Any recent reviews on this property?

Few TA reviews. Overall quite positive. W MELBOURNE - Updated 2021 Hotel Reviews (Australia) - Tripadvisor

Just thought I'll share my experience staying here recently.

W Melbourne has a Flinders Lane address and is located corner of Collins Street and William Street. It is within the Collins Arch development which is a mixed-use precinct comprising the hotel, residences and offices. Not a bad location but more towards the business end of of the CBD. This is a very new hotel and given how Australia was cut off from the world the past 2 years, it probably only saw international visitors recently. I booked the basic Cozy room and applied suite night award for the 4 nights stay. I checked in on a Monday and departed on the Friday and coupled with low occupancy the SNA cleared for a Fantastic Suite exactly 5 days before arrival.

The Fantastic Suite is listed as 65 sqm which is a comfortable size but more compact compared to other W properties I've stayed in, for example the W Brisbane's Fantastic Suite which is 80 sqm. It is a longish room layout and somewhat muted design if comparing to the usual loud and outlandish W's. I think given the hotel's location and height there's not much of a view for this property no matter the room type. This particular suite looks over Collins St and on one side the bedroom looks into the adjacent building's offices (remember to draw your curtains, I can see my own reflection and people having meetings).

Full sized MoMo products are given in the bathroom (RIP Bliss), and at the vanity they provide a separately branded cleansing cream, body cream and bar soap from Skin Regimen. Skin Regimen smells exactly the same as the sandalwood stuff found in Marriott properties - I think they are actually the same just branded different.

During my stay, most restaurants have reduced opening times e.g. Lollo closed for breakfast on most days except on weekends. Breakfast for Platinums and above is a AUD$36 credit to be used in Lollo (or Culprit, the cafe/bar in my case since Lollo isn't opened) for an ala carte selection. I found the credit to be sufficient for a main course (e.g. eggs done your way, toast and 2 sides) and a coffee or two. They did charge me by mistake for one of the day's breakfast and it is yet to be resolved.

Some overall good and bad of this property:

Good

• The front desk / Whatever/Whenever responds very quickly to requests via the Bonvoy app messenger.
• Living TV and Bedroom TV has Chromecast and you can easily cast from your phone
• Toilet bowl has a built in Toto Japanese electronic bidet, which is always nice

The bad:

• The room looks high tech but actually not comparable to say the W Kuala Lumpur or W Brisbane. All the touch screen controls seems fancy but they are actually very basic - limited lighting options, closing and opening curtains, turning on TV etc. The TV's annoyingly turns on by itself at 2AM each night!
• The rain shower has very weak water pressure.
• The bed felt uncomfortably soft for me, probably the softest bed I've ever encountered in any property.
• Denied a 4pm checkout but they did offer to move me to another room at 11am on the day of checkout. Reason is they needed time to get the suite ready for the day's check-in at 3pm.

Personally I don't feel like the W Melbourne is worth the rates it is charging. These are rates that are (probably) subdued given the current climate, yet even the Grand Hyatt is cheaper. I moved to the Westin Melbourne after this stay (my first time at this Westin) and I enjoyed it more. Although the Westin don't have true suites, even the base rooms are good sized and it just feels more polished, functional and in a nicer location. If comparing to the only other W property in Australia at the moment, the W Brisbane, I never felt the "wow" factor like I did at W Brisbane, for example when I entered the room for the first time and the curtains opened automatically to a view of the Brisbane River. I don't think I will choose to stay here again for future trips as all other 3 Marriott properties in the CBD (Marriott, Sheraton and Westin) has their own strengths over the W.

What would be your pick ? for future stay

probably Westin again for a longer stay as I only stayed a couple days this first time.
if you want suites then Marriott or Sheraton. Sheraton�s suites are more modern but quite small.

What is the item atop the bedding?

David

supposedly a hat
can be bought for a few hundred aussie dollars

I was also denied late check out and offered to move to a different room. I insist that the late check out guarantee for elites should not mean guests having to move rooms. Also told them that when SNA cleared, the upgrade should not be considered free. When I told them I would only agree to move if they refunded my SNA they gave in and said I could stay in the same room until 4pm.

I was told by SPG back in the day that 4pm check-out for a suite is only guaranteed when a platinum member pays for a suite. With SNA, or, suite upgrade upon arrival, I was told by SPG that it was at the discretion of the hotel and that they reserved the right to move you to a non-suite room on the day of check-out.

Would love to hear about any more recent stays, if people are happy to share.

Also, please could someone tell me what is in the SNA pool here, I have run out of SNAs and I�m considering selecting another five to use on a stay at W Melbourne later this month. Thank you

Overall, I quite enjoyed my time at the W Melbourne - it was a far cry from the Ritz Melbourne in all the best ways. Here are my pros, cons, and photos:

Pros:

• Upgraded to a WOW Suite from a Cozy Room the morning of arrival (upgrade had shown a Marvelous Suite the night before arrival) - now, that's an upgrade!
• The WOW Suite is strongly adherent to the W aesthetic and was very interesting - the mirrored ceiling with lights in the cracks was very unique
• The bed was exceedingly comfortable - super plush (soft) mattress, plush covers, soft sheets, plush pillows
• Marble bathroom was quite beautiful - I spent a bunch of time in the shower admiring the patterns in the stone
• Shower pressure from the angled wand was good
• Automated toilets in both bathrooms
• Carpet in the bedroom was quite plush
• Relatively good noise isolation even with building exterior work going on (literally couldn't hear it)
• Breakfast from Elite welcome gift was strong - it's a 49 AUD credit, but that is the exact price of the "Lollo Breakfast" which consists of juice, coffee, a Continental buffet, and a choice of entree
  • Eggs, bacon, toast, and hashbrowns were hot and tasty
  • Pastries on the continental buffet were warm and tasty
• Had to check out of the WOW Suite at Noon, but was offered a standard room to wait until 4 if I wanted - I declined

Neutral:

• No in-room Ambassador welcome gift - I believe this was substituted with beer and wine vouchers and a cheese plate voucher, but I don't like beer or wine and had a very cheesy pizza earlier

Cons:

• Room could be said to lack privacy with very close views to the offices on the other side of the Arch

Overall, I would definitely return to the W.

Photos:

Just love your reviews Elevator Enthusiast even better than the best bloggers as you always bring up bed comfort
rather than phrase it as comfortable which by itself says nothing!

Of course, some might say rocks are comfortable, and some might say clouds are comfortable!

With shower descriptions and pressure reviews too. I find this immensely helpful because I like strong shower pressure and hate to check-in to have a tepid shower.

EE I love your reviews and I am very glad you enjoyed the hotel. I am very impressed by your upgrade, as I received nothing when I stayed in January (I was Ambassador then), although they were apparently sold out due to the tennis, and I was on a five night stay. Were you just staying a single night?

Regarding the breakfast, I actually think the benefit is a bit stingy for Australia, as I stayed at a couple of hotels in Sydney where they just offered the full breakfast without a credit - this was Pier One and the Sheraton. I am not a big fan of the American style credit system, especially as one day they tried to charge me extra for having an omelette with the 49 AUD breakfast package - on other days, they did not.

I found the service a bit inconsistent, although well intentioned, as I had some issues with the air con that I received very mixed messages about and took basically an entire 24 hours to rectify. Eventually, I did end up with a manager apologising, moving to another basic room across the hall, and having functioning air con with an extra dyson fan, and a few points - it just felt like there was a lack of cohesion and pace to the response.

On the whole, the staff were fairly good though. I also liked the location and felt that the hotel was very well built, with an interesting array of restaurants and facilities. I would stay again.