The Ibis Styles Melbourne, The Victoria Hotel Review

If you want to be well located for your next jaunt in Melbourne, The Ibis Styles, The Victoria Hotel is perfectly located within the city to help you do that comfortably and efficiently. The hotel so nice they named it twice.

Melbourne is without a doubt the best-planned city in Australia. Sydney is a mess. Brisbane straddles a river, which means you are always crossing bridges. Canberra they at least tried, and Newcastle is just hilly. With Melbourne, they finally got it right. Its CBD grid is easy to navigate on foot and lends itself perfectly for light rail going up and down each of the main streets.

Trams are the ultimate way to navigate Melbourne so it makes it really handy to stay as close to a tram station as possible. That’s where The Victoria Hotel comes in.

The Victoria Hotel has a lot going for it, and I’ll get to that in a moment, but without a doubt its best feature is its location within the city and its proximity to transport. So that sounds like an ideal place to begin.

The Location

After I’d settled into the hotel and decided to start exploring, the first thing I noticed was The Victoria Hotel is right in the thick of it. 100 metres down Little Collins Street is Swanston Street, one of the main streets of Melbourne that basically splits Melbourne in two.

Around the corner is Town Tall and with it a tram intersection of tram lines with a stop for both directions. This was perfect because it meant that you are only a couple of minutes walk to a station whenever you needed to go somewhere that was on a tram line…which is everywhere if you want it to be.

Going north, all you have to do is find a nearby laneway and you are in the famous Bourke Street pedestrian mall. Just 5 minutes northeast on the grid is Chinatown, which will satisfy that dumpling craving you know you’ll eventually get (we did!). And just next door is Meatmaiden, one of the best burgers (and steaks probably) in the city.

Lastly, in the event you actually want to go to Federation Square (hey, it’ll happen), it is a mere 10 minutes stroll down Swanston Street.

I genuinely felt like I was close to everything for the entire weekend.

The only downside with the location was that on Friday and Saturday nights it was pretty noisy, even on the 5th floor (room 501). The noise travels up Little Collins from Swanston really well and is generally a mix of drunks and buskers. Honestly, it’s not too bad and you can shut it out pretty well, but it’s something to be aware of.

And on another note, though, my family who was in the 2 bedroom apartment didn’t hear anything so it will likely depend on where in the hotel your room is.

The Arrival

After an early morning flight it can be difficult to seem chirpy, but this quickly changed as I was greeted with the happiest and friendliest of reception staff I might have met. (It also helped that they had actually heard of me and this blog, which got me really excited).

Incredibly, at 10 am my room, and the rooms of my family who were also visiting Melbourne with me were ready for us. In addition, my mum had actually made two bookings and had accepted that she’d have to check out and into a new room. But the staff would not have a bar of that and made sure she could keep the one room the whole stay.

It’s this ‘yes’ attitude that always makes the difference between a good hotel and a great hotel.

The Room

I had booked a Heritage Queen Room and requested a cot for B-man and we were given one of the 5th floor of 6 (Room 501 to be exact). I probably wouldn’t worry too much about what level you are on because, being in the centre of the dense CBD, there’s not much of a view until you get to the top (but I’ll get to that later).

The room was clean, spacious and very comfortable with all the amenities one could need including fridge, tv, phone, kettle (with tea and coffee), iron and board, table and chairs, hangers, extra pillows, and of course the tiny soaps and shampoos that budget travellers love.

The bathroom was also generously sized, the star of the show being the enormous shower. I reckon you could fit 8 people in there. As long as they were all very good friends of course.

As a bonus, a few of my relatives were staying in a 2 bedroom apartment, which also looked perfect for any group of 4 wanting to stay in the city. It contained a room with a queen bed and ensuite, a room with two single beds, and a living room with a kitchenette. Plus all the same amenities that were in my room.

The Hotel Facilities

Fitness freaks will love knowing that the Victoria Hotel does have its own gym. It is pretty basic with only about 5-6 machines, but they are fairly new and of good quality, so you’ll be sure to still work up a sweat. And post workout you can have a swim in the indoor pool, with views of nearby buildings from the 6th floor. And for those prefer to just relax, there is also a hot tub.

The Restaurant (Alice’s Thai)

We had dinner at Alice’s Thai, the hotel restaurant and I’ll be honest, it was probably the best Thai I’ve ever had. I ordered chicken cashew nut (my favourite Thai meal, and a fairly safe option) and Kynie ordered the chicken pad see ew (her own favourite) plus a fried rice.

The fried rice was on point, and chicken cashew nut was just incredibly flavoursome, generous on the chicken, yet still loaded with vegetables. I like Thai, but I don’t really know what makes it great, but I know when it’s great, and this was one of those times.

As usual with Thai, there was SO much food and it is very inexpensive. This meal with drinks cost around $55 which is very good value.

If you’ve read any of my city guides, you’ll know there’s always a heavy emphasis on good beer. Bars with craft beer are always the first thing I look for in a new city and the first thing I look for on the menu. However, if that’s you as well you will be kept wanting as the line up is pretty pedestrian. Though I note this is very standard for Thai restaurants so this really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Bottom line is, if you love your Thai food, then you should have a meal at the hotel Restaurant.

The restaurant also offers buffet breakfast every morning, though note that this is not included in your room rate. The breakfast is very good though if you don’t mind paying $19 for all you can eat.

It includes just about everything you would hope for at a buffet breakfast including a selection of fresh juices, toast, fried and scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, pancakes, baked beans and the crispiest hash browns in the world. They also have rice and rice porridge for our Asian friends. The only disappointment was that I thought the pastries were a little stale (on both mornings I went).

The Bar (Vic’s Bar)

Vic’s Bar provides a quiet setting to knock a few back after a hard day of sightseeing or a place to kill an hour while your family has a mid-afternoon nap.

The bar has a great selection of drinks and friendly bar staff who can recommend something if you can’t decide. Though let’s be honest, this happens how often?

There’s a pool room around the back and great little finger food menu for when the 4-beer munchies really start to kick in. Choose from spring rolls, chips, prawn cutlets and of course what bar menu would be complete without wings?

The bar is open from 3 pm until about 1 am.

The Negatives

To be honest, there aren’t many. My stay at The Victoria Hotel was generally filled with delights. It did exactly what it said on the tin, and provided the best value for money you can ask for.

One thing of note was that they won’t hold your bags for you after you check out. Well, they will but for a small fee. I know this isn’t all that uncommon, but it is a bit of a pain all the same.

And this one is a very minor issue, but Vic’s Bar only opens at 3 pm. Found this out the hard way didn’t I haha.

The Price

Prices can vary quite a bit depending on the day you wish to stay. Weekends will generally be more expensive and are around $200 a night (Friday and Saturday) while the standard weeknight rate is $130.

Having spent a full weekend here I can tell you that paying under $200 a night for a hotel of this quality, with these amenities and facilities, and in such a central part of the city is value.

When I go back to Melbourne I will absolutely stay here again.

Click here to check prices.

The Directions

From the airport:

• For a group of 3 or less, get the SkyBus ($19 each) to Spencer Street station and catch a tram (free) up Bourke Street. Get off at and walk down Swanston for a block and turn left up Little Collins for about 100 metres.
• For a group of four or more it will be cheaper (or as much) to get a cab direct to the door. A cab will be about $65-$70.

Disclosure: I received a free night at The Victoria Hotel but all opinions expressed within are my own. 

Did you enjoy this post?

Plenty more where that came from. Make sure to sign up for the mailing list to never miss the next one.

Save this for later. Pin these, just hover.