Jenolan Caves House

Ah, good old caves house. I’ve stayed here 3 times during my life, in 1997, 2016 and 2022. I’ve loved it every time. I see it as a quintessential part of visiting Jenolan caves, if you do day trips for cave tours without staying the night you are missing out. It’s intimate and quiet and every aspect of it is steeped in Victorian era history. It doesn’t have many rooms so you’ll find yourself probably making acquaintance with other guests, as you dine together in one of the only ‘Grand Dining halls’ that exist in Australia. The food is excellent and they clearly have an excellent kitchen staff. This place is secluded and not an easy place to get to or from, so the staff that work here are PASSIONATE about their jobs as they have to basically live here. I once found part of a silver ring between the floorboards and skirting board, that turned out to be a promotional ring from a Holland Line steam ship in the 20’s. It had been sitting there 1 century waiting for me to find it. This place has a fairy tale feel to it and no other hotel I’ve ever stayed at makes you feel quite like you are the character in your own little adventure story. DONT expect modern features like great wifi and 24 hour access to convenient items- you can’t even buy a pack of rolling papers in this place and after 6pm the nearest ‘shop’ is about 1.5 hours away. This place is like staying on board the titanic so treat it as such and come prepared, if you didn’t bring it with you you’ll have to do without.

I loved this weekend stay. My husband and I stayed for a two night wintry weekend break and I look forward to going back. I read some poor reviews beforehand but I can't endorse those views from my experience. The desitination has a dreamy elsewhere feel out of the past. There is shabby spendour and remarkable granduer in the building, cosily nestled into the valley. It reminded me of a European mountain retreat, and the historical photos and decoration reinforce that sense of another time. The access to the caves is awesome and house guests even get access to additional tours at night. The staff were wonderful. Warm and welcoming, professional and authentic. The food was slammed in many reviews but I thought the three-course meal for $79 (which is included in the price of the room) was great value. I particularly loved the goat cheese souffle entree. So delicate and light and made by a talented baker on site. I can also recommend the beef cheek main and the cheese platter. Really good quality. I loved our weekend away and would recommend to others to shift expectations to something different, slower and unique. Would love to go back.

Best and friendliest customer service we had on our entire trip. The staff couldn't do enough to ensure our stay was as good as possible - and that started with the check in. Whilst the entire hotel is historical and refurbishment has commenced it will take time. Just a very interesting hotel and built for a bygone era. The meal at dinner was very nice - not over the top. The continental breakfast was plentiful

Just spent a couple of days at Jenolan Caves House. The house is a fantastic sprawling federation style building nestled in a steep valley. It is cold at this time of year and the rooms were a little cold and in places around the property the decor was looking a bit in need of some TLC, but lets face it this is a 100+ year old house that has survived the extremes of weather and still has the power to amaze. I hope it gets a well deserved revamp soon to make it sparkle once more! The best bit (apart from the caves) are the staff, calling out Maria and Erina in particular, who work so very hard and are cheerful to a fault. Thanks for a lovely stay.

The room was adequate. As I need to refrigerate medications I assumed (stupid me) that there would be a fridge. There was not. All they offered me was an ice bucket with about 10 pieces of ice. Had dinner (prepaid) and entrees were great, luckily, as my main of medium rare scotch filet was very over cooked and my margarita was terrible. Even after I asked them not to use triple sec in the second One, did they listen, NO. Still had to pay for them. And no discount on the uneaten steak. Be interesting to see what prepaid breakfast is like tomorrow.

The road into Jenolan Caves through Oberon was even worse than I remembered since my last visit, and I suspect that there has been no work done on it over the last several years. Considering that it is now the only route into one of Australia's prime tourist attraction, it is a great disgrace to the relevant Council. The latter part was traveled in fine rain anP mist, which did not help, so were relieved to finally reach the new upper Car park. Here were met by a chirpy young attendant, and were gratefully ferried the rest of the way down to Caves House by shuttle bus which ran at regular intervals. The sight, as we approached, was not enthusing. Caves House and the surrounding buildings are looking to be very much in need of a large dose of TLC. Much of the area is still closed down as a result of damage by fire, floods, and landslides over recent time. Inside Caves House there were mixed messages. Chisolm's Restaurant, Jamieson's Bar, Lounges and Billiards Room, and Caves Cafe, were all up to scratch and looked great. To comply with COVID restrictions restaurant tables were widely spaced. The Reception Area and Gift Shop both looked a bit dated and when we checked in we had to dodge a ladder to place our bags in the Luggage Room. The rest looked very decrepit. The main problem we saw in the Restaurant was that it was grossly under-staffed due to COVID. As a result they staff (all four of them) were run off their feet and mistakes were made, and two tables adjacent to ours waited 3 hours for their meals. Our bedroom was much smaller and basic than the on-line illustration (and contained a double bunk which took up some of the space), and the en suite brought back memories of travels through rural Italy; ie cramped!!, but was clean and fairly fresh.