Sheraton Melbourne

[mrfreeze]

The new Sheraton Melbourne opened March 31 and has an opening Experience Sheraton rate providing the following:

• Daily breakfast
• Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi
• Double Star points (On base rate)

I booked a Traditional Room at $250 for the night and was a little apprehensive staying opening week.
Checking the first two reviews on Trip Advisor gave 1 star and 3 stars.

I arrived at the Hotel and walked in to the ground floor where the Concierge welcomed me and directed me to the first floor for check in.

Check In was very fast and efficient and advised I was upgrade to an Executive Terrace Suite.
As SPG Platinum I was expecting a room upgