The Rail Trail Retreat, Beechworth review: Rest for trailblazers

After a long day on the bikes, a team of 10 needs room to move. Justine Costigan finds it.

Beechworth has become as well known as Daylesford for its chic upmarket accommodation and while stylishly renovated cottages might be perfect for a weekend (without children) spent exploring wineries, antiques shops and restaurants, they're not really the sort of places that easily accommodate five adults and five children intent on cycling their way around the region.

Apart from The Old Priory, a former school now run as a guest house, the Beechworth Rail Trail Retreat is one of the few places in town that can accommodate all of us and let us do our own cooking.

Plus, it's right on the Beechworth Rail Trail, the 94 kilometres of sealed bike path that has been built over the disused railway line from Bright to Wangaratta. The thought of getting straight onto our bikes each day is appealing.

The Rail Trail Retreat, in a street only a few minutes' walk from Beechworth's main shopping strip, is one of two houses on the one block. You make your way up the driveway to a new, purpose-built house hidden behind a nondescript brick home.

It feels strange to be staying in a house that wouldn't be out of place on the set of Neighbours, so I have to put aside my ideas about country towns being filled with lovely old homes filled with antiques and embrace the reality of two bathrooms, a spa bath, a roaring fire, a modern kitchen and laundry.

The sleeping and living areas are divided by a long hallway. There are two large, well-lit bedrooms sleeping up to four and another single room. Most of the beds have electric blankets and all have thick quilts and heavy blankets. Two of the bedrooms have their own televisions. On the other side of the house are an open-plan kitchen and dining area and a living room. Both rooms open out to a pleasant brick-paved courtyard and cottage garden. The house feels welcoming, comfortable and unpretentious.

Despite being purpose-built, it has a few perplexing oddities: I'm puzzled that a house sleeping up to 11 only has table seating for four (there is bar seating for five more at the kitchen bench, however), the living room isn't big enough for all of us to sit down at the same time and there are only four wine glasses for five drinkers. But it doesn't really bother us. Most days we're out cycling or walking and the 10 of us are rarely all in the house, or the same room, at the same time.

The natural segregation of those under 20 and over 40 means the children are happy to eat at the kitchen bench and, after a couple of days cycling between Bright and Beechworth, the spa bath, open fire and comfortable beds become the obvious focus of our stay.