Our family will be in Freemantle just one night, flying into Perth and then departing by car the next day to Margaret River. I've heard the nicest hotel choice is the Esplanade, but we prefer more individual accommodation.

My first choice was Freemantle Heritage Cottage, but it was booked. They do have space available at Girton House on Ellen St. Is anyone familiar with this place and is this a good location for walking around Freemantle?
Any other nice small B&Bs you would recommend there?

Hi, Lindsey!
I presume that by "individual" you mean "out of the ordinary", a goal I always have when seeking accommodation also.
Our family stayed in Perth itself, not Fremantle, as we found a deal just too good to pass up..... but when we were walking around Fremantle we came upon a funny old building so interesting that we began to regret our money-saving choice. It's a hostel, but they have 4-bed and 6-bed rooms, and the prices include breakfast. The name is the Old Fire Station Hostel, and they have their own website:
http://www.firestation.fdns.net/
It's right near the water in the old part of town, very central, and really worth a night of your time, I reckon. By the way, Fremantle is a fun place, worth more than a day (and far better than anything you will encounter in over-rated, over-priced Margaret River, which is ONLY for tourists) and the old prison tour is an absolute "must"; our family had recently done the Alcatraz tour, so we nearly left this one out; but at the end, we all agreed that it left Alcatraz for dead. You actually stand around while they operate the gallows and let you feel the noose.

Just a follow up question, for Alan actually, rather than Lindsey. What is so touristy about Margaret River? And what is so expensive about the place?
When we visited we did not even stop in the town, just visited some of the wineries in the surrounding area. The trip out to the River mouth and beach was interesting and we spent the day swimming - for free. Most of the wineries were free too. I believe the accommadation is more expensive, but no one says you need to stay in town. There really isn't much to do in the town itself. Although we did have a few beers at the tavern.
Bill

We enjoyed our tour of the fremantle prison.

Hi Alan,
Could not get that link to the Firestation to work today. I think the website is down, but I will keep trying.
I'm also curious why you think MR area is over rated. We have found quite a few beautiful holiday houses for rent for about $200Aus/night. That's a lot less expensive than putting a family of 4 in (two) 4-5 star hotel rooms. (Our kids are old enough now that they need their own room.)
These houses are all on the beach or quite close to it, and fully equipped. Some of the houses on the coast near MR, others are 15-25 minutes away in Dunsborough, Yallingup, etc.)
We plan to do a lot of BBQ dinners with good MR wines and cheeses.

Forgot to mention that in my research I discovered cottages on the old prison ground where you can stay. They are called Freemantle Colonial Accommodation. They looked very cool, but there was a 2 night minimum. We enjoyed Alcatraz last summer so we will definitely put that tour on our agenda.

also, one last comment regarding the "touristy" factor in MR.....we ARE tourists. (Can't help it....not everyone is lucky enough to LIVE in Australia. We were... for 3 years in Sydney, but then we were transferred again. Saddest day of my life when we moved away.)

Lindsey,
a website you may find useful is www.babs.com.au
Also, Fremantle has only one 'e' at the beginning, the correct spelling will help in your searches.
Kay

Kay,
Thanks for the spelling correction! What a faux pas!
Actually in spite of the spelling mistake, I did find the website you mentioned. That's how I learned about the Colonial Cottages.

There is also another B&B site, in case anyone is interested. www.wabba.asn.au.
It lists Western Australian B&Bs.

Hi, again, Lindsey!
I tried that Fire Station url and couldn't get it to work, either, so I thought maybe I had copied the URL wrong; a google search turned up this modification, so I hope it works for you (did for me):
http://www.firestation.fdns.net/html_files/contact.htm

On the question of touristy Margaret River, maybe I am being a bit hard, as I was only there one day, and that was in school holiday time; but I just didn't run into anyone who WASN'T a tourist... I heard far more US accents than Aussie accents, and everything seemed geared to housing, dining and entertaining the visitors. Maybe I'm crazy, but that always starts warning bells ringing in my head, so we moved on.... our next stop was Albany, which, in contrast, I found "real" and natural and quite delightful.

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the updated URL. Had a look at the site. Very interesting. Will show it to the family and see what they think.

Re: MR. We will be there on a Thurs-Sun at the end of Nov. Thanksgiving break for American kids, but as far as I can tell, Aussie kids will be still in school. Most of the places we looked at list that week as "mid-peak" rates.
Our plan is to get a place by the beach so we can enjoy the ocean views, some hiking, some bike riding, a few wineries, etc. The idea in renting a house is to NOT get stuck in a hotel full of tourists, but to be able to just do our own thing, relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
I'll let you know if it works out that way.