<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
The best hotel in Australia (and one of the best Westin's in the world) is the Westin Melbourne. </font>
Don't know if I'd go that far. In the past I've had long waits for luggage delivery (worst: 5 calls, 2 hours before it showed up), horrible "Service Express" experiences (room service delays, laundry missing, etc.), and personal problems w/the hotel decor (allergic reactions to the potpourri in the rooms), to which the hotel was unsympathetic (requests to have the potpourri removed prior to arrival ignored or not acted on).
B/c of my schedule, I did stay there again this last trip, to qualify the Westin portion of my 5 stay/50K points. While the stay wasn't as bad, it still wasn't "Wow". I wasn't that impressed with a studio suite upgrade; they seem virtually the same as regular rooms. Disliked the bathroom - floor to ceiling windows, with see-through shades, make me uncomfortable, regardless of assurances on the window tinting. Extremely slow service in the foyer for a casual business meeting over coffee, but that's probably just whinging.
While overall this stay was much better than previous experiences, it wasn't enough to convert me. Particularly when subsequent stays in Sydney *wood properties were individually and collectively far more impressive.
BTW - for best hotel in Australia, I suggest you try Rae's on Wategos... IMHO.