SWInsider

Clearly on Friday afternoons, nothing is 'relative' to my brain.

777 global mile hound

Warm Greetings and welcome to Flyertalk ^
I wasn't aware the hotel was so pro active with embracing social media
Congratulations.
Despite some bumps in the road I must say my stay was one of the most memorable and comfortable in years in or out of the Hilton family of Hotels.
Between arriving well rested on the new impressive A380 in First Class and then a brilliant night sleep at your property I can say the effects of jet lag were virtually non existent ^
In all my decades of travel I believe that marks the first time ever I didn't lose a few days adjusting to the local time zone.
That took 2 great travel partners Hilton South Wharf and Qantas to make my stay more productive and enjoyable from the moment I arrived

Regarding Food service I believe that would be best shared in a private communication as it had little to do with my otherwise excellent stay
Though I do believe IMO there is considerable need for improvement in the room service menu and the restaurant menu/food quality and overall execution.
Should that be of interest I can Private mail you or email if there is one on your profile
Cheers

SWInsider

I belive I need to point out that I found Flyer Talk as a private person, and just happen to work at a hotel - it's not part of my job to moniter social media and I don't represent the official opinions of the company.

There is, however, a significant lack of awareness - that I've seen in at least 3 hotels I've worked with, not just the current property - of what exactly happens when people google "stay at......etc" I am very serious in inviting you to let me know where my team can improve, and if I can't help directly, then passing on your comments to the people who can.

I've been lurking for a little while now, actually

I'd like to take credit...haha...but...

You're more than welcome to PM me via this site - although please don't expect miracles - and I'm happy to hear what you would like to see improved.

SWInsider

Was serious, am waiting for report....sir....

gj83

My review

SWInsider

Thanks, gj83.
I'm sorry if the date is there and obvious, but when did you stay?

"...The hotel does not have a pool which disappointed me at first, but the weather wasn’t really great for a pool when I was there. Also, who needs a pool when there are beaches? The beach wasn’t close, but I’m sure it wasn’t too far either."
You're right, the beach is not very far, especially if you use the trams which stop right nearby. Basically, the hotel is aimed at purely business travellers (yes, I KNOW some of you swim...) and short conference stays - that's why there's no pool. Sorry!

The most important thing I'm taking away from your review is that room service need/ed to get their act together...? Is that about right?

gj83

I was there March 8-16, 2010 on a GLON.

Yup, pretty much the only issue was with RS. I never ate any meals in the hotel restaurant so I can't offer that as a point of comparison.

SWInsider

I'll pass your comments on to the IRD manager.

I know that managment were made aware that room service - to put it bluntly - sucked.

Not that it really matters to you, having had that bad service already, but we have a new (read, started with South Wharf less than a month ago) F&B Room Service manager who is more organised than me, and that's saying something!

777 global mile hound

Greetings and my apology for the late reply.

Like the other poster shared Room Service was dreadful. Shrimp (really bad downright scary) and some rice that wasn’t good to begin with and no mention on the menu that some ethnic spices were tossed in. Not even Spanish spices was permeating the rice.It may have been Indian? The experience wasn’t a surprise based on the poor quality food in the Sotano restaurant at lunch.
I walked down to Rockpool in Southgate paid some more and had fantastic if not brilliant food. Having tried the Rockpool in Sydney I was surprised how much better it was. Though the service there and management leave a lot to be desired. Very hit or miss.
You have good seasoned management in your hotel and some very nice team members.

Problem one while food is subjective the one thing I can say is the Tapas restaurant is an odd approach with no alternatives for a hotel restaurant IMO.
At the Four Seasons in Barcelona Spain the quality was so high their Tapas restaurant it worked as it also had a wide enough scope of choices that any international guest would be satisfied. But here you are serving many international guests and locals that first want the classic basics done well before venturing into the exotic specialties. The Cafe Cino (looked nice no experience here) has nothing more than sandwiches and desserts.

There are no other dining options for a hot plate of food at Cafe Cino. Now one is forced to go into the restaurant Soatano where sup par food can be served. In this day an age when one is recuperating from jet lag there should be some good quality soups and superb salads. One cannot even get something as basic as grilled chicken breast or a nice piece of seared cod or other white fish and veggies. Whatever chicken came on the salad was awful. Now mind you we are in Melbourne an excellent city for food

Even a bad hotel should be able to get an average satisfactory grade
After a sad meal the servers raved about the evening menu however i could not even think of returning after such poor quality at lunch. It’s hard to ruin a salad and chicken>Even Mc Donald’s can pull it off in airports

The Grand Hyatt in Melbourne had an exceptional quality of food and execution. My expectation for the Hilton South Wharf? It should be at least half as good as that. I will be delighted to return to your exceptional property however I like to support your hotel by spending when I am staying in house and don't wish to take 100% of my meals out of house when I am working during portions of my stay.

