Name: Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat
Address: 5040 Colac-Lavers Hill Rd Lavers Hill Victoria 3238 Australia 5040 Colac-Lavers Hill Rd Lavers Hill Victoria 323 Lavers Hill Victoria, Australia,, Lavers Hill, Lavers Hill, Lavers Hill, 3238, Australia
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Private check-in/check-out

General

Non-smoking rooms

Soundproof rooms

Fridge

Family room

DVD Player

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Iron and board

Services and amenities

Microwave oven

Kettle

Meals

Barbecue grill(s)

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat

Lavers Hill

I was looking for an animal conservation center along GOR where the kids can see the koalas, wallabies etc up close. Glad I found the place! Not only we get an accommodation for the night, but we also had the opportunity the feed, pat and observe the animals up-close. I highly recommend staying in the Wombat Cottage which is the only one inside the enclosure. Friendly wallabies and deer  right at our cottage porch walking around freely. They also provided a bag of carrots so we can feed the animals and a a torchlight for you to see the nocturnal animals at night. The cottage  cabin was also well-furnished, clean and comfortable, and the kitchen have all the items where you can cook and also prepare your meal. Be sure to bring your groceries if you plan to do so as it's quite a drive to nearest grocery store.  

Kristen and her daughter were very accommodating and arranged the session with the koalas upon our arrival as we plan to leave early the following day. The family definitely loved what they do thank you for sharing the animals with us. My kids truly loved the experience!!  

We only booked for one night as our scheduled is already packed as it is. If you plan to explore the Great Otways, this place can be your based and booked for 2 or more nights. It's like 5 mins away from Melba Gully and other attractions. At night, it can be very cold as it's in a middle of the rainforest but it's part of the experience. I've told my friends about the place and they are truly amazed. Some already put it in their list of place to stay. I  definitely will come here again.

Skip Apollo Bay!!  This is the place to stay along the Great Ocean Road

We stayed in the Wombat Cottage on our trip last month and had a fantastic stay! We were in Australia for two weeks - scuba dove on the Great Barrier Reef, saw more multiple whales cavorting and breaching within feet of us at Hervey Bay, sunrise and sunset at Uluru, and I think Fauna Australia was truly our kids' (ages 13 nd 14) favorite part of the trip. Friendly wallabies (with joeys in their pouches) right at our door, cuddling a baby wombat, seeing an adorable baby koala up close and petting some "teenage" koala. I could go on and on! And Kristen was so patient and informative about all of them. We were fortunate to have one of the units that sits withing the wildlife park (the others have entrances outside of where the animals are, but access to them), so the wallabies were right on our porch and we could feed them by hand (with carrots provided by Fauna Australia). Our cabin was also well-furnished, clean and comfortable, and the kitchen was well-supplied for cooking a few meals (we used it just for breakfast). There's also a washer and drier in the bathroom (though the drier didn't seem to vent to the outside), which was handy. The location was pretty central to the sights we wanted to visit along the Great Ocean Road - close to a nice hike where we saw glow worms at night, as well as Otway Fly. Lavers Hill is a speck of a town, but there are a few restaurants at and close to the main intersection. We tried out three of them and enjoyed them all. With regard to some of the negative comments, we did not encounter any of those issues. It's not the Ritz Carlton, it's a small, family-run establishment in a rural place in a rain forest, but we loved it!

Highlight of our trip!

We are so glad we found this place.  Kirsten was so thoughtful and allowed us to enjoy the koalas and wombats at our own pace.  The accommodation is clean, comfortable and has everything we needed for an enjoyable stay.  Wish we had longer, but our days were filled with exploring the waterfalls and walks, and of course the Twelve Apostles.  At night we were lucky enough to have our hosts take us to Melba Gully to see the glowworms (only 5 minutes drive).  Can't rate this place high enough.

Friendly hosts, friendly animals.  A great experience

Would have given BIG ZERO TO THIS PLACE IF POSSIBEL!

Arrived today to a room that was freshly made up as per the owner, I checked the bedding it was full of short black hair and towels dirty laid out on bed, called twice the owner and she said she made up the bed hairself and that hairs might have come from the blanket!!! Really!!! Short black hair (Asian I assume); I said ok fine and she pretty much kicked myself and my husband of the premises for asking if beds had been freshly made up even after removing at least 10 hairs and saying fine we will stay she kicked us out!!!! RUDE THIS PLACE SHOULD BE CLOAED DOWN FOR SUCH CUSTOMER TREATMENT!!! This person ruins my long weekend after driving 4h’s from Melbourne. I have never been treated like this in my life. I feel sorry for the animals if this person treats humans like this.

Worst place ever visited (owner rude, unprofessional)

Only booked for one night, unfortunately, should have booked two. Arrived as night fell, with a downpour in progress. Greeted by one of the owners and shown straight to the cottage, stayed at Wombat cottage, which is inside the retreat. The cottage was warm, well equipped, nice kitchenette, with a washer and a dryer. Small, but very cosy. A bag of carrots was provided to feed some of the wildlife, which is a very nice touch. Introduced to the retreats young wombat 'Boris', in the morning, along with getting access to to the koala enclosure. A lovely place, with enthusiastic owners. 

Warm and cosy

Stayed overnight in the Koala Suite.  A short steel ramp was provided as I have a disability.  The queen bed was comfortable.  Wheelchair access may be a bit tight. The bunk bed area looked ok for kids but would be cramped for adults. The kitchen and disabled bathroom were well laid out.  The latter had grab rails by the shower and toilet. A low shower chair was provided.  I was surprised to not see a shower hose.

The koala experience was great - enjoyed the koala joey.  Kirsten and Chloe were very knowledgeable. Got to hold a baby wombat and feed others.  The fauna park has good wheelchair access.

Hope to stay again soon.

Koala Suite and Experience - Great

My companion and I were looking forward to coming to this place. We are experienced travelers and we love places where we can be in touch with nature and animals, for us it should have been a paradise, but... when we arrived we found a semi-abandoned place, with most of the animals in very unclean enclosures. There were free wallabies roaming around the property and you could feed them carrots offered by the lodge, but for the rest it was disappointing.

Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat

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