Western Australia – Forest Lodge Resort

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Of the four properties we stayed at over the 11 day trip, two were Airbnb which we’ll blog about separately, while the Pemberton and Margaret River stays of four and five days respectively deserve their own extended reviews, since they were both hotel establishments. There aren’t many places to stay in Pemberton so we were pretty lucky we got the Forest Lodge Resort. The Resort is set in the heart of Karri Forest, with the original lodge built in 1916 and is set across 13 acres today. We didn’t finally count the number of units in the Resort, but reckon it to be maybe around 16. The place itself is a short and easy 3 minute/2.3km drive away from the Pemberton town center itself, with fairly low traffic traveling along Vasse Highway.

And the short version of our review: highly recommended! Comments below:

We arrived at off-peak dates, and reckon the place was at most a quarter-occupied only – which in turn meant that there was very little noise and sound from even neighboring units which I think weren’t occupied during our period of stay. The Reception ladies though remarked that they just had a very busy weekend.

The two bedroom chalet we stayed in was very comfortable and well-appointed with amenities. There is a large living area, dining room, kitchen, a toilet with a large sink for laundry, a separate bathroom with a sink, a master room, and a smaller bedroom.

The master room was large with sufficient space for our luggage and room to spare, and the bedroom had two beds even: a double, and a smaller single.

Each bedroom and living area – including the bathroom but not the standalone toilet – was heated, with the living room equipped with a gas-operated fireplace that was very easy to start-up. The heaters in the bathroom was especially important over the winter season we stayed!

The flatscreen TV was equipped with high-definition channels, and Internet access was both reliable and quick – a very pleasant surprise as we weren’t expecting such in this relatively remote town.

The laundry and dryer was in a neighboring block less than 10 meters away – pretty convenient!

Our chalet faced a lawn and also children’s playground, and each morning, kangaroos would appear to graze or just stare intently into our unit.

Still waters casting a beautiful reflection of the pavilion at the resort’s lake.

A children’s swing near the resort’s small lake.

The large lawn in front of the our chalet, and children’s playground just beyond. Lots of kangaroo droppings about though, so we had to step with care.

The very large living room, with its gas-operated fireplace that also doubled up as a makeshift dryer.

The fireplace of the future. Press a button to switch it on, and one more button to set the intensity of the flame – and ‘whooomp’ – it comes up just like a gas cooker.

The master room, which overlooks the lawn in front of the chalet.

The bedroom, which has a double-bed and a single bed.

Ling has eyes like an eagle and spotted what looked like Western Rosellas in the trees some distance away near the resort’s lake. This was shot at 420mm FF equivalent @ f4.0 and as close as I could get. Birding really requires super equipment!

A family of wild kangaroos have free roam of the area too. At the start of each new day, they’ll hang around and graze at the front lawn of our chalet, and move back to a fenced area behind the chalet at dusk.

In a few seconds, we’re going to need a re-match. A destructive force of nature is about to happen!

My work desk, which helped loads in processing the hundreds of photos and writing blog posts and Tripadvisor reviews every night.

Hannah was sad to leave the resort after our four day stay there in Pemberton.
We certainly enjoyed our four day stay at this Resort, and the kids were disappointed when it was time to leave for our next destination.