The Provincial Hotel Ballarat – A Luxury Accessible Getaway

The Provincial Hotel sits pretty on Ballarat’s historic Lydiard Street. Built in 1909 the iconic building, recognised by the National Trust, has housed a myriad of publicans and hoteliers, each enriching the hotel with greater grandeur.

Identifying a market for luxury, boutique accommodation, coupled with service guaranteed to exceed expectation, Simon and Gorgi Coghlan found the canvas they had been looking for in the form of The Provincial Hotel. Early in 2018, Simon, a leader of regional Victoria’s hospitality industry, and Gorgi, a media personality with a penchant for design and beautiful styling, partnered with Drew Harry, a dynamite of the regional hospitality industry, to bring their vision to life.

Included in that vision are two, two bedroom luxury accessible apartments

Room overview

Two Bedroom Apartments are individually styled and feature two bedrooms with separate living area with bespoke furnishings, a kitchen and dining area and a generously sized bathroom with luxury amenities. The Master bedroom features a deluxe King size bed with oversized ensuite, and the second bedroom features deluxe twin single beds.

The main bathroom is fully accessible with roll-in shower, generous fold down shower chair, and easy to reach controls. It is has a fully accessible toilet with handrails and backrest. A moveable table on wheels provides convenient storage. A full size spar bath is also in the room.

Room Features

  • King bed with en suite
  • Twin singles
  • Kitchen and dining area
  • Separate living area
  • Mini bar with locally sourced produce
  • Apple TV
  • Unlimited Wifi
  • Complimentary off-street parking
  • Ground floor

Accessibility Features

  • Ground floor adjacent to reception
  • Large bathroom
  • Roll-in shower with fixed shower seat
  • Accessible toilet with handrails and backrest
  • Moveable storage unit
  • Hand basin with lever mixer tap
  • Large bedrooms with clearance around the bed
  • Clearance under the bed for a hoist
  • Large living and dining area
  • Designated accessible secure parking space next to entry with access bay
  • Adjacent to Lola’s restaurant
  • Wide doorways throughout

Dining

The Provincial Hotel boasts Lola’s Restaurant which is open daily for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Lola offers stylish, European inspired dining, beautifully shaped each season by our region’s best locally sourced produce.

The 55 seat dining room provides a relaxed and elegant dining experience, beautifully styled in the Provincial’s signature hotel design. The layout is open allowing easy access and a wide choice of seating location.




Cave Hill Creek

Cave Hill Creek is a tourism award-winning group accommodation facility located in the picturesque Raglan Valley. It is a year-round operation hosting 10,000 guests annually on camps, walks and weddings. Cave Hill Creek can accommodate up to 140 people between the Lake View Lodge and the Glamping Village.

The main buildings are all wheelchair accessible with large level entry doors. With the Lake View Lodge, the ensuite rooms all have single beds that allow for a wheelchair transfer. There is a communal accessible toilet that services the lodge.

The glamping village has one tent with full ramped access. The bedding configuration can be changed to suit particular customer needs. The glamping village is serviced by an amenities block that is adjacent to the accessible tent. The amenities block has a full wet room/roll-in shower with large fold-down seat and detachable shower rose.

Cave Hill Creek is geared to groups and camps with a variety of outdoor experiences. It has tailored those experiences to cater for people with a disability, including climbing, bushwalking with a trailrider, canoeing and team building exercises. Programs are tailored to the particular groups with the appropriate equipment brought in to suit the program and the needs of the participants.

Craig’s Royal Hotel

Craig’s Royal Hotel is located on Lydiard Street and is the quintessential Gold Rush era grand hotel. Accessible entry is via the bistro doors. The hotel has three main dining areas, the Cafe and Larder, Craig’s Wine Bar and The Gallery. as well as a lounge area and gaming room. On the first floor is a function room. The hotel is equipped with a lift.

The lounge and the gallery have a tiled floor. All of the tables and chairs are movable giving options for wheelchair-using patrons. Craig’s Wine Bar has a short nap carpet floor and again the tables and chairs are movable. There is an accessible toilet in the gaming room that services all venues in the hotel.

