Review : The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

Rohit

25/05/2023

Marriott are on a breakneck speed to grow their portfolio down under, and no city symbolises this more than Melbourne. In-fact it isn’t even a contest.

Feels like it was only yesterday both Melbourne and Sydney had similar number of Marriott properties, since then, Marriott have more than doubled their footprint in the Victorian capital while Sydney has not seen a single addition. It is expected though that the much delayed W Sydney will finally see the light of day in November 2023.

The crazy thing is that Marriott aren’t the only group expanding their presence in Melbourne. The likes of Hilton, IHG and Shangri-La too have either already opened new properties or are in the process of doing so over coming months and years. The insatiable appetite of the Melbourne market to absorb so many new luxury properties, without seeing corresponding decline in room rates is quite remarkable.

With the opening of The Ritz Carlton Melbourne, Marriott have doubled the brand count in Australia, The Ritz Carlton Perth being the other one which opened in 2019. I was in Melbourne recently and spent 2 nights at the property.

Booking

Since opening, Cash rates at The Ritz Carlton Melbourne have hovered round AUD 500+ per night for the base level room. Mind you, the hotel opened in late March 2023 and autumn and winter months typically see softer prices. Who knows what these rates would climb to during spring and summer months with Melbourne’s busy events calendar, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were higher by 50% or more.

Meanwhile, award prices at the time of my stay were about 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points per night. I roughly value Marriott points at AUD 0.008 (8/10th of 1 cent). By that measure, the 50,000 points are worth $400, slightly less than the cash rates. So for my 2 night stay, I redeemed 100,000 Marriott points.

Note that Amex are offering 50% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy until 30 May 2023, this means that you are able to effectively convert Amex points into Marriott in the ratio of 1:1 (1 Amex Point = 1 Marriott Point). If you are planning a stay at any high-end Marriott property where cash rates are in high three or 4 digits, this is a great time to take advantage of the transfer bonus and generate some cheap Marriott points.

For more on the Amex/Marriott partnership and how to transfer points, check out my earlier posts here and here.

Location

The Ritz Carlton Melbourne is located on Lonsdale Street in Melbourne CBD. All of the Melbourne attractions you can think of (and there are lots) such as Crown Casino, Marvel Stadium, South Bank, Federation Square and so on are within walking distance or inside the Free Tram Zone.

Location, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

If you are driving in from Tullamarine Airport, its a pleasant 30 minutes ride to the hotel. Sadly, the airport remains without a rail link even after at-least 2 decades of successive Governments promising to build it. Thankfully, there are abundance of rideshare options at your disposal, expect to pay AUD 50 – 60 to get to the hotel.

Arrival & Check In

I pulled up at the hotel around 11:30 am and was promptly assisted by one of the three waiting bellhops, all dressed in long coats and top hat.

The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

As you enter, you find yourself in the arrival lobby on the Ground Floor, it is spacious and offers lots of seating space. There are examples of indigenous art work on display in one corner of the arrival lobby.

Arrival Lobby, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

But why hang-around here when you can hop-on to one of the express lifts and rocket up to the main lobby on Level 80. The lobby on Level 80, also known as the Sky lobby is where guests formally check-in.

Level 80 Reception, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

I was attended by a friendly front desk staff named Charles who welcomed me to the hotel and thanked me for my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status. Turns out Charles was originally from Malaysia so I got chatting to him for few minutes about my recent trip to his home country.

The Sky Lobby on Level 80 is massive, you have the reception in the centre of the lobby and enormous sitting space all around it. This is also where The Ritz Carlton Lobby Lounge, an informal space to catch-up with friends or colleagues over a few drinks is located.

Sky Lobby, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

Anyhow, my original booking was the King Deluxe Room which is the entry level room at The Ritz Carlton Melbourne. A day before my scheduled check-in, I noticed it had been upgraded to the Panoramic King Room which constitutes a 2 category upgrade.

Elite Benefits at The Ritz Carlton Brand

One of the frustrating aspects of Marriott Bonvoy program is the inconsistent application of Elite benefits at various brands. So while as a Titanium elite I am able to choose Complimentary Breakfast as my Welcome Gift at most properties, The Ritz Carlton brand has limited participation in the program.

Marriott Bonvoy members are able to earn and redeem points at the brand and receive some elite benefits such as the 4 pm late check-out, but a lot of really valuable benefits are excluded. So for instance :

Marriott elites do not receive complimentary breakfast, instead they are awarded 1,000 points per stay.
Marriott elites do not receive complimentary access to the Club lounge unless booked into a Club room. That said, guests are able to pay extra and have this included.
You cannot apply Suite Night Awards (SNA) to your booking at The Ritz Carlton brand.

Technically speaking Titanium elites are eligible for Suite upgrade at The Ritz Carlton. Unfortunately, that rule only applies to standard suite so if the property you are staying at does not offer standard suites, as is the case with the Melbourne property where all suites are considered speciality suites, you are out of luck.

Anyhow, I inquired about the Club lounge access with Charles who quoted me the following rates. At The Ritz Carlton Melbourne you can purchase access to the Club lounge for :

$150 per person per day on weekends (Fri – Sun)
$120 per person per day during weekdays (Mon – Thu).

Charles mentioned that the rates were on the lower side as they were currently in low season and the property had only been open for under 2 months. He advised that rates will climb to $400 per person per day come spring, ouch…

Club Lounge, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

There is no way I am ever going to pay such absurd sums of money for lounge access, but on this occasion I thought the price was reasonable, besides, I wanted to thoroughly review the property so the extra spend was worth it. Charles also advised that in addition to offering a tranquil space to relax or work, the lounge also offers 5 meals a day to its guests. These are:

Breakfast
Lunch
High Tea
Hors d’oeuvre and drinks
Supper

I will talk about these in detail a little later.

Due to the lounge access, Charles moved me into one of the Club Rooms which I wasn’t sure was a good idea. I say that because Club Rooms in many properties are identical to the base room, except that they are usually located on the higher floors.

As I had previously been upgraded to the Panoramic Room which sounded like a room with excellent views, I didn’t want to lose that. But Charles assured me that I will be happy when I actually see the room he was moving me into.

As the room wasn’t ready I spent the next 20 minutes or so sitting in the lobby lounge taking pictures of the views around me.

Sky Lobby Views, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

Club Room – The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

Once the room was ready, I picked up the keys and headed for it. The Ritz Carlton Melbourne takes up Top-17 floors (Levels 64 – 80) of the building. The Sky lobby is perched atop Level 80, Club Lounge is 1 floor below on Level 79, other hotel facilities are on Level 64 and the Guest Rooms are between Levels 65 – 78.

This means that if you wanted to go from your room to the Ground Floor, you first had to take the lift up to the Sky Lobby and then catch another lift down. It felt a little strange, although the situation is far from unique, in-fact this kind of set-up is commonly found at many hotels in Asia.

Room No. 7819, The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

Charles had assigned me Room No. 7819 which was a Club Room located on Level 78, the highest floor with Guest rooms. At 44 sq meters in size, the room was good size but not exactly huge. It was tastefully appointed with the dark wood panelling offering a nice contrast to the lighter shades.