Hotel Review: The Provincial, Ballarat

Imogen Eveson Imogen Eveson
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Does Ballarat’s newest boutique hotel measure up to the city’s buzzing arts and dining scene? We check in to find out.

“Have you stayed here before?" The receptionist asks sweetly when my partner and I check in. We tell her no, and she tells us we’re in for a treat.

Details

The Provincial Hotel
121 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat, Vic

First Impressions

The Provincial Hotel has only been open for three months or so when we rock up on an autumn evening, and there’s a buzz in the air that reflects the buzz on the street in Ballarat right now; this new boutique accommodation feels like the perfect complement to the recent crop of culinary and arts offerings that is securing the old gold town’s reputation as the perfect spot for a weekend away.

 

It’s centrally located on Lydiard Street and opposite the railway station – the height of convenience should you be rolling in from Melbourne by train.

 

I’m a sucker for a heritage building and this one, built in 1909 and listed by the National Trust for its expressive Art Nouveau facade, had me at its domed turrets. But a new story has been written inside by owners Simon and Gorgi Coghlan and business partner Drew Harry. They’ve created a stylish and serene space that, in true Ballarat style, takes design cues from contemporary trends while staying sympathetic to the building’s old bones.

The Provincial Ballarat
Blue and ivory interiors are seen throughout

The lobby

A blue-and-ivory colour palette is employed throughout its common spaces and most guest rooms, built up in layers of subtly contrasting patterns; each area we move through presents its own lovely vignette.

 

Reaching the first floor landing en route to our suite (one of 23 across the boutique hotel and its corporate wing), for example, I take in the colourful and geometric art of Buninyong artist Robyn Batrouney. It plays off against the illustrative Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper it’s mounted on and the sinuous stained-glass window in the stairwell opposite. Our Lola Deluxe is, pleasingly, more of the same: a riff on texture and colour.

The Provincial Ballarat
A pallette of blue and ivory runs throughout the hotel

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The room

The styling throughout the bedroom and separate living area echoes Cabarita Beach’s Halcyon House and London and New York’s Firmdale Hotels: a big, bold bedhead is plumped up with plush cushions; antique furniture is met with modern upholstery; vintage and modern prints in mismatched frames are juxtaposed against each other. And there’s Aesop in the bathroom, which is always a good sign.

 

We’re greeted with a welcome note and a bottle of local wine and even though I was anticipating this – part of the deal when you book directly through the website – it still feels like a nice surprise. A ‘Provincial Hotel Passport’ offers further welcome and a list of recommendations on where to eat, drink and play nearby as well as further afield.

The Provincial Ballarat
Expect a big, bold bed head
The Provincial Ballarat
Light-filled bedrooms are a delight to see

The food

After a long drive from Sydney we opt for a low-key pub meal down the road rather than dining at elegant in-house restaurant Lola (named after the exotic dancer and actress Lola Montez, who caused a sensation when she visited the Goldfields in the 1850s), but make a beeline for breakfast there in the morning.

 

Head chef Shaun Thomson has worked alongside the likes of Peter Gilmore, Neil Perry and Peter Kuruvita, and his menu celebrates Ballarat-region produce at any time of day.

 

We settle into a navy-leather banquette in the bright, sunny dining room, where the colour palette and style notes carry through. My Aussie classic of poached eggs and avo on toast with local Meredith feta is done just right; as is my St Ali coffee. Our stay here at the Provincial has indeed been a treat – as promised.

Provincial Ballarat
A dish of wild rabbit raviolo at Lola

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The AT verdict

It’s no surprise The Provincial Hotel recently won Best Boutique Style Accommodation at the Tourism Accommodation Australia (Victoria) awards: this is the ideal crash pad for a cultural weekender in Ballarat.

Score

4/5

We rated

The attention to detail: from the passionate staff to the thoughtful notes and beautifully executed styling throughout. Seemingly five minutes from everything, its location too is ideal for exploring this very walkable city by foot.

We’d change

We watched a film on the room’s Apple TV (another nice touch) but couldn’t quite get comfy on the couch!

 

All AT reviews are conducted anonymously and our writers pay their own way – so we experience exactly what you would.

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Imogen Eveson
Imogen Eveson is Australian Traveller’s Print Editor. She was named Editor of the Year at the 2024 Mumbrella Publish Awards and in 2023, was awarded the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) Australia’s Media Award. Before joining Australian Traveller Media as sub-editor in 2017, Imogen wrote for publications including Broadsheet, Russh and SilverKris. She launched her career in London, where she graduated with a BA Hons degree in fashion communication from world-renowned arts and design college Central Saint Martins. She is the author/designer of The Wapping Project on Paper, published by Black Dog Publishing in 2014. Growing up in Glastonbury, home to the largest music and performing arts festival in the world, instilled in Imogen a passion for cultural cross-pollination that finds perfect expression today in shaping Australia’s leading travel titles. Imogen regularly appears as a guest on radio travel segments, including ABC National Nightlife, and is invited to attend global travel expos such as IMM, ILTM, Further East and We Are Africa.
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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe Cann Chloe Cann
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    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington, like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours. While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.