Review: Melbourne Marriott Hotel

After a wonderful time in Tasmania, I headed back to Australia’s mainland for a quick stop in Melbourne to meet with some of the Prince of Travel team. While I would have surely liked to stay longer in the city, time was running out on our trip, and we had plenty of family to visit inland.

Melbourne can be an expensive city for hotels, and since we had decided to stop in the city at the last minute, we were limited in our options. Many hotels were fully booked or had sky-high prices, so we settled on a stay at the Melbourne Marriott Hotel.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in the hotel, as we were out visiting with friends and enjoying the city. It worked out to be an entirely sufficient, if unremarkable, stay.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Booking

Having made our booking at the last minute, we didn’t have a lot of options available to us. After searching around for deals on points and with cash, we opted to book a night at the Melbourne Marriott Hotel on an industry rate. 

Regular cash prices for the hotel run at around $300–420 AUD ($279–390 CAD) throughout the year, with the average rate falling somewhere in the middle. 

A stay booked with Marriott Bonvoy points will cost between 35,000–42,000 points consistently throughout the year, with the average rate falling closer to 40,000.

If you happen to have a Free Night Award available, there’s a reasonable case to be made for redeeming at the Marriott Melbourne Hotel, especially if the cash rates skew higher. 

Compared to our valuation of Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.9 cents per point (CAD), you won’t get outstanding value from a redemption. However, there are certainly worse ways to redeem points.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Location

The Melbourne Marriott Hotel is located in the heart of the city, steps away from many of Melbourne’s main attractions.

The hotel is located just down the street from the city’s Theatre District, which brings a lot of foot traffic into the area.

Many museums and landmarks, such as Parliament House, the State Library of Victoria, and the Royal Exhibition Building aren’t far away, and you can easily get around the city by bike, tram, or rideshares.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is only is just 20 minutes from the hotel by foot, as is the nearby Rod Laver Arena, which is the centre of the Australian Open.

Flinders Street Railway Station is less than 20 minutes by foot or five minutes by car, which connects you to Victoria’s railway network.

Plenty of dining and shopping options are close to the hotel, including Chinatown. 

You can get to the airport in less than an hour by public transportation, or in around half an hour by car.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Check-In

We arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon following a quick flight over from Tasmania. Upon entering the hotel, there’s a wide-open space which leads to the check-in desks straight ahead, a café to the left, and the main part of the lobby lounge to the left.

There are seats spread out across from the Executive Lounge, which is tucked in behind M Bar, the hotel’s lobby bar and lounge. This part of the hotel has been recently renovated, which is hopefully a sign of things to come with the remainder of the hotel.

In the lobby lounge, you’ll find a handful of grey seats and couches spread out across a carpeted area. Closer to the check-in desks, you’ll find a couple of benches tucked in against the wall.

We headed over to the check-in desk, which wasn’t busy when we arrived. The associate offered us a glass of sparkling wine during check-in, which was a nice surprise (especially for a Marriott Hotel). 

After acknowledging my Platinum status, we were offered a choice of points, wine, or snacks as a welcome gift. We opted for a bottle of sparkling wine this time, having enjoyed plenty of Australian wine throughout our trip.

My attempts at “suite-talking” prior to my stay via the Marriott app, as well as in person upon check-in, were unsuccessful. Despite seeing some higher-tiered rooms available for booking in the app, we were told that the hotel was full, but I wasn’t really too fussed.

It’s worth noting that the check-in process seemed a bit disorganized, and took a bit longer than it usually does.

Once we were all set, we headed over to the elevators and down a bright-red carpeted hallway to our room on the seventh floor.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Queen Guest Room

The carpeted hallways were a sign that our room wasn’t likely to be a modern example of a Marriott room, such as at the Prague Marriott Hotel. Rather, upon opening the door, we were greeted with dull tones and a room that was showing signs of age, despite having been renovated in 2011.

Upon entering, there’s a small foyer to the left, which is home to a luggage rack and a closet. Inside the closet, we found some crunchy bathrobes, an ironing board, and a safe.

