Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat

Photo gallery for Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat

A living room with a wooden floor, a white sofa, a white armchair, a small table, a guitar, a television, and a window with a view of trees.
A dining area with a wooden table, six chairs, a cabinet with glassware, and a vase with flowers.
A wooden table in a garden with a stone wall and a wooden building in the background.
A forested area with a wooden bench and purple flowers in the foreground.
A bedroom with a large window, wooden ceiling beams, a floral bedspread, and a framed picture on the wall.

Reviews

10 out of 10
Exceptional

Highlights

  • Room to spread out
    Enjoy spacious layout that give everyone more room to relax.
  • Centrally-located
    You're never far from where you need to be with this convenient location.

Popular amenities

  • Patio
  • Toys
  • Barbecue grill
  • Air-conditioning
  • Refrigerator
  • Internet

Explore the area

View in a map
Kawarren, VIC
  • Place, Otway Estate Winery and Brewery
    ‪7 min drive‬
  • Place, Gellibrand Bushland Reserve
    ‪9 min drive‬
  • Place, Great Otway National Park
    ‪14 min drive‬

Rooms & beds

3 bedrooms (sleeps 7)

Bedroom 1

1 King Bed

Bedroom 2

1 King Bed

Bedroom 3

3 Single Beds

1 bathroom

Bathroom 1

Spaces

Deck or patio
Kitchen
Garden
Dining area

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About the area

Kawarren

Located in Kawarren, this holiday home is in a rural area. Otway Estate Winery and Brewery and Colac Golf Course are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those wishing to experience the area's natural beauty can explore Great Otway National Park and Great Otway National Park. Bluewater Leisure Centre and Colac Botanic Gardens are also worth visiting.
View more Holiday homes in KawarrenOpens in a new window
Map
Kawarren, VIC

What's nearby

  • Otway Estate Winery and Brewery - 7 min drive - 6.4 km
  • Gellibrand North Bushland Reserve - 8 min drive - 9.4 km
  • Gellibrand Bushland Reserve - 9 min drive - 10.2 km
  • Rex Norman Park - 11 min drive - 13.9 km
  • Great Otway National Park - 14 min drive - 9.1 km

Getting around

  • Colac Station - 19 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Gellibrand River General Store - ‬10 min drive
  • ‪Gellibrand River Hotel - ‬9 min drive

Frequently asked questions

Is Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

How much is parking at Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat?

On-site parking is available at the property.

What time is check-in at Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat?

Check-in begins at 2:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat?

Checkout is at 10:00 AM.

Where is Birnam - beautiful Otways retreat located?

Situated in a rural location, this holiday home is within a 5-minute walk of Great Otway National Park and Great Otway National Park. Otway Estate Winery and Brewery is 2.8 mi (4.4 km) away.

Reviews

10

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
Learn moreOpens in a new window
Rating 10 - Excellent. 15 out of 16 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 1 out of 16 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 16 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 16 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 16 reviews

9.6/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Check-in

10/10

Communication

10/10

Location

9.8/10

Listing accuracy

Reviews

Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Such an amazing, peaceful place to spend some time in nature.

Great host, everything you need for a fantastic stay, would highly recommend this place!
Stayed 6 nights in Feb 2023
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

A perfect, welcoming retreat.

A beautiful place to take in soul filling scenery and recharge the batteries. Appreciated all the attention to detail to make it such a comfortable stay. Thank you Chris and family.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Awesome

A beautiful country cottage with everything you need. Very homely and comfortable. Whilst it was isolated, it was 20 mins to Forrest (brewery) Gellibrand (brewery), and not from from beautiful locations including Elizabeth lake, amazing walks and waterfalls. lots of animals including cows (but far enough to not be noisy). Great mountain biking too. Highly recommend.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2025
Verified review

8/10 Good

Liked: Check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

fantastic Location

lovely holiday house with fantastic location in the forest, the house is very big with beautiful view, surrounded with fruit trees, there is few improvement needed i think, like more furniture in the setting room and out side, new pillows, more towel for long stay and face washer, the pantry and kitchens, and bathroom cupboard, needs little bit of love. There is big refrigerator and good washing machine but the dryer doesn't work unfortunately, we used the heater to dry our washing and the towel. outside you can go for beautiful easy walk around Loves lake and if you need the shops Colace 20 min away and they have every thing you could need Chris is a very easy to deal and communicate with, and tried his best when our son got hurt and yes happy to recommended this place
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2023
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Gorgeous property

Chris' house is in a fantastic location - close to beautiful walks, birds and wildlife - and the house had everything my family needed. The garden is absolutely beautiful and we loved having dinner in the gazebo! Great communication and highly recommended.
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2021
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Kawarren stay

Rented this property over the New Years break, was a perfect holiday house with plenty of space both indoors and outdoors. Communicating with Chris was a breeze. Would highly recommend to others
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

A lovely relaxing place and location

We had all the facilities we needed and had a very relaxing break
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2019
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Beautiful cottage in the bush

Thanks to Chris and family for their beautiful and cosy cottage in the bush. So lovely to be awakened by birdsong, surrounded by trees. Serenity!
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2019
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Just great !

