I'm just back from a round the world business trip with a few vacation days squeezed in, a couple if which were in Melbourne. Previously I have stayed in the Hilton on the Park, by the MCG, but this time I got a better rate at SW to elected to stay there for the first time.

The stay was largely positive, but there were a couple of negatives which I'll deal with first...

The bath tub. Big, deep and a luxurious experience - and I like a good soak. So I filled it up, wallowed, and then could not empty the bath. After making myself decent, I called maintenance. An engineer came up who told me there was nothing he could do - apparently the baths are badly designed in that the plug release mechanism is half way along the bath, at the back, and the bath is sealed in position. It seems the only way to fix it was physically remove the bath....not ideal.

Air con was also a minor challenge - the room was hot and it took an engineers intervention to get cool air flowing.

Finally, the presence of a hot buffet in the lounge in Sunday and only a continental buffet on Monday and Tuesday was puzzling...the continental was still good, but consistency would make more sense.

I was upgraded to a King City view - again not disappointed that I did not have a suite as I was not going ot be spending that much time in it - and the view, especially at sun down, was spectacular - a red hue in the sky, as the city lights came on and the pillars in front of Crown send up columns of fire...fantastic.

The turndown service leaving a fragrance shell or pine cone is great...the mints left on the 3rd night was a touch less imaginative - but the shell especially was creative and memorable.

All the bell staff greeted me everytime I passed through the front door, in or out, and the lounge staff were friendly and personable. The lounge is one of the better ones I have visited.

I will definitely be back, but given that I generally can only get to Australia once a year, it may be a while!