Park Hotel
An 1890 pub on Commercial Street West with three rooms upstairs and a shared guest kitchen
About this stay
Families who cook as often as they eat out do well here, because the shared kitchen sits alongside the on-site restaurant rather than replacing it. Park Hotel is 2.7 kilometres from Blue Lake and nine from Mount Gambier Airport, which puts the crater rim and the Commercial Street shops within a few minutes by car. Rooms are air-conditioned with private bathrooms, a refrigerator, television, free WiFi and streaming services, with family rooms available and non-smoking throughout. Bathrooms come with a hairdryer, towels and toilet paper provided, and the bedrooms have linen and a wardrobe. Downstairs the restaurant serves lunch and dinner and the bar handles the evening, with billiards, live sport on the screens and a happy hour. Guests rate the breakfast, the room comfort and the shared kitchen particularly well. Parking is free.
- Pub established in 1890 on Commercial Street West
- Only three rooms, including the two-bedroom Matthews Suite
- Shared guest kitchen and laundry
- Bistro serving pub meals seven days a week
- Drive-through bottle shop with a large Coonawarra range
- Rated 8.6 out of 10 by 465 guests
Our take
The Park Hotel has been pouring on Commercial Street West since 1890, and it keeps just three rooms on the upper floor, the largest being the two-bedroom Matthews Suite with an open gas fireplace and a spa. Guests share a kitchen and a laundry, every room has a Nespresso machine, and the bistro downstairs serves pub meals seven days a week. Blue Lake is about 2.7 km away and the airport about nine. I would book the Matthews Suite for a family or two couples staying several nights. I would not count on availability at short notice: with three rooms, it fills fast, and the bar and drive-through bottle shop make it a working pub, not a quiet guesthouse.
- ✓Time a summer visit for Blue Lake: from about November to March the crater lake turns a vivid cobalt blue, and it fades back to a duller blue by autumn.
- ✓Use the shared kitchen and laundry if you are staying several nights; they are the reason this pub suits longer stays better than most town-centre motels.
- ✓The drive-through bottle shop claims the largest selection of Coonawarra wines in town, useful if you are heading north to the Coonawarra cellar doors next.
- ✓Ask for the Matthews Suite if you need two bedrooms; the other two rooms are standard hotel rooms.
Why we love it
- Shared kitchen alongside the on-site restaurant
- 2.7 kilometres from the Blue Lake crater
- Family rooms with streaming services
- Free parking close to Commercial Street
Why guests love itWith only three rooms, the Park Hotel works for one family at a time, and the Matthews Suite is the room that makes it work: two bedrooms, a fireplace for Mount Gambier's cool winters and a spa. The shared kitchen lets parents make breakfast and simple meals, and the bistro covers dinner without driving. Children are within a short drive of Blue Lake and the town's sinkholes. The limits are clear: there is no pool, no garden or play area, and the rooms sit above a pub with a bar and bottle shop. Rated 8.6 out of 10 by 465 guests, it suits a family that wants space and a kitchen in town rather than a holiday park.
Guest reviews
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