Lorne Hotel or Grand Pacific Hotel: which Lorne pub?

Lorne Hotel is the Mountjoy Parade pub with a bistro, Totti’s Lorne and eleven rooms upstairs. Grand Pacific Hotel is the pier-side pub that reopened on 2 October 2024. Totti’s Lorne is the Italian room inside the Lorne Hotel. ⁠^{1, 4, 12, 3}

Which Lorne pub should you choose?

Choose the Lorne Hotel if you want a room upstairs, and choose the Grand Pacific if you want a meal with a coastline view. The table below puts the two pubs side by side and uses only what the venue pages and the named reports say. ⁠^{4, 12, 6}

Both pubs sit on that foreshore road, and for other places to eat see places to eat in Lorne, while a day tour from Melbourne may only pause in town, so compare Great Ocean Road tours that stop in Lorne. ⁠

What is the Lorne Hotel like for a meal?

For a meal at the Lorne Hotel, pick the bistro and beer garden or Totti’s Lorne, the Italian room in the same building at 176 Mountjoy Parade. ⁠^{2, 3, 1}

The bistro page says “Aussie classics, cold drinks and panoramic views of Louttit Bay and the hinterland”, names dishes such as schnitzels, burgers, seasonal curries and fresh seafood, and says same-day walk-ins are welcome. ⁠²

Totti’s Lorne is simple Italian, trattoria-style, inside the Lorne Hotel, and executive chefs Mike Eggert and Matt Germanchis lead a page that names lobster pasta, wood-grilled King George whiting, Apollo Bay calamari, antipasti, woodfired bread, handmade pastas and tiramisu. ⁠³

Totti’s offers online pick-up and takeaway, and the venue page also lists a private dining room that it says has ocean views. ⁠^{3, 1}

What is the Grand Pacific Hotel like for a meal?

The Grand Pacific is the meal with a coastline view at 268 Mountjoy Parade by the pier, and the site describes Italian-inspired cuisine and pub fare in a building it calls newly refurbished. ⁠^{6, 7, 12}

The spaces are a dining room, outdoor areas and the Fishermens Bar overlooking the Lorne coastline, and Surf Coast Times reported a reopening on 2 October 2024, the first time in more than three years, under licensees Mary-Ann and Matthew Humphries. ⁠^{6, 7, 12}

That report describes a new kitchen, a refurbished front main bar and terrace, and the Fishos Bar back as a public bar with a fireplace. ⁠¹²

Walk-ins are welcome, online reservations cover groups of 1 to 10, and larger groups contact the venue by email. Check the venue’s Visit page for the days it trades before you go. On 1 November 2026, the home page, the menu and the Visit page listed no rooms. ⁠^{7, 6, 8}

Which pub has the better view?

Use the words each pub publishes, because neither page ranks the view: Merivale describes panoramic views of Louttit Bay and the hinterland at the Lorne Hotel, while the Grand Pacific overlooks the Lorne coastline and the licensees said almost every seat has an ocean view. ⁠^{2, 6, 12}

The Lorne Hotel rooftop is an events space for weddings and functions rather than a walk-in bar, and Merivale says it has views of Louttit Bay and the hinterland, a terrace, a private bar and lift access. ⁠⁵

Can you stay upstairs at either pub?

Stay upstairs at the Lorne Hotel, where Merivale lists eleven rooms. On 1 November 2026, the Grand Pacific’s own site listed no rooms, and its owner description on Tripadvisor said the accommodation rooms were being refurbished while dining and events stayed open. ⁠^{4, 15, 6, 8, 7}

The eleven rooms are executive suites (one super-king), a King room, Twin rooms (two king beds) and Family rooms (one queen and two singles), in a hotel the stay page places directly opposite the Lorne Surf Life Saving Club, next to the main street, with free wifi and parking plus tea and coffee in the room. ⁠⁴

The hotel’s stay listing says some rooms have ocean views and that pets are not allowed, and it also mentions the bistro, bar and beer garden. A September 2024 report said the Grand Pacific’s plan was the band room next, then the rooms on the upper floors. ⁠^{16, 12}

For other beds in town, read where to stay in Lorne, and if you travel with a dog the Lorne Hotel’s stay listing is not the one to use, so see pet-friendly accommodation in Lorne. ⁠

What changed at the Lorne Hotel under Merivale?

Merivale announced on 19 May 2021 that it had bought the Lorne Hotel from the Upham family, and before that sale MoVida Lorne and Coda Lorne operated at the venue. ⁠^{9, 10}

Totti’s Lorne opened in March 2023 as Merivale’s first Victorian restaurant, in the top-floor space that was previously home to Coda, so what changed is the owner in 2021, Totti’s in the old Coda space in 2023, and the spaces the Merivale pages list now. ⁠^{11, 1}

The coach from Melbourne stops at the Lorne Hotel, and the Melbourne to Lorne bus guide sets out that trip. ⁠

How old are the two pubs?

The Lorne Historical Society says the Lorne Hotel was built in 1876 by Joseph Duncan and Theodore Hancock, and the Grand Pacific in 1879. ⁠^{13, 14}

A fire in January 1920 burnt through the Lorne Hotel, the guests were put up at the Grand Pacific Hotel, and the Lorne Hotel was rebuilt from 1920 as a two-storey brick building. ⁠¹³

Merivale’s words for the Lorne Hotel are that it has “stood proudly on The Great Ocean Road for 145 years”. ⁠¹

The society says Henry Gwynne built the Grand Pacific in 1879 near the pier and that it opened on 1 January 1880, the hotel’s own site says it was established in 1879, and the Victorian Heritage Database also says he built it in 1879 and that it opened in January 1880. After the 1920 fire, the Grand Pacific took in the Lorne Hotel’s guests. ⁠^{14, 6, 18}

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