Moving into the bedroom, the queen bed occupies the majority of the space. There are side tables on each side of the bed, with lamps built in to the wall and a number of plugs.

There is an armchair and ottoman close to the bed, and in this area, you’ll also find a minibar. Unfortunately, there was only instant coffee packets here, so we opted to get some much nicer coffee from one of Melbourne’s many cafés instead.

There is a clear table close to the room’s window, which is where we found a boilerplate welcome note and a gift of chocolates. 

The window looked out into the hotel’s courtyard, which wasn’t remarkable by any means.

An associate brought up our bottle of sparkling wine shortly after we arrived in our room. There appeared to be some sort of coffee or other dark liquid spilled all over it, which seemed like a bit of service misstep.

The bathroom is located through the small foyer by the room’s entrance. It’s a fairly compact and simple space, with a single sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.

Overall, the room was perfectly sufficient for our needs, but by no means was it memorable or full of character. Especially with regular cash rates of around $400 (AUD), and redemption rates that aren’t necessarily a bargain, the hotel could benefit from updated rooms to match the price point.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Executive Lounge

The Melbourne Marriott Hotel’s Executive Lounge is located on the ground floor of the hotel. We enjoyed access through my Platinum status, and guests staying on certain floors can also enjoy complimentary access.

Evening canapés and beverages are served nightly from 5–8pm. We popped in for a quick nibble prior to heading out on the town. 

It’s a rather compact space, and it was bustling every time we visited during our stay. Tables are placed closely together, and you may have to manoeuvre around other guests whenever you go to refill your drink or plate.

During our stay, there were a couple of hot food items available, as well as a salad bar, fresh fruits, charcuterie, and pretzels. 

The Executive Lounge also had a selection of soft drinks, beer, wine, and spirits available for guests. 

We enjoyed a glass of bubbly and some food, which was okay. If you’re ambitious with your portions, it could suffice for a meal replacement. 

In the morning, we came down to the Executive Lounge for breakfast before heading out to visit with family. Again, it was a busy space, with plenty of guests enjoying a meal.

We found standard hot breakfast items available, including bacon, scrambled eggs, fried mushrooms, and sausages, as well as fruits, cold cuts, cheese, smoked salmon, pastries, and yogurt. 

There’s an automatic coffee maker in the Executive Lounge, should you be in the need for a hit of caffeine. 

The breakfast spread was again sufficient to tide us over, but I couldn’t help but feel that it was a pretty standard offering from a hotel that bills itself as a five-star property.

Melbourne Marriott Hotel – Other Facilities

As mentioned above, the hotel’s lobby bar, M Bar, is located on the main floor of the hotel. The space has been recently renovated, and it looked like a nice spot to sit and relax with a drink.

M Bar is open from 4pm–12am from Wednesday to Sunday. 

The Essence offers modern Australian cuisine in a casual environment. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, and appeared to also be newer than other parts of the hotel.

We didn’t visit The Essence during our stay.

The hotel’s pool and fitness centre are located in the same area. 

Much like our room, the pool and hot tub looked to be showing signs of age, and it didn’t appear to be a very welcoming place. There’s also a sauna tucked away in the pool area, which I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to use.

The fitness centre is located in a glass room between the pool and a small courtyard. 

The room was quite small, and featured a basic amount of equipment, including treadmills, free weights, and a strength-training tower.

I opted to do a run around Melbourne with my colleague instead. 

Conclusion

The Melbourne Marriott Hotel has a great location in downtown Melbourne, close to city’s many attractions. While the hotel is showing signs of recent renovations, as demonstrated by the lobby bar and lounge, the rest of the hotel is due for a makeover.

Overall, I wasn’t particularly intrigued by many aspects of our stay. The hotel doesn’t seem to provide outsized value for its regular rates, and elite treatment didn’t feel particularly fulsome. The Executive Lounge is a redeeming factor at the Melbourne Marriott Hotel, although its size tends to take away from the experience.

There are many other hotels to try out in Melbourne, and I’d be more inclined to look elsewhere during our next visit to the city.