great?
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Southern Ocean Villas
Southern Ocean villas is a luxury accommodation resort that comprises 20 contemporary Two and Three bedroom villas.
We can’t stop gushing about these modern and well furnished villas with large open plan kitchen and living areas, ideal for a small family.
Fully equipped kitchen with all appliances, reverse cycle air conditioners and outdoor wooden decked terraces make for a comfortable accommodation.
Southern Ocean Villas are within 5 minutes easy walking distance of Port Campbell town centre and the beach. This is a must stay!!
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Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Springs – Warrnambool
Right at the end of the Great Ocean Road and in the wonderful town of Warrnambool famous for its rich maritime history and whale spotting, lies the Deep Blue Hotel, which is also home to a Hot Springs Sanctuary! Yes, that’s right – a natural geothermal mineral bathing Sanctuary.
The 4 star Deep Blue Hotel Warrnambool hotel is about 3 hour drive away from Melbourne.
It is a perfect end of the trip stay for the Great Ocean Road. You could retire for the night here after a day long trip of seeing the various attractions.
And at the resort you have the luxury of then shedding your tiredness away by immersing in a hot spring bath twilight session that runs from 6pm to 9pm in the Hot Springs Sanctuary.
The sessions need to be booked in advance as these are very popular. However, please note that children aged below 5 years are not permitted in the Sanctuary.
Inside the Sanctuary you have a number of open air rock pools and sensory caves.
The hot spring waters at temperatures from 35-42 degrees are so blissful that they revive you by relaxing your mind and body together. You wouldn’t miss the outdoor swimming pool for sure.
The Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs offers over 80 guest suites including 6 penthouse apartments with expansive ocean views.
The main beach is at a walking distance from the resort. If you are there during June until September, you could take a quick 10 minutes drive to the Logans Beach where you could spot whales as near as 100 meters from the beach and is a very popular activity here!
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Lady Bay Resort – Warrnambool
Adjacent to the Deep Blue Hotel is the famous Lady Bay resort. It enjoys a slightly better location than the Deep Blue hotel as it offers stunning ocean views.
It is a family friendly accommodation with 65 one, two & three bedroom fully self-contained and air conditioned apartments and 13 hotel studio rooms.
Each apartment has a private balcony and comes equipped with a flat screen tv and an en suite bathroom.
Lady Bay resort could be a great budget accommodation for families big and small as they don’t have to spend on getting multiple rooms and could instead get one of the many apartments.
Within a short walk from the beach and a short drive from other points of interest in and around the historic town of Warrnambool, this place is in a great location for family friendly activities.
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Botanical Gardens and Logans beach are all located close by.
You get free parking, free wifi, and free gym at the venue. A day spa, restaurant and seasonally heated outdoor swimming pool make the stay even more pleasant.
Take a dip and then sub bathe lying on the many Sun loungers on one side of the outdoor pool!
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the Great Ocean Road boasts amazing beach resorts that offer a perfect getaway.
From stunning ocean views to top-notch amenities, these resorts promise unforgettable experiences for all beach lovers.
So pack your bags and get ready to create cherished memories on this beautiful coastal journey!
Is the Great Ocean Rd worth it?
Does a Great Ocean Road trip really make sense? Yes. Most people enjoy rocky formation of the famous Twelve Apostles – there are only currently eight and others are thrown away in the ocean.
How many days should I do the Great Ocean Road?
Our recommended time for this epic road trip is three days. Alternatively, one or two glorious days could be spent along the coastline.
What is the best town to stay in on the Great Ocean Road?
The best town to find a the Great Ocean Road accommodation is Lorne due to its long beachline with a long market strip.
It is the cultural hub along the Great Ocean Road and has plenty of accommodations and activities that you could pursue when you are there.
Where does the Great ocean road start and end?
The Great Ocean Road runs along the south west coast of Victoria from Torquay to a small town called Allansford that are about 243kms apart.
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