My partner decided to indulge ourselves by booking Cape Lodge for two nights as a base to explore the Margaret River region.

We stayed in a Spa Suite which was furnished in an inoffensive modern style and was very spacious (those with poor eyesight may need their glasses to watch TV from the bed)!
The bathroom was very nice with a separate shower and a corner spa bath beside a window overlooking the lake. On the subject of the spa bath, my suggestion to the owners would be to add some bubble bath to the complimentary toiletries. There are one or two small packets of bath salts provided but these don't produce the lovely bath bubbles that I wished I was sitting amongst in such a luxurious big bathtub! There were a couple of nice-looking large tubes of bath salts next to the sink - but these were only available for purchase at $30 each. With the hefty price of the rooms here, I personally think that smaller versions of these should be provided free of charge.
The room had a DVD and CD player in it and we did borrow a couple of CDs and DVDs from the well-stocked library in the main building...but more and more hotels now offer iPod docking stations too and I do think that Cape Lodge, being a boutique and pricey establishment, could afford to add these to its rooms.

However, the small issues of bath products and iPod docking stations aside, there was one thing that the management should definitely look at changing and, for my partner and I, was the one thing about our stay that was unsatisfactory: the bedding.
We could not believe that a boutique hotel with modern interior decor did not offer duvets! Instead, our suite had...shudder...sheets and blankets!! Not fluffy, light-as-air, luxurious goose down duvets, but tightly tucked in, restrictive sheets and blankets that you have to wrestle with to get comfortable under! Why?! Cape Lodge, please change this if you want to compete with other luxury accommodation around the world!

We thought that the staff at the hotel were all very friendly and helpful throughout our stay. One female member of staff (not sure of her name) was especially friendly and full of energy at breakfast which was appreciated.

The restaurant at Cape Lodge was very nice - good service, tasty food and their own wine is rather impressive too - the only thing it lacked a little was ambience. It was whisper quiet in there - I think that if the management added some soft background music, it would be much better. The other thing I would suggest is to add some outside lighting. The restaurant is beside a lake and has floor to ceiling windows. All very nice at breakfast, but at dinner time when it's dark outside, you see...nothing at all! It seems such a shame that evening diners should only see their reflections in the windows, as surely it would not be too difficult for the management to install some subtle outdoor lighting that gently illuminated the lake? We really enjoyed the restaurant's breakfast offering - a fresh continental buffet and a choice of about half a dozen tasty hot dishes made to order. Dinner was nice too but, with a somewhat limited menu, we wished we had tried somewhere else on our second night - we were just too tired to drive 20-30 minutes to find another decent restaurant (be warned - there doesn't seem to be many restaurants open for dinner in winter around the immediate vicinity of the hotel).

Overall we really enjoyed our two nights at Cape Lodge, but I don't know if we would rush back for a second visit. Not that it's not worth a second visit - it is a classy, well-run and friendly hotel - we just think that for the price, we would probably rather try to experience somewhere new next time.

My boyfriend and I stayed at Cape Lodge as it has the reputation for being the best hotel in the Margaret River area and is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group. Unfortunately, I think that it is still trading on a very out of date reputation.

The decor of the rooms is out of date and actually looks quite cheap (it reminded me of a HiIton Hotel in the early 90s) and the bathroom is badly designed, with doors banging into each other and a high lip on the bath which made it difficult to get into (we stayed in the Spa Room).

The food, however, was excellent and the grounds would have been quite attractive, had it not been the end of summer (grass was understandably dry and lake was 2/3 empty).

All in alll, however, for almost $AUD500 a night, I was very dissapointed. There are far better places to stay for this price.

We stayed here for several nights in January at the end of a month-long trip to Australia. Cape Lodge is a luxurious base to explore the Margaret River area. The accommodation is scattered over beautiful grounds in the middle of the wine-making area and forests. Flocks of green parrots and kookaburras in the trees added a bit of an exotic feel for us Europeans.

The hotel is well located if you wish to visit the wineries in the region. It is off Caves Road and very near to several wineries and most of the other wineries are within half an hour’s drive away. If you stay here, I would think it essential to have a car to get around. (By the way, check out Leeuwin Estate – great, but expensive, wines and the winery is beautiful. We regret not having lunch at the restaurant there.)

We stayed in a spa suite, with a view over the lake towards the restaurant. The room was impressive: spacious and nicely furnished. There was sufficient room and cupboard space for our two large suitcases, which was often not the case in other accommodation during our trip. It had a jacuzzi bath in the middle of the suite with a window so that you could see out into the room and beyond while bathing. There was a little terrace by the lake, but we hardly used it because the mosquitoes were at times swarming outside.

In the main lodge, you find the reception, a small gift shop and a comfortable lounge. You can also borrow DVDs from reception to watch in your room, which is equipped with a DVD player and stereo.

The restaurant is first class. It is situated by the man-made lake and has a deck, although we saw nobody sitting outside, probably because the weather wasn’t that warm while we were there and because of the mozzies. We had outstanding gourmet breakfasts here. The service was friendly and efficient most of the time. Originally we only planned to eat here once in the evening, but the food and service were so good we went back to eat there again on our third night at the hotel. There was also a sommelier on hand to advise about wines.

Cape Lodge is a luxury retreat (part of the SLH marketing alliance, I think). The rooms, food and drink are therefore expensive. Overall though, I think it was worth paying the high prices for the pleasant experience we had there.

We stayed in a Lake Spa Suite for 2 nights over easter. While we were satisfied with our stay (our expectations having admittedly been tempered somewhat by some of the negative reviews on this site), we would probably not choose to stay here again on our next trip. The property is pretty and comfortable, but a bit impersonal, and we think overpriced for the region. (We stayed at Merribrook Retreat for the first 3 nights of our trip and actually liked it much better, though it was not in the same luxury category.)

Our room was in one of the newly added buildings at one end of the lake. It was spacious, including a separate lounge area and large jacuzzi bath (which was an awkward triangular shape and not well lit). However, it had a rather empty, corporate feel in terms of the lighting and furnishings. The room opened onto a private terrace with a view of the lake and restaurant.

The service we encountered at reception and the restaurant was polite and efficient, but somehow lacking in warmth and genuineness. The dinner we had was good, though not excellent; we had far better meals at some of the wineries.

Overall, we had no real complaints, but found nothing to enthuse over either. We would return to Merribrook Retreat or try another property next time.