Lovely house in a quiet, peaceful valley. Great for a relaxing break. Loved the fact that there is no mobile coverage.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Charming and Delightful oasis

Very charming cottage in a beautiful setting. Away from the crowds. This cottage is very comfortable and well equipped - everything available to prepare and cook meals and plenty of very scenic vistas from the many postions on decks and seating surrounding the house. Old style comfort with modern equipment. Something for everyone - a swing -trampoline - a bath - grazing cows in the next paddock and with Netflix also. Most helpful communications and good directions from Chris, quite lovely and highly recommended.
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2018
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Great country home

We stayed 2 nights at Birnam, 2 families and 3 kids. The place is clean, cozy and has everything you need. It's perfect to sit next to the fire place in winter. You can see and feel nature around, we can relax completely and enjoy ourselves. Chris is very attentive and gave us detailed instruction to make our stay more comfy. Will definitely be back:)
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2018
From a partner site

10/10 Excellent

Serenity at its best!

Birnam provided us with a real sanctuary and we have never relaxed and rested so much as when we stayed here! The birdlife is extraordinary and the peace and quiet is amazing! It is our ideal location for a recharge and we are looking forward to coming back! Thankyou Chris for sharing your slice of heaven!
Archival

10/10 Excellent

Perfect country getaway

We loved the property, garden was stunning and the house was so cosy
Archival

10/10 Excellent

Perfect family holiday destination in the Otways!

What a wonderful holiday home! From the moment we pulled up the drive of Birnam retreat we felt relaxed and at home. We stayed in this property as two families with children all aged under 7 years. The facilities were very clean and well appointed, the beds comfortable and the house warm from the wood fire. The natural surrounds of the house are gorgeous and provided hours of entertainment for our children exploring the garden and the nearby bushland. Watching the cattle graze and a mob of 40 kangaroos each night slowly move across the adjoining paddock was a highlight. If you are after a comfortable, warm and cozy holiday destination in the heart of the Otways then look no further! Thanks Chris for a lovely stay.
Archival

10/10 Excellent

Fantastic, peaceful retreat in the beautiful Otway

Our family of five visited Birnam in early October 2017. The house is a lovely, peaceful oasis hidden in the forest between Colac and Beech Forest. As soon as we turned into the unsealed (but well graded) road from the main road to reach Birnam and drove through the stands of tall trees, we were enchanted with the location. The house is about 500 metres from the Beechy rail trail with a great, family friendly section on one side of the road and a steeper, more challenging section on the other. It is a short reach to Forrest, the micro-brewery and the mountain bikes trails, the cafes and farmers' markets of Birregura and (although we didn't visit) the Otway Flyer. A new treetop adventure course opened in April this year nearby and we enjoyed a fun morning zipping through the trees. The house itself is perfectly set up for a family, with games for the kids to play (our kids played for hours with the planks), a great driveway for them to ride their bikes on and a comfortable wood fire for the evenings. The beds were comfortable, the linen new and crisp (we found out at the end of our stay that we were only the second guests) and the electric blankets welcome on the cold nights. The kitchen and bathroom had a lovely 'old farmhouse' feel which we really liked. Waking with only the sounds of the farm in front and the wind in the trees was a treat and we felt as though we were far away from civilisation, without actually being so!. Chris was fantastic at organising the stay and even went to the effort of organising for us to pick up a blanket we had left behind from them when they were next in Melbourne, which we greatly appreciated. Thanks Chris and Kate for a great stay!
Archival

10/10 Excellent

Lovely rustic house in a peaceful bush setting!

This property is an absolute hidden gem! It's so much more than can be seen from the photos here and was everything I could have hoped for a peaceful few days away catching up with a girlfriend and our 4 young boys. After an easy drive from Colac and short drive through the beautiful bush, we were greeted by a gorgeous rustic mud brick house with lots of character. It is surrounded by what would be a lovely cottage garden in the spring time and a dairy farm and hills off in the distance. We were fortunate that absolutely everything had been thought of at Birnam to make our stay really special! The fire was lit for our arrival, and comprehensive instructions on everything to do with the house (thankfully including turning off the electric fence if needed lol!) was left which was so helpful. The extra supplies of kindling and small and large logs for the fire was really appreciated too and would be especially helpful if you weren't used to fire lighting! The beds were huge and super comfy, with lovely quality linen and they even had electric blankets! The bedrooms and the bathroom had extra portable heaters and the kitchen had everything you could ever need with all the utensils and cookware being in great condition. We were welcome to use anything in the pantry too! Our boys absolutely loved the large amount of books and toys to play with and especially the huge trampoline outside. At night we rugged up and used the torches supplied to take the boys on a night walk back down the track and into the bush, which they thought was fantastic! We appreciated all the touristy brochures and maps on the bookshelf which helped us plan our day trip. We loved driving down to see the stunning triplet falls and the Californian Red Wood forest and these walks were very manageable with our young boys (the youngest was 4). Apart from the natural beauty of the National Park, the whole area is simply stunning with lots of farm shops, wineries, and quaint little towns, all very accessible from Birnam. Chris' communication was excellent throughout and she even posted something back that we had left behind. We were so lucky to be Birnam's first guests and couldn't speak more highly of the entrie experience we had. My only wish is that we could have stayed longer to explore the area further! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely property with us!
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