Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa

Mixed reaction here. Pools and spa were great, but there wasn't really enough space for the volume of people. One pool for basic entry, pay extra for the other 3 pools and sauna. Per earlier the pools are beautiful: fresh, different temps, one with beds to lie in the water, very clean facilities. But the pools themselves fit about 10 ppl in before you're feeling crowded, which took away from the relaxation side of things. Recommended trying it to see if it works for you.

We stayed for 5 days in one of the Escape Villas located on the hill next to the bathhouse. The villas have a modern design, come with a full kitchen, spa and large shower. The centrepiece is a gas fireplace that for the uninitiated is virtually impossible to light once turned off. Housekeeping took half a day in the first instance to relight it and on the next occasion we gave up. Disappointing. The Bathhouse and wellness center are unfortunately disappointing. The cost is high and the value low. The whole facility is in need of maintenance. There are rusted and taped up vents on the roof. The yard that is next to the bathhouse (you look at it when walking towards the entrance) is littered with empty chemical containers which could easily be hidden away. The lift wasn't working what severely inconvenienced a fellow disabled guest... The lift was inoperable for the whole of our stay... The price for bathing is excessive, especially when using the Sanctuary. The massage options are dear and it was nothing to write home about... It really pains me to write such a negative review as the business has so much potential. Perhaps a trip to Alba Springs on the Mornington Peninsula would inspire the team.

Beautiful bathhouse in gorgeous surrounds and lovely facilities. Unfortunately a particular pair of other guests were taking photos in the pool, despite rules about phone use which are verbally made clear to everyone upon arrival. When we asked the lifeguard for assistance, she seems to have told these other guests that it was okay to take photos! They continued to do so throughout our whole session. Shocking response from the staff and a complete violation of privacy, making the whole experience very uncomfortable in the end. Would be delighted to return in future if the rules about phones were actually enforced in a meaningful way.

I wouldn’t even give them a one star Crazy amount of money for what it was, we felt like we went to a local swimming pool except it was expensive but the surrounding did not match. The view that was meant to be scenic was full of weeds. It’s a super shame that such lovely staff have to work in that environment. The change area is free for all everyone get in there and ohhh my goodness it was so unclean and why are there men in here. Do not go!!

The makeover is amazing, everything is spotless, and the atmosphere feels so cozy and relaxing. We spent a few hours in the adults-only area with 4 beautiful pools and 3 luxe rooms, and even had the place to ourselves for a while. It was so peaceful that we managed to take a little snooze on the lounge chairs! Definitely worth the upgrade and a much-needed refresh.

I enjoyed my experience in the spa, however I would like to agree with other reviews that have noticed some patrons with their phone's clearly taking pictures in public areas while it is made clear that phones should be placed in the lockers provided..the rule needs to be enforced unfortunately, as some people will do whatever they choose regardless..the phones where in clear view of staff. I didn't let it affect my enjoyment but I also think it's worth mentioning.

Very disappointed with this experience! Do not recommend it at all! Very overpriced for what they got to offer! Water temperature was just like the local swimming pool. Only 1 slightly larger and 1 small pool to choose from. No outdoor spa, no cold plunge pool. Paid $60 for the same experience that could have been much less to go to a public swimming pool, not relaxing, not hot at all. Only 1 change room for male and female together! It was ridiculously awkward and weird! The conditioner bottle was totally empty, it shows that no one maintain or clean the area for days. I'm just glad that I only wasted $60 without choosing any other package as they can't even uphold the most basic general experience.

This is second time I have come here and enjoyed both times. The private baths are very nice and the public ones are not absolutely packed like I have experienced at other hot springs, which just ruins the experience. They have a relaxing waiting room with nice music and decor. The guy that checked us in, Tye, was very friendly and welcoming. There is enough parking too.

