For our recent trip to Victor Harbor in South Australia, I booked accommodation online. We have been tremendously lucky with this method, though it could be that our extensive travels over the decades have given us a traveller’s intuition that helps.

Our main criteria is accommodation with at least a queen size bed, its own toilet and shower, and close proximity to either the area we most want to visit, or to transportation that is near by. The Anchorage suited all of those requirements, plus had the added pleasure of a sea view, which is also desirable if one is traveling from the desert for a brief ‘sea change’. As it turned out, it also had a really wonderful little café/restaurant under the same roof.

The Anchorage is one of the last, if not the last, remaining ‘guest houses’ in the Victor Harbor area, said to have once boasted nearly 30 guest houses. I’m sure if all of them had been as comfortable as the Anchorage more of them would still remain. Our room was upstairs with a view overlooking the Bowls Club and the sea, with a lovely long veranda from which to view. For those uninitiated, Bowls here in Australia is similar to Boules in France, and Bocce in Italy. I have played it a few times and if you are with a group, not too competitive (or gossipy), it can be quite fun.

Early light on front of Anchorage Hotel

through to the café

veranda over looking Bowls Club and Encounter Bay

front entrance of Anchorage hotel

Our room was on a corner, and had a small lounge and TV area with a bedroom separate and en suite toilet/shower as well. But there were no cupboards. Instead, we found hooks on the wall, and hangers on which we hung our few belongings. Very old school! The staff are as friendly as the stairs are steep, and there is no lift, so if you have dodgy knees, best to stay elsewhere, or see if they have a ground floor room.

But the star of the place is the café. Honestly. The best eggs benedict I’ve ever eaten, even if the menu did read ‘$2 for added spinach for the hippies’. I can never find enough vegetables when I’m traveling, so if that makes me a hippie to order the spinach, then guilty as charged! The slow cooked lamb was amazing, as was the free-range chicken. But…Honey…the egg and bacon roll was worthy of an award! It was also worthy of two people to eat it, but my hubby had to be brave and go for it alone! Of the eight available meals to eat while in Victor Harbor, six were eaten there. No need to look elsewhere! We only ate elsewhere during lunches when we were off exploring, and nothing compared in quality. They even roast their own coffee and it was delicious. It’s not often I would return to stay at a hotel or pub, primarily for their food, but the heritage listed Anchorage is at the top of my list.

character-filled Anchorage hotel

homemade fruit toast for brekky, Anchorage Café

Best Eggs Benedict! Anchorage Café

Honey, I ate the whole thing egg and bacon roll! (Anchorage Café)

view from Anchorage Café to the historic train tracks outside.

calamari and tapas dishes, Anchorage café

Brekky

Slow cooked, pulled lamb with oven roasted chat potatoes.