On the first floor is a partially accessible room. It has a roll-in shower, although it is narrow, and a toilet with ample manoeuvering room. A portable shower chair is available. There are no bars either at the side or at the rear of the toilet. All doorways are in excess of 850mm. This room would be suitable for some but not all wheelchair users.

RACV Goldfields Creswick

RACV Goldfields is located in Creswick.

It has 6 designated disabled parking spaces located either side of the main entry. The entry is flat and wide with a spacious foyer and reception desk on the left-hand side. There is an accessible toilet located off the main reception area.

The resort has 5 accessible rooms that all adjoin a standard room, making the resort suitable to families or travellers with a disability bringing carer support. Each of the accessible rooms has a queen bed and two single beds increasing the options. The combination of rooms makes this resort suitable for para sporting teams. The bathrooms have a full roll-in shower toilet with side bars and a bath. The rooms have a balcony with ramps over the sliding door sill.

The public spaces are all open and easy to navigate. The main dining room has ramped access next to the window.

The resort has full conference facilities with another accessible toilet in the conference wing. Hearing loops can be provided as part of the conference package configuration.

The resort has a small pool. There is no lift access into the water, however there is stepped access into the shallow section and then into the main pool.

The resort adjoins a network of off-road cycle trails. There is a fully lockable bike storage area that has ample room for the storage of handcycles. The resort also provides trailer storage.

Ballarat Primavera

Ballarat Primavera is private accommodation that can be rented as a whole house or by individual room. It is 8 minutes by car from the centre of Ballarat.

The house consists of four spacious rooms each with an ensuite. There is a purpose built bathroom for guests with a disability that consists of and accessible toilet with handrails at the side and back as well as a padded backrest. The bathroom is large with ample wheelchair turning space.. The handbasin has a lever mixer tap and clear space below it. The shower is equipped with a fold down shower seat and easy to reach lever mixer controls. The accessible bathroom is accessible from the bedroom or the main hall and can be locked off from either so it can be used as a private ensuite or as a communal accessible bathroom for the entire house. This feature makes the house suitable for a group of disabled guests with a common bathroom.

The other three bedrooms are all very spacious and all have large bathrooms. They are not equipped with toilet bars or shower chairs but may be suitable for some people with a disability. The house does have three portable shower chairs that are available on request.

The living areas are large and consist of a kitchen/dining area and a lounge and second dining area.

The property also features and indoor lap pool, gymnasium, lock up garage and an outdoor dining area.

The property provides direct access to the Yarrowee Trail. The Ballarat Visitors Information centre has a Trailrider which can be borrowed for the duration of a stay.

Sovereign Hill Hotel

The Sovereign Hill Hotel sits above and adjacent to Sovereign Hill Museum. There is a designated disabled parking space at reception, to the left next to the brown building. A brick path/ramp leads to reception. The cafe/restaurant area is behind the reception counter which has a lower height bench with knee clearance at the side. Off the servery is an accessible toilet. Double doors lead out to the veranda.

Disabled parking is available outside the accommodation wing. The hotel has two accessible units with full roll-in shower. There is a third unit with the same facilities but it also has an adjoining room for a carer or family members. The toilets have side and rear rails with a padded backrest. Each unit has a private outdoor deck with ramped access.

Ramped brick pathways give access to the full hotel site.

There is a rear gate that gives access to the Sovereign Hill museum site. Note that the hotel sites at the top of the hill and the roadway down into the main museum area is steep. Easiest access to the museum is gained by driving down to the main entry and parking in the disabled parking bays provided.

The George Hotel, The Lane Cafe & Heritage on Lydiard

he George Hotel is the second oldest licensed hotel in Ballarat.

Accessible entry to the hotel is via the laneway.

The Lane Cafe is open with a variety of seating options. The floor is tile and polished concrete.

The public areas are all accessible with one accessible toilet located on the ground floor. The toilet is right-hand transfer with side and back rails with a padded backrest. The bar and main dining areas are also spacious and easy to move around with a variety of seating options.

The hotel has one accessible room with a queen and single bed configuration with a roll-in shower and a fixed shower seat. Both beds provide under bed clearance for a patient hoist.

The Heritage also has an accessible room with a queen bed. Clearance under the bed is provided and the room has a roll-in shower and fixed shower seat. There is a lounge area and a writing desk that provides knee clearance.