Ballina Manor is a boutique hotel in an Edwardian style building dating back nearly 100 years, originally built in 1924 as a girls college.
As the population in Ballina approached 4,000 after World War I, building of a girls college was proposed in 1921. Officially opened in 1925, the girls college operated until 1930 when the great depression made a boarding seaside college an unaffordable luxury.
From 1930, the building became a guesthouse called North Coast Guest Home. In the late 1950s, the building became a boarding house before being converted into 16 flats in the 1970s. The building lost a lot of its character with the verandas closed in and the flats divided up with gyprock and fibro.
In 1999, the council gave approval for the demolition of the building to make way for new development. The property was bought with a different plan. Saved from demolition, the former girls college has been meticulously restored and furnished with beautiful antiques. The closed in verandas have been opened up again and no expense has been spared to restore the building to proudly display its historical characteristics.
It now operates as a boutique hotel, a great option to stay 
if you are visiting brown signs in Ballina. You stay in one and have a short distance to get to the Maritime Museum 
and the Ballina Visitor Information Centre.
An example of the expense afforded to Ballina Manor is the updated sandstone courtyard. The sandstone was especially selected and transported from the former Old Sydney Town. The courtyard is small but has a nice peaceful feel about it.
Often, brown signs like Ballina Manor are not included on this website because they are only open for staying customers of the hotel. Ballina Manor operates as a boutique hotel, not as a tourist location, however, they will show you around in a guided tour if they are able to, typically between 2pm and 3pm.
The times are based on the quieter period in the day between guests leaving from the day before and rooms prepared ready for the new guests, and the new guests arriving. There is no guarantee they can provide a tour, they will accommodate if they can.
To get there
From the motorway, take the Bruxner Hwy exit to Ballina and follow the signs towards Ballina at the roundabout onto River St. Follow River St for 4.8km and turn left into Norton St at the brown sign for Historic Ballina Manor. Follow Norton St for 300m and Ballina Manor will be on the right.
