Royal Hotel Ferntree Gully
After departing Mornington we headed further on towards our final Royal of the day, the Royal Hotel Ferntree Gully.
Ferntree Gully is one of the far eastern suburbs of Melbourne that starts to go up into the Dandenong Ranges. It’s a nice part of Victoria so our hopes were high for the Royal Hotel Ferntree Gully.
Unfortunately, what we got was a pub that probably topped out around the ‘just ok’ mark. As we pulled up, the pub looked decent enough from the outside. Nothing particularly unique or ornate, but decent enough. There was a bit of a false start right off the bat, though. John failed at something we consider ourselves to be something of experts at: walking into a pub.
John walked in and tried to in the first door where it looked like there was a decent bar. However, both the locked door and the angry staff member gesturing him away were pretty solid signs that he screwed up the entry. As it turns out, the way in to the pub from the carpark was a mandatory route through the pokies. Not usually a great sign. Once we did find our way to the main bar area, it was nice enough.
Fairly generic almost club-esque decor, a lot of gambling related TV’s, and a display case full of premixed drinks gave a fairly clear picture of the typical clientele of the pub.
But again, it was fine. On the right day, with the right crowd, it could be a fun place for some drinks (albeit expensive drinks). The Royal Hotel Ferntree Gully has apparently been around since the late 1800’s as well, so the pub had a bit of history to it as well.
The food looked like it could’ve been at least ok as well had we stayed for dinner. But we had other plans. So we finished our beers, and, having learned our lesson on the way in, successfully navigated our way back to the carpark and headed off towards our accommodation for the night. I didn’t hate our time at the Royal Hotel Ferntree Gully, but it was probably kind of just fine.
Royal Stats
- Town/Suburb: Ferntree Gully, VIC
- Population: 27,398
- Date Visited: Saturday, February 15, 2025
- Visited By: Cory, John and Rod
- Beer Sponsorship on Sign: None
- Beer Consumed at Pub: Balter XPA (pint)
- Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $15.60
- Unique Award: Hardest Royal to Get Into
- Tour Progress: 58.7% (81/138)