The King George Inn

What a beautiful, peaceful and comfortable place to stay. Its quiet, immaculately clean, very well thought out, and the staff are absolutely wonderful!! The King George Inn has become our home away from home, and my husband and I plan to go there time and time again. The architecture and location is incredible, with a two minute walk to the beach and boardwalk in one direction, and a five minute walk to the downtown area on King Street where we can dine, visit the coffee and second hand shops. Thank you Vanessa for taking such good care of us while we have stayed there. We look forward to seeing you again very soon. Sylvia & Ed

Stayed two nights at King George Inn, originally a big family home, turned jail, turned hotel. Some rooms actually have a jail cell look with bars and everything but we stayed in Room 8 which was quite nice. This is a unique hotel with an antique/historical theme to it, clean and well cared for A few downsides in our room were the shower (in kinda rough shape) and we struggled with the TV and the Roku streaming service. Roku, we discovered, offered no Sportsnet and so finding Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals took us quite a bit of effort before and after supper. Screen casting from our devices wasn't working with the TV but finally within Roku, I found Sportsnet via Amazon Prime (we have a subscription). Shouldn't have been this hard and the hotel would do good to provide TV instructions for those not familiar with Roku. Booking the room was a bit of a trial after messages left, both phone and email, went unanswered for a day and a half. We just showed up at the hotel and called the number again and this time got through to the woman who was the host. She was very nice, though I got the sense that her time was divided between a few things. The hotel is a five minute walk from beach and downtown bars and restaurants. Tuesday morning we packed up and checked out the jail museum at the hotel. This hotel is a maze and very unique in its layout. Outside there’s a courtyard sort of space with what looks like there was a plan at some point to have a restaurant on site. It feels like the whole business was originally ambitious and may not have met early expectations. It's possible they weren't fully up to the tourist season level of service perhaps. Other than being a hotel, it's a little confusing exactly what the King George Inn is about. There is no check-in desk that I saw and It doesn’t seem like there are any staff onsite though if you call them, the host is sometimes nearby, sometimes not answering, sometimes answering. At one point she sent a young woman to bring us some towels and she appeared from somewhere, I don't know. Did she live next door? Overall this is a good hotel in a great location.

I should have known how my stay would be when I heard the password was "Cant get out". The place stated they had wifi but the only place I could pick it up was on the landing at the entrance. TV programs? what TV programs. No signal so no TV. I was told there was a view, but this was just in between buildings - not much of a view really. The person who checked me in was nowhere to be seen during the evening or next day. I was not impressed with this place at all. Dont think I will ever go back there.

We loved this experience for our kids! Vanessa was a gracious host full of knowledge of the history of the old jail, the local haunts and opened her home for so to have a glimpse of what life is like in Coburg! We will be back when we get warmer weather so we can enjoy the beach 1 block away!!

My husband and I booked a room here (so we thought) for4 nights, through Vanessa. She told me she would hold the room for us but she was too busy with check-outs so asked me to call back at 12:30 to get the confirmation. I called back at 12:30 and had to leave a message. I received no response so I called again at 4pm, reached Vanessa who now said that she was too busy with check-ins . However, she assured me the room was blocked off for us and she would call me back after check-ins. At 7pm still no reply so I called again and spoke with Jordan who told me there was actually no room blocked off for us. He said he could hold the room but was reluctant to continue with the booking since we had already been dealing with Vanessa. He said she would call us the next morning to finalize the booking (we had our doubts). Sure enough we never heard from either of them again. The worst customer service I have ever encountered! The whole scenario was like a bad episode of Faulty Towers. Gotta laugh it off! Since then friends told us we were lucky not to waste our money at that Inn. We also found out Vanessa is actually the owner. Great way not to run a business!!!

The Inn provides basic accommodation. A somewhat noisy "window shaker" air conditioner is available and was required. There is no breakfast however a good bakery is literally steps away. The inn is located in the historic heart of Coburg. The fine Old Victoria Hall is very close to the Inn and worth a visit. There are numerous restaurants near to the Inn. I had low expectations for the Inn and if I had had more time I would have tried to stay somewhere else.

The King George Inn bills itself as a luxury boutique hotel when it is in fact a glorified boardinghouse. My wife and I are both 67 and amateur musicians. We arrived at the King George Friday July 28 in a stifling heat wave. We were due to play a show in Newcastle the next day and decided to stay in Cobourg because we're considering a move to the area. We had two guitars, an amp, guitar stand and accordion, along with our overnight bags. Because I have published a number of crime novels, my wofe booked us into one of the $300 jail rooms. We knew the room would not have all the amenities of newer ones but at that price we assumed there was a luggage cart and elevator, this being a luxury hotel. It had neither. Nor is there a concierge or luggage service. We had to make three trips up several steep staircases, through heavy fire doors, past a stairway exit blocked off with plants, and into the narrowest room entry imaginable. The AC had not been preset and the room was as hot as the outside. On my third trip, going down one staircase after climbing another, my CPAP machine fell off my suitcase and landed on my ankle bone, causing excruciating pain. On the one hand, it happened right by the ice machine, so my wife could fill a bag and reduce the swelling and bruising. On the other, the hall was so narrow, another family had to wait patiently while she attended to me. My wife had spent the previous 24 hours wearing a heart monitor because of blood pressure issues. I have had lung surgery and my endurance is not what it was. To say our first hours at the luxurious King George were thoroughly miserable is an understatement. We actually went out into the heat because it was cooler than in the room. We never saw one staff person after we signed in. No one offered to help with our bags. There is no phone in the room to call for help or service. Because the nearest staircase was blocked, in the event of a fire we'd have had to evacuate up and down a torturous series of narrow halls and stairs, including the outside stairs. No one in a walker, wheelchair or using crutches could make it. You can't even enter without a cell phone. If the King George Boardinghouse wants to charge $300 and throw the word luxury around, they need to hire staff and improve accessibility and safety. Otherwise it's as close to false advertising as you can get.

Check-in is from 3-7pm. You are required to phone a # to get access. I called at 2:56pm and was promptly told that check in was 3pm (strike 1). Several Europeans without Canadian cell phones became my problem (strike 2). We were given room #7 - overpowering musty smell, dead spider on the bed, dead bugs around the window, dust balls hanging from the ceiling (strike 3). The bed - creaky and extremely uncomfortable - I tossed and turned all night. I would check into another hotel for our second night, but nothing is available.

An interesting and unusual place. Vanessa and her team (Isabel and Jordan) were helpful. No front desk. No restaurant or breakfast offered. It might help to provide an outline of breakfast options in walking distance and put it in each room.