At present only breakfast gets a satisfactory rating and worthy of dining in. It too could use some improved baking skills however some of the freshly baked cookies in the lounge day time were very nice if they are made in house.
Regarding Sotano if this restaurant is a run away success please ignore all my above comments.If however you see as I did during my stay many slow nights and a lack of diners a new or improved version/vision of Sotano might be considered/in order.Or perhaps a new concept where seasoned players taking over the restaurant that can serve a hotel effectively as well as make the South Wharf Hilton a destination dining spot able to bring in visitors away Southgate and elsewhere including in house guests for a serious detour to dine in

Thanks for your interest
Cheers

gj83

Just so i'm clear, I was under the impression that tipping is not part of australian culture so I did not tip the bell man who brought my luggage up or the room service people. Was that my problem?

serfty

No problem at all; given your blog: "but he left the baggage without much of an exit so I assume no tip was fine.".

Remember, tipping bellhops or doormen is not custom in Oz.

(Although, some, if they detect an North American accent, can be kind of hopeful )

SWInsider

Yes, I'm hearing you.

Thanks! And thanks for being positive, even though you had such a bad food experience. I find that a lot of people, once one negative thing happens, continue to focus on the purely bad stuff.

Cino has been revamped as part of managment listening to people like yourself - they began offering proper lunch type food about a week and a half ago, and I can vouch for the lasagne and salad.

Yes, I absolutley agree, and Hilton South Wharf should be a real competitor - this is why we need feedback like yours!

Totally disagree, but i live in Melbourne, I'm a bit spoiled

Yes, and it's inconvenient to have to wander up Southbank when you don't feel you have a choice.

I know I mentioned in a previous post that there was a new F&B IRD Manager - well, there's also a new manager looking after Sotano and Nuevo. He's got about as many years of experience as I've had birthdays, and it sounds as though he's really requiring a higher standard within F&B.
You can probably infer from the fact that there's been lots of movement in F&B that senior managment *have* noticed things weren't gonig as well as they should.

On a side note, you can now find Salsa in Sotano on Thursdays....so next time you visit, things won't be quite as slow

Okay - I'm going to pass on all of your comments to our F&B and Catering managers. If they come back to me with any questions or comments, I'll let you know.
I also want you to know that I really appreciate the feedback, and the time you took to pass it on to me. It's seriously people like yourselves who know what they want and need in a hotel...


GJ, as Serfty said - No, not at all! I've worked on front desks in Australia (with other misc duties including luggage portering) for 3 years, and I'd never, never expect a tip and only ever received them in the form of "Here, have this chocolate..."
Our wages are - generally - good enough.

777 global mile hound

Thanks for the kind words you folks have much to be proud of
Melbourne South Wharf remains one of my favorite Hiltons in the world great room and suite standards.Incredible spacious club lounge and some very nice folks that work on property
Love the property but ohhh the food
The Westin Melbourne a property I don't care for based on Platinum elite treatment also did a nice job with food in the restaurant on my past visit.So local hotels can do a very nice job
Will try you folks out and see your hopeful improvements on my next stay.Will be watching here and Trip Advisor to see what the other crtitics of the world say
Keep up all is good your HH customers are watching

Pat89339

I am pleased to say that I very much enjoyed my brief stay at this property last week. While I wasn't recognized as a return guest by the clerk at the desk, I was immediately recognized by the manager on duty from my unforgettable stay last year and my room was upgraded to a beautiful suite. We had a brief chat about what great reviews the property receives [on other sites] -- he was probably thrilled that I never wrote the trip report from my first visit, although many FTers have heard the story from me.

I note that the hotel has improved dramatically in overall operations and street appeal in the past year. The chain link fences and construction equipment are gone and additional buildings seem to have sprung up in the interim. The general area seemed alive and thriving.

I was sad to learn they no longer serve the local brand of yoghurt they used to serve in the Executive Lounge. It was the best I ever had!

My one gripe is the lack of accessible electrical outlets in the bedroom. There is only one by the head of the bed on the wall underneath a built-in nightstand. You have to get down on your hands and knees and crawl under it to plug in any electrical equipment. In a new purpose-built building that's just ridiculous.

I hope my next stay is much longer.

Fredd

And Mrs. Fredd and I enjoyed breakfasting with you in the Lounge the morning you checked out subsequent to Oz Fest in ADL. We're now sitting in the lounge five or so nights later, having just written an e-mail to the general manager expressing our appreciation of the exceptionally friendly and helpful staff, including the Lounge employees in particular.

This is now on our personal list of favorite Hiltons, right up there with the Prague and Munich City Hiltons. The location itself works well for us, the morning breakfast is more than adequate, the goodies put out for afternoon tea included today a "mud pie" that our friend Sue Oz couldn't resist (she and Itsalongwaydown stayed here last night), and the evening appetizers have included coconut shrimp, won tons, and sushi, with a fair amount of variety over our five-night stay.

Not hard to take at all and a superb property IMHO! We hope to return.

Cheers,
Fredd