Bookings

Exclusive to Family & Friends

The Morgan family are keen to see this great house enjoyed by our family and our close friends, just as Belinda would have hoped.   This site is being developed to support that.  

First up it provides a Booking Calendar so we can all see when the Criterion Hotel … the big house with 7 bedrooms … is available and request a booking.  This simply shows if its available or not – family members will also be able to see detail of who has it booked.

For how much we ask guest to contribute and what to do when staying have a look at the Staying in the Hotel post.

In time we add further details about the house, using it, history and so on…. work in progress.

If you want to stay at the Criterion Cottage or the Cornerstone Cottage then business as usual where you book those via Ottoson Real Estate at robeholidayrentals.com.au.

Criterion Cottage – 1 Bagot Street

Cornerstone Cottage – 28B Smillie Street

History

H Jackson’s Criterion Coffee Palace

Historical records about the Criterion all tell  that the Criterion was a hotel until 1904 and then leap forward in time from 1924 to 1949 when the property was held by Leonard Denyer Niehus who operated it as “The Temperance Hotel” (no alcohol apparently).

Then out of nowhere we received an email to the house email that answered the mystery.  Hugh must have googled the Criterion and found our website.

Hello. I am the grandson of Hugh Jackson who had “The Criterion Coffee Palace” in Robe which was in the building you now occupy. I have attached a photo that I thought you might find interesting & please feel free to use it if you want to .

I’m not sure when they ( Hugh & Martha) started the Coffee Palace but they were married in 1904 so some time after that. Hugh had a workshop next door & after his death in 1920 Martha is said to have turned it into 4 bedrooms for boarders.

My father Lorentz told me that after school he often went down to the shore to gather crayfish to be used for boarders meals (I bet they have to go a bit further than that to get them now).

I think the family left Robe in about 1922. Regards Malcolm

I remember as a kid, locals used to refer to cray as “sea lice”.  Dad used to buy cray tails for bait! It seems only the ‘spider’ – body and legs – got exported.

Bookings

Staying in the House

Bedrooms

Upstairs: there are 3 double rooms and 2 singles beds in the Ballroom.

Downstairs: there is a Queen bed in the Cooks Room, 2 Singles in the Girls’ Room and a Double  in the Bar Parlour.

7 bedrooms with 14 sleeping spots all up.

Contribution to Costs

We ask that family and friends contribute to costs along the following guidelines (still cheaper than the caravan park 🙂 )

  • $70 / night for 2 people
  • $130 / night for 3 to 6 people (i.e. a family)
  • $170 / night for over  6 people

The suggested contributions have gone up slightly by $10/night  for 2023 onwards in light of the significant increases in recent years, particularly Electricity & Gas.

 We will provide the Bank Account details in the booking confirmation email.  Please pay before you stay – tell us when you have paid to criterion28@optusnet.com.au.

Staying

Bring your own sheets and towels.

Drinking Water

Robe tap water isn’t the most pleasant water to drink and if you are not used to it can make you feel a bit sick.  For drinking and cooking use the rain water in the  big Neverfail water bottle to the left of the sink.  To refill this bottle head out the back door, turn right past the chimney and out the courtyard gate – in front of you will be a green rain water tank.  Fill the bottle from the tap near the ground (give it a squirt first to ensure you get clear water).

Porto Cot and Highchair

The Porta Cot and Highchair are found in the side passage through the door opposite the bottom of the stairs.  Please call or text John (details below) if you don’t know where the key to this door is.

Thanks Rebecca Wells for donating these to the house.

Leaving the House

At the end of your stay  leave it ready for the next visitors:

  • make sure no food is left in the fridge or freezer (disaster when there is a power failure)
  • no food left on the benches, shelves or cupboards (mice and rats love that)
  • turn OFF ELECTRIC BLANKETS
  • turn OFF all the HEATERS. (the switch for the heat bank in the kitchen passage is in the fuse box in the central hall)
  • give the floors a sweep
  • bathroom a mop & wipe down
  • vacuum the front room (vacuum is in cupboard under the stairs)
  • dust covers on beds
  • top up the wood basket
  • close windows and door and draw down the front blinds.
  • lock the front door from the inside – leave the key in the lock
  • lock the back door and put key back from where you got it from when you arrived.

If you don’t want to clean the house then ask us to engage Ottoson’s to arrange a clean (or ask for us to arrange it) and you can pay for that.

And give as call by phone or email us and tell us how your stay went.  Is everything all right at the house?…no leaks, no broken things, falling down walls etc?  Did you have a good time 🙂

If anything urgent happens contact John Morgan on 0412 815 077 or anyone else in the family that you have the phone number of.

Enjoy your stay!