Hilton Melbourne South Wharf {AUS} (no longer Honors)
 

According to a Melbourne paper, a new Hilton is planned for the new convention center development, but no projected opening date was listed. Anyone aware of this, or heard of a new Hilton in Melbourne?

It would be a welcome addition, as I just did a couple of days at the Hilton on the Park, and would think long and hard before doing that again. Old, worn, desperately in need of a refurbishing. I saw prior theads over the past year talking about upgrades and changes, but I didn't see any, though I was upgraded to a jr. suite on the exec floor. I was at the MEL airport hotel for my last night there, and what a difference. Perhaps Hilton put the upgrades at the Park hotel on hold pending the new Hilton?

According to the convention centre development web page it is schedued for 2009. See http://www.mecc.com.au/www/html/123-...evelopment.asp.

There is a link on the page to a PDF (http://www.mecc.com.au/resources/doc...fast_facts.pdf), that states the following:

Oh boy. Let's hope this doesn't replay like SYD. A new hotel long overdue and years behind schedule finally comes to life and people hate it. I hope they learned their lesson on that one.

It sounds like this one is being built from the ground up. No excuses not to do it right.

Hilton Melbourne South Wharf
 

I was looking into booking a reward stay at the end of May in Melbourne (Australia) and this new property showed up in the listings. The web site says it will accept reservations starting May 9th and the Diamond Desk said they have no information regarding the category yet (although the web site lists it as a Category 6). She couldn't tell me if it was a rebranded hotel or new construction. Some of the pictures are artist renderings so it's hard to tell. She really wanted me to reserve a room at $335 AUD a night. I passed on that and will wait until the real diamond desk people are there during the day.

Does anyone here have any info on this property? I searched and nothing came up.

Thanks!

I forgot all about this! I remember seeing the construction a year or more ago on a taxi ride into the city. As I recall it is by the Docklands, near some high rises. I will be back in MEL in June and will give this a try. Melbourne on the Park is OK, but this one should be pretty good.

It now shows up in Google Earth.

Just search for "Hilton Melbourne South Wharf" and choose Melbourne as the location.


Failing that, copy this address into the Fly to bar - 21-37 Lorimer Street, South Bank, Melbourne, Australia 3006


Evan :->

What Happened To The New Melbourne, AU Hilton?
 

It seems to have disappeared from the web site. I'm trying to make reservations for June, and it is nowhere to be found. Hilton.com screw up, or did I miss something? :confused:

It opened last week, but does seem hard to find in the Hilton site.

You can get to it from the hotel website (http://www.newmelbourne.com.au) and using the search box (check-in/check-out) date in the top right hand corner, which will then pull it up in the Hilton site (on the date chooser page).

This takes you to this: https://secure.hilton.com/en/hi/res/...?hotel=MELSWHI, with whatever dates you choose.

Why it does not appear normally is a mystery to me.

Edit: A link from some advertising I received from Qantas which includes the new Hilton: http://www.hilton.com/australasia

Its back. Must have been a hick-up, as I have a reservation for it this weekend, and the reservation disappeared from my account when I looked for it yesterday. Went looking for the hotel couldn't find it either.

Went back in today and found both my reservation and the hotel when looking for Hiltons in Australia.

Let us know what you think. I'll be there in June and want something better than the Park.

Hilton Melbourne South Wharf Trip Reports and Reviews
 

Having stayed here last week, I thought I'd post a few of my impressions since no one else on FT appears to have done so yet.

The Hilton Melbourne South Wharf is a brand new property, only a month or so old, located just the other side of the Yarra River from the city centre. At the moment it's a bit of a massive construction site with just the Hilton and a new convention centre open. It's hard to say whether this will become a desirable or lively area in the future but for the moment it's in an awkward spot. Fortunately it's not a bad walk into the city centre and the situation should only get better.

As for the hotel itself, it's a brand new build and follows the cool and modern design of all the new Hiltons I've seen, e.g. Warsaw, Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge. The lobby is expansive and impressive with a large piece of sculpture art above the check-in desk which looks like a load of gold and silver coloured brillo pads stuck together to look like a coral reef. All the staff I came across were very friendly and helpful, if a bit fussy. One staff member I spoke to said that the hotel was only around 20% full so it makes sense that customers would get long speeches from staff who have little else to do. ;)

My room (executive king) featured floor-to-ceiling windows, flat-screen tv, a huge bed with a very thick pillow top mattress, a desk, and armchair. Furnishings are modern, sleek but comfortable. The bathroom connected to the bedroom via one of those translucent sliding-doors found in places like the Conrad Tokyo and Conrad Bangkok. There is a separate bathtub and shower, and a separate w.c.

I did not have a chance to try the restaurant or bar, although I heard that the bar does an excellent cucumber martini. Most of my time was spent in the wonderful executive lounges, definitely one of the best I've seen at any Hilton family property. It was the largest lounge I've seen too, with plenty of seating and loads of natural light from three sides. There is also a deck / balcony with several tables offering wonderful views of Melbourne city centre and Docklands. Breakfast options were impressive and of high quality, and the choices included freshly-squeezed juices. Evening selections included some Australian wines, beers, sushi, Vietnamese spring rolls, and spicy "samosas" which tasted more like tacos than anything Indian. My only "complaint" is that the evening food selections were a bit insubstantial, the only hot choice being those "samosas". Saying that, I don't exactly expect to get a full meal out of the lounge, but compared to the exec lounge at the Moscow Hilton, for example, where you can get a substantial meal, the Melbourne lounge seemed stingy.

All in all it's an excellent property which, if you can get past the somewhat awkward location, is undoubtedly the best Hilton property in Melbourne and perhaps one of the best hotels in the city.

Thanks for the review. ^ I'm in MEL in a couple of weeks and figure I'll give this new one a shot. Can I assume that, other than location, you would prefer this Hilton over the Park?

Yes, the South Wharf is definitely better, and really the location of the Hilton on the Park isn't that great either, so give this one a try.

New Hilton
 

I have stayed there three times now and it has become my preferred hotel in Melbourne.
I love the look of the place and the staff have transferred in from around the country and are very good.
I stayed the first week it was open and there were a few hitches, but nothing to bad.

The worst thing thus far is the access by car.. It can be hard to find the entrance first time,
If you dont have access to the exec lounge, they are cureently offering a deal for access for $45 per night when you check in.

Cheers
IainF