The King George Inn

The best thing about this establishment is its location, a short walk from the marina, Cobourg Beach and the restaurants and cafes of King Street. Probably a close second was that from my room. I was able to see the lake-- I would imagine this is not the case for rooms on the other side of the hall. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom clean and I slept well. The room itself had a charm that might appeal to one who likes the feel of an inn from the early 20th century; not for everyone but I like that feeling of stepping back in time. Someone with mobility issues might prefer to stay elsewhere as one climbs a number of stairs to access the room. The establishment has preferred check-in times (3 pm - 7pm) so that you pay extra if you fall outside those hours; this worked for me arriving at 3:30 but might not work for other travellers. You have to ring the inn when you arrive as the door is locked, but someone came to let me in relatively quickly. The inn is a pretty hands-off affair; after being warmly welcomed and given instructions when I arrived, I never saw another human being at the inn for the rest of my stay. Breakfast is not included but there are numerous options for breakfast on nearby King Street. Keys are placed in a drop-off box when you leave. There is a room with plaques discussing the history of the jail. A refrigerator with water in a sitting room is found down the hallway.

This hotel is conveniently located but if you decide to stay there, check the beds carefully for evidence of bed bugs. I was bitten badly in room 4 and suffered for weeks after my stay. Reported to the owner and then to the City who did an inspection and informed me the place was being fumigated. The owner promised to call me but I have heard nothing from her more than 3 months later. I hesitated to write this but feel potential visitors should be aware of the risk. It was very upsetting.

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.

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!!!