Spicers Balfour Hotel

We stayed here for 7 nights during New Year's Eve, wonderfully relaxing. What a great place to stay close to the bustling city of Brisbane, in peace and quiet, enjoying top service and good facilities of the hotel. Very nice suits and beds! High quality food and a great rooftop bar! Highly recommended! We will definitely come back!

We stayed one night at spicers for our anniversary and absolutely loved it. The rooms are stylish, clean and comfortable. The restaurant and rooftop bar are easily accessible from the rooms, with tasty and generous meal options. We loved the included and very generous breakfast. The staff were genuinely kind and polite, even allowing a 12pm check out time at our request. We will be back!

We stayed here for 2 nights in a suite. Lovely big room and fantastic bathroom, all beautifully appointed and spotlessly clean.|We had breakfast here both mornings. The food and coffee are all freshly made and delicious, although the service can be slightly on the slow side (on our first morning we waited over 20 mins for our coffees but i think this is because they forgot our order). |We ate here one evening too and very much enjoyed the food.|The roof bar is small but it’s nice to have a pre-dinner drink looking out at the bridge.|We liked the location. It’s quiet but only a short walk to the Felon’s bar/wharf area which is very lively. Also the River Walk is close by.|Overall highly recommended! Would definitely stay here again.

Second time we have stayed and exceeded our expectations, everything from the great location, great staff, easy check in process. We were lucky to get upgraded to Simla suites which were amazing. We had the breakfast in the restaurant which was absoutely divine. We cannot wait to come for another visit, we are from the Gold Coast and its the perfect mini vacation.

I had drinks on the rooftop and dinner on the front verandah. The cocktails were lovely and refreshing. Dinner was Vietnamese. It was unlike Vietnamese I've had before making me think it might have been French fusion. Everything was succulent and delicious. Service was good. I think our waiter said it was her first day. I wouldn't have known if she hadn't said. More exquisite cocktails. Mmmmm.

I find it difficult to recommend this hotel because I had a limited experience of it. Because of a 9.30pm arrival and supposed 6am departure we had no interaction with hotel staff (because there weren't any on premises over that period), other than a very difficult conversation arising because of a potentially disastrous problem when our 1.5-2 hour car transfer to the Spicers Scenic Rim Trail walk failed to materialise – the point being that we were at risk of missing the start of the walk and/or the whole weekend being aborted. This necessitated many frantic phone calls to the hotel's after-hours number, the Spicers Peak Lodge's after-hours number, and and anybody else I could reach. With regards to the hotel and the lodge, I was gutted by the initial responses that the Scenic Rim Trail was a different business which was nothing to do them, meaning that I was on my own to fix the problem (despite having booked all accommodation and trail components through the same Spicers agent). This was in the context of my arranging an expensive long weekend to celebrate my partner's significant birthday and seemingly all comprising 'Spicers' properties/products. I do acknowledge that it was the Balfours person who initiated a fix. In terms of the hotel specifically, my room code offered no access to the main hotel property (I tried), so I can't comment on it. Our (most expensive room option) Balfour Suite in the nearby Simla building was nice – certainly spacious, but looking tired and in need of a makeover. Because of our (supposed) 6am departure, we were unable to have breakfast in the Balfour Kitchen and Bar. Instead we paid for a 'breakfast box' which was in the room on arrival. Given that there is a restaurant on premises, I had reasonable hopes for... an interesting wrap... some fruit... perhaps Vietnamese inspired? What was provided was derisory, embarrassing, and pathetic – A cardboard box of the cheapest-looking, apparently gluten-free (not my request) muesli I've ever seen, plus another box of very ordinary yoghurt, together with a knife and fork, meaning I had to use the hotel-provided teaspoon. Really, Balfour, is this the best you can do?

My wife and I booked 5 nights for early March, and from the moment we checked in, we were made to feel at home in this stunning hotel. From the room, to the food to the staff, it exceeded every expectation. Little did anyone know that a Cat 2 cyclone would make a bee line for Brisbane. After 3 wonderful nights, for safety reasons, the hotel decided to close. Special shout out to Staci for making arrangements for us to move to another hotel that would withstand the wind and taking care of everything to set that up! Absolute over and above service!!! Thank you to Simon as well for taking the time to drive us to the new location and make sure we were welcomed and even showed us around. We are both grateful that you all took such amazing care of us!!! 5 stars to the entire staff as well as the super chill atmosphere even during some scary times. Looking forward to booking our next trip to pick up where we left off. G’day and thanks again!! Dave and Angela.

If you like small boutique hotels with great staff, good food, super location in Brisbane, and nice rooms, this hotel is for you. Booked two rooms for family on three day weekend and it was magical. The friendliest and most accommodating staff, nice rooftop bar with views of city and bridges, and wonderful breakfasts on terrace. The staff made some terrific restaurant recommendations, too.

Lovely place for a brunch catch. Great location tucked away in the edge of the valley. Gluten free options on the menu and a nice vibe.

Stopped by for brunch during my trip to Australia. This hotel is amazing. Off the beaten path, quiet and classy. Greenery surrounding the white table cloth tables that are set in an open dining room with a nice breeze. I ordered a flat white and a crab omelette on toast. It was to die for. Eggs cooked to perfection and as usual, the flat white was great, per Australian standards. After brunch, I went up to the cozy little roof top to relax with a glass of wine. Love this place!