Hepburn Bathhouse is definitely a waste of money. For one thing, your purchase only gets you two hours in the spas. This isn't obvious anywhere on their website. We assumed it would be like the Peninsula Hot Springs down in Mornington where you book in with your arrival time, and are then welcome to stay as long as you like (two hours, five hours, whatever) until they close. Here, you are limited to two hours, no matter when you arrive. For a weekend bathing session, the price starts at $44. This gets you access to "The Bathhouse," which consists of two mineral pools, both of which are very noisy, small, and crowded. One is lukewarm and the other is hotter, but neither are HOT hot. If you go mid-week, the price is cheaper at $34. But it's still not very good value for money when you consider that you can only stay for two hours and only visit two mediocre, crowded pools. If you want something a little more satisfying, and you have money to burn, you can book in for The Bathhouse + The Sanctuary ($94 weekend, $74 mid-week, again for only two hours), which gives you access to a separate area with better, less-crowded pools -- but these still did not wow us by any means. The Sanctuary experience includes a pool with ill-fitting "relaxation couches," a salt water pool, two steam rooms (one a Turkish hamam), and an outdoor deck with lounge chairs, a very hot pool, and a cold plunge pool. As for the pool with the so-called "relaxation couches," well, it's not that relaxing. You lay back in these uncomfortable metal chair thingies and powerful jets pound you with water from all sides. If you're too short, like me, the jets go straight up the wrong part of your body, if you catch my meaning. Felt more like a medical procedure than a relaxing experience, ha! Also, the fabric that's supposed to hold back your head and neck actually fell OFF my metal chair thingie and I had to stick my hand down among the jets and dig around in the dark water to try and find it. Not awesome. The Sanctuary also includes a salt water pool and "monsoon showers" in a dark room with aging Brutalist architecture -- not very relaxing at all, and it didn't even seem all that salty -- better to just take a dip in the bay for free if you're looking for saltwater! The outdoor deck with the hot pool and cold plunge pool was Hepburn Bathhouse's only saving grace. The deck is made of dark wood and has a pleasant, onsen-like ambience. There's a tiny hot pool that overlooks a peaceful scene with a tiny burbling creek and gum trees, and it's hot enough that you FINALLY feel like you're in a mineral hot spring. I spent most of my allotted two hours in this pool, alternating with the cold plunge right next to it. Hepburn Bathhouse certainly tries to give you the "luxe" experience, with your own bathrobes, slippers, lockers, and plenty of free water and apples. But it just falls short. The service was especially bad: the lady at reception was very strange and airy-fairy, and the guys downstairs who give you your towels and robes are very brusque and act like they couldn't care less. Bottom line: this place is NOT worth the money if you can only stay two hours. Hepburn Bathhouse either needs to lower their prices, OR they need to let you stay as long as you like. Otherwise, this place is highway robbery. Much better to spend the $40 and head down to Mornington Peninsula, where you get to experience 20 different pools and stay as long as you like. As it is now, I wouldn't recommend you waste your money here.

What will 2 hours and $83 buy you? A one way ticket to relaxation-ville that's what! Sure it's going to seem like a lot of money beforehand, but just hand over your plastic, collect your goodie bag filled with fluffy robe and towel and then get your swimmers on before you can think if the dollars make sense... Trust me, 20 minutes floating in the large pool, complete with chilled out music and views of the outside gum trees and flowing stream and you will have long forgotten the financial aspect. Move your way around to the different pools - all with different temperatures, pummeling jets, mineral properties and the like. After two hours your fingers will be pruny and your worries a million miles away. Pro tips: - Bring thongs/flip-flops because the stones around the pools are a bit stabby. - Don't plan anything requiring much energy afterwards because you're going to feel sleepy and spacy. - Pack a small snack or visit the tea rooms afterwards. All that relaxation gets the hunger going!

I was very disappointed by my visit to Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa. I'm glad that I was able to attend on a week day & at an off-peak time as I dread to imagine how cramped it would feel if they had the maximum capacity of people attending. The Bathhouse itself consists of just one small relaxation pool & an even smaller spa pool. I opted to pay the extra fee and not only access the Bathhouse but also the "Sanctuary", which provided access to a salt therapy pool, steam room & spa couches. The word sanctuary conjured up a place where you would be able to relax & unwind. Indeed the images online suggest that this is what awaits you. I found the spa couches to be very uncomfortable to recline on as they were a metal frame with thin pieces of material strung across, my height was not a good match to these seats. The jets were then so powerful that you pretty much had to cling on for dear life and it was impossible to relax due to the excessive noise that said jets produced. I headed to the salt pool only to be confronted a by a couple who were inappropriately canoodling & for whom perhaps the private couples spa would have been more appropriate!!! Again this did not make for a relaxing experience. Perhaps the quietest place was the steam room but I can only tolerate this for a short amount of time & it would have benefited from some eucalyptus or other essential oil being added into the steam. The website spoke of a relaxation deck, this adjoined the spa couches & did not look very appealing on the day that I was there as the environment was cold & as previously mentioned the sheer noise in the place was not conducive to relaxing. In other spas that I have been to these kind of areas normally have some soothing music playing to which you then recline & possibly take a mini power nap to. The package you purchase provides two hours of access, which I initially thought would be nowhere near enough time. As it was I'd had enough after just an hour!!! The best part of the day was the discounted cream tea that I enjoyed after the spa in the Hepburn Pavilion Cafe

