Hi Graham,

I had an amazing experience at Vacy Hall.  I soaked up the historical atmosphere that permeated throughout the house and could clearly envisage the Cory family living there in the lap of luxury with servants attending to their needs.  Not knowing anything about the family or the history of Toowoomba I quickly read as much as  I could online and was fascinated to learn of the extreme wealth and revered status that the family held.  I wandered over to Clifford House where I gained a real appreciation for  James Taylor the King of Toowoomba….I searched throughout Toowoomba for historical books that I could buy so that I could read more about the family but found nothing.  Mr. Google was not providing me with enough information to fill all of the gaps e.g. the sad loss of three of Gilbert Cory’s children, two daughters in one year I suspect from a childhood disease and of course the tragic loss of his son.  Knowing now what we do of boarding schools perhaps he was suffering from untold bullying and abuse and couldn’t face it any longer…of course all of this is speculation because I couldn’t find the answers to my questions anywhere.  I do know, however, that there is a real presence of the family in the home.  I would not offend you and call them ghosts but a presence none the less. No doubt the family are thrilled with the way you have restored and maintained the grandeur and dignity of their home and their lives.

I would also like to say that the your family of staff are super friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. I should have asked them for a softer pillow but it was much easier to just buy a couple at the local amazing shopping complex where I spent a lot of money and well and truly kept the local economy going.

Our room was beautifully furnished and maintained and the garden views exquisite.

In short everything about my stay was perfect and I will definitely be returning, almost certainly for my 60th birthday in June.

Thank you for sharing your extraordinarily beautiful home with me…I truly appreciate the very obvious and tangible love you have for your home.

Kind regards,

Wendy

Vacy Hall in Toowoomba is the city’s finest privately-owned heritage-listed garden (and building) and is regarded as “one of Australia’s great historic hotels”.

This makes Vacy Hall accessible to the public so you can stay for a night or two and be surrounded by a beautiful old garden with something in flower all year round.

Elements of the garden date back over 140 years with the original garden being laid out by the first curator of Toowoomba’s Queens Park and Botanic Gardens, Edward Way.  In 1873 Vacy Hall was built as a wedding present for the daughter of a rich squatter but it was destroyed by fire in 1898 however the garden structure remained and provides the foundation for the garden as we see it today.

Originally the garden was much larger and over 2 hectares in size but with residential land sales in the 20’s and 50’s the garden is now just over an acre in size.

Vacy Hall has some beautiful trees including an ancient Cedar of Lebanon, a hundred year old Jacaranda Tree, a row of weeping cherry trees, a number of Japanese maple trees, a substantial Liquid Amber Tree, a couple of producing Avocado Trees and a grove of giant white bird of paradise Strelitzia Nicolai,

There’s also a wheel of Lavender, numerous roses, several Eupatoriums, a number of Fuchsias including a Fuchsia hedge, walls covered with creeping fig Ficus Pimula, substantial hedges of Cotoneaster apiculatus, Photinia and Privet, massed plantings of Convolvulus sabatius, a hundred year old heritage Camilea which stands 6 metres tall, Rhododendrons, azaleas, numerous Acanthus, a number of massive Staghorns, numerous plantings of Spirea Cantoniesis (may Bush), and a carriageway lined with Aganpanthus which when flowering in early December provides a spectacular display of over 500 blooms.

There’s so much more for inquisitive gardeners to see and enjoy.

Vacy Hall Toowoomba’s Grand Boutique Hotel today announced that it has received its 6th Annual Tripadvisor® Certificate of Excellence making it one of the garden city’s favourite places to stay.

Now in its seventh year, the achievement celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveller reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include accommodation providers, restaurants and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience.

Owner and host at Vacy Hall, Graham Higgins said “it’s great to be recognised so consistently by a strong global brand like Tripadvisor, it gives people travelling to Toowoomba a great deal of comfort to know that year after year we are succeeding at getting it right for most of the people that come and stay with us.

“At Vacy Hall we strive to provide a charming, grand and authentic historic accommodation experience.  We pride ourselves on offering guests the opportunity to stay in an architectural treasure, surrounded by beautiful furniture, stunning period art and exquisite gardens in a walk to everything inner-city location.

“We are blessed to be located on the Darling Downs where there so many wonderful experiences and things to do and I love sharing my passion for Vacy Hall and this wonderful region with people who come to stay with us.

“Over the last 35 years we have been operating as a Boutique Historic Hotel, Vacy Hall has provided accommodation to over 100,000 guests and helped thousands of brides and grooms celebrate their wedding day.

Toowoomba – 22 June 2017  

-Ends-

About Vacy Hall.

Vacy Hall is the only heritage listed accommodation in Toowoomba.  Set in over an acre of 140 year old gardens, Vacy Hall evokes the grandeur of a rich Squatters home, which is hardly surprising given it was originally a wedding present from one of Toowoomba’s founders, Hon James Taylor to his daughter.  Vacy Hall offers guests the rare opportunity to have an open fire in their room and travel back in time.  Room rates at Vacy Hall start at $117 midweek and increase to up to $245 per night for a large luxury suite.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site*, enables travellers to unleash the full potential of every trip. With more than 500 million reviews and opinions covering the world’s largest selection of travel listings worldwide – over 7 million accommodations, airlines, attractions and restaurants – TripAdvisor provides travellers with the wisdom of the crowds to help them decide where to stay, how to fly, what to do and where to eat.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, December 2016

Vacy Hall, Toowoomba’s Grand Boutique Hotel today announced that they are commercially supporting the local social enterprise, Vanguard Laundry.

Vacy Hall owner and host, Graham Higgins said he was proud to become a customer and commercially endorse Vanguard Laundry which is an impressive collaboration created by the Toowoomba Clubhouse, a not-for-profit organisation supporting people who have a lived experience of mental illness and struggle to secure employment.

“As a customer I am pleased to be a part of a community-based self-sustaining social enterprise that helps change people’s lives.”

Mr Higgins said “After inspecting the facility I can say I am very impressed with what Vanguard is doing”.

“Any surplus Vanguard makes is re-invested into improving their laundry services or supporting local mental health employment projects.

“I am confident that with their state of the art laundry complex and commitment to high standards we will receive a high quality laundry service and at the same time we will be helping to provide jobs and training for local people who need a helping hand.

“We are proud to support the vision of Vanguard Laundry and we are looking forward to working with this impressive social enterprise for many years to come..

1 June 2017