There is very little not to love about this hotel. Boutique in every imaginable way, it's one of my favourites anywhere in the world. The rooms may be small, but what they lack in size they make up for in design and style... and frankly, if you're travelling to see your room, why are you travelling? The service is perfection - personal, thoughtful and knowledgeable. Sure, it isn't located smack in the middle of the CBD, but given it's walking distance to James St, just off Brunswick street and an abundance of galleries, stores, cafes, restaurants, bars and even a cinema, this is the perfect location for a weekend getaway. If you're clever, time your stay to coincide with one of their art exhibitions, where art is displayed on walls all around the hotel. What you MUST do however, is have breakfast on the balcony. Heaven.

Balfour Kitchen is an idyllic setting only metres from Brunswick St with excellent service that leaves you with no misunderstanding that you are in a hotel and not a cafe. We both had big breakfast which lives up to it's name, with delicious and perfect temperature coffee to complement. The poached egg was cooked perfectly and the pork chipolatas were tasty. Unfortunately the bacon was not cooked to my liking (crisp) but overall the food was yummy and well presented. This is a lovely and relaxing breakfast venue in the heart of New Farm cafe-district. The food is good and the service is friendly and professional - and not a tattoo or facial piercing in sight!

Monday night is BYO night. So I was in a pretty good mood with my Chandon and Pinot in hand when I arrived. The setting is not what I thought. Don't get me wrong, the verandah is beaut. But inside is tacks-ville country cafe. Not to mention the wonky tables. The restaurant was packed for a Monday night. I should've known if the BYO-Monday got me in, it got just about everyone else in too. Ol' Raymond the tanned blue-eyed Irishman did his best as he was one of two waiters. My scallops were beautifully cooked. My guests sirloin looked wonderfully medium-rare. But all-in-all the food was non-spectacular. My prawn salad was pretty woeful. I dunno, if you pay $30 for a salad as a main, perhaps you expect the prawns to be de-veined? My poor salad leaves were wilted and I failed to find a piece of mango (which is a shame given they are about $1.50 each at Woolies). There were many other minor flaws which I'll leave out. My negative Nancy is all full throttle. I really want to give this two stars. But I hear breakfast is amazing. I'll come back for that, and if it's just as bad, we're getting knocked down.

Finally made it to the Balfour this morning for breakfast and what a treat! Tucked away in a little side street in New Farm, this hotel is open to anyone for breakfast. The big breakfast was great and we were particularly impressed by sausages and the pork belly! Oh and the poached eggs were perfectly poached. The service wasn't great this morning but the food definitely made up for it.

One of the best breakfasts in Brisbane. Always generous servings, inventive menu options and the food quality is fabulous. A little peaceful haven sitting on the verandah on a sunny day.

One of the best stays we have EVER had anywhere! Thoughtfully designed, warmly welcoming, carefully managed, and deliciously nourishing. The breakfast was also one of best ever! Our room had everything we expected and just enough more than we needed to make us feel luxuriously cared for. We will be back!

This place is everything!!!!!!! For one it is insanely beautiful. We were immediately seated on the front deck which is perfectly set up. You get the sunlight and the breeze while still being screened from the street by the lovely trees. Our coffee order was taken promptly and the coffee delivered just as fast. I order mine insanely hot and the barista not wanting to burn the milk and compromise the taste of the coffee to heat it up to my expectations HEATED UP MY GLASS!!!!! I think I am in love with him. We ordered our meals which took a bit to arrive but I actually enjoyed the wait. You get to soak in the amazing atmosphere and listen to their amazing music. Think Angus & Julia Stone and Beach House. I was loving this. But when our meals arrived I was blown away. They were beautiful to look at and even more lovely to eat. I had the roasted mushrooms on sourdough with feta, dukkah and beetroot relish. I devoured every mouthful. Perfect portion size. Tried some of my friends haloumi dish and it has made the tippy top of my 'to eat' list. The eggs were so perfectly poached it was almost a damn shame to eat them. Our waiter, who is also the general manager and possibly the nicest man alive, forgot our smoothie orders. We weren't even annoyed about it, we simply told them not to worry about it. The GM then came out with our bill and said 'I think honesty is the best policy. I forgot your smoothie order and to apologise I have taken 25% off of your bill'. Completely unnecessary but he did it anyway. That, my friends, is how you do customer service. He also treated us to a tour before we left. Let me tell you, that rooftop bar will be getting a visit. What a place. I adore it. They've gained a repeat customer today.

We came to Balfour's Kitchen at this hotel for High Tea to celebrate an 80th birthday. The 9th person couldn't go at the last minute however we were told we still had to pay the $55 for this person because the food had already been prepared. Considering the freshness of some of the morsels on offer we wondered how long ago this food had been prepared! The mini brioche bun was dry with minimal crab filling, the miniscule pork and fennel sausage roll was a bite size of tastelessness and when it came to the sweet plate things did not improve. Slices of some sort of cake so extremely dry one wondered how long ago it had been cut and plated, the same for the tiny piece of brownie. Top marks for the caramel tart and you can't go wrong with a chocolate coated strawberry, also the coffee was very good. We asked for a bag/container for the birthday girl to take home the few edible leftovers but were told this was not possible. All in all a very disappointing experience for what should have been a celebration. We left with the feeling of being totally ripped off!!