I didn't by any means dislike the Bathhouse - I enjoyed myself. It's a pretty setting, it's relaxing and a good way to de-stress. However it is WAY too expensive for what it is. I paid something like $55 (it goes up to $79 on Fri/weekends) for full access to the shared facilities. It's not that $55 is a "lot" of money - but it's poor value for what you get in return, which is time-limited (2 hrs) access to essentially just a few not-so-large facilities. I couldn't help but think back to my days in Budapest, Hungary where I paid just A$12 for a full day's access to the Szechenyi spa with its 20 or 30 different spas. For sure, life in Hungary is much cheaper than in Australia...but not 5x cheaper! You will have a pretty good time if you come to the Bathhouse, but you won't walk away feeling like you got good value for money at all.

What a great little place this is! I headed here on a trip with my room mate and his boyfriend for a little getaway. Thinking that I might be a third wheel I was very careful to giving the couple some quiet time together while I paddled around the pool. Very important to book if you want to secure a private setting!

Staff are inflexible, snobbish and do ZERO to entice you to spend $37 on what is essentially a noisy swimming pool. If you are looking to replicate an Onsen or Zen experience.....this is not the place to do it.

What a setting. The bathhouse is set deep in beautiful secluded bush surrounds. It is an architects dream. With glass everywhere and pitched ceilings, it is stunning. There are several options in the way of water play! From a large pool adjoining spa to the more private "Sanctuary" where adults can escape the squeals of kids. Once you have spent some time soaking in the pools you can robe up and make you way towards the pampering of your choice! We had a one hour massage that will leave you so relaxed, the drive back to Melbourne will seem impossible. So perhaps seek out one of the many beautiful buildings that house countless B & B's, again any architects dream. So if you were in need of some zen time AND happened to be an architect, you just might never leave!

Before you begin to read note - I have contact Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa twice prior to posting this and got no response. The kicker is I also posted up on there facebook page asking to have someone contact me and they have deleted my post and block me from the page. So professional. My partner and I attended the Hotsprings on the 29th Dec 2015. We wanted to have a bit more privacy and relaxation so we paid the extra for the Sanctuary, total $138. Didn't know that I was also paying for a skin infection as part of the package. Within a few hours of leaving the Bathhouse and Spa the back of my right thigh, lumber and the right side of my torso started to come up with red, raised splotches. Something that I have never had before. This continued for several days and when I went to the doctor he informed me that I had contracted a tinea infection all along my body. The kicker is I didnt get it on my feet which is where people normally get it. So in addition to the $138 I now had a $20 doctors appointment and $20 worth of medication. Joy. Now at first I was annoyed but hey a quick chat with the team at the HotSprings should clear any issue up in terms of customer satisfaction so I dropped them an email and jumped on their facebook to get them to contact me. Well my email has gone unanswered and they not only deleted my facebook post off there page but have restricted my access to their page to read only. Really? Now i'm just p*ssed off. Thanks for ruining an otherwise perfectly nice escape to the country Hepburn Springs Bathhouse & Spa. Now for a general review: 1. The only thing stopping people who pay for general area to the 2 pools and those who pay the extra for the Sanctuary are colours wrist bands and no staff to monitor this. We had people coming and going into the Sanctuary with KIDS on several occasions and paying customers had to take it upon themselves to actually tell these people that kids were not allowed in that section. 2. The general area consists of two pools, a hot pool which is pretty small and a larger cold pool with families use as a swimming pool, no relaxation to be had here. 3. The actual sanctuary is pretty small too, only 2 pools, a steam room and a waterfall shower. If you want to go to a real hotspring/mineral spring and actually enjoy yourself, save the 3 hour drive out to Hepburn and make your way down to the Mornington Peninsula Hot Springs and enjoy some real R&R. Never going back here - will be telling everyone about this experience & maybe one day I might here back from these guys.

After being blown away by the springs at the Mornington Peninsula, I had high expectations and was much anticipating my trip to Hepurn Springs. Considering the entry fee I paid was higher than that at the peninsula I gathered it would be just as good if not better. What I got was a lack lustre public pool with the ''Sanctuary" being quite a modest name for what I found was just a big spa with some metal couches bunged in it. I am seriously disappointed for what I thought was going to be a relaxing & soothing day of bathing turned into a public spa for anyone over the age of 18. Won't be going back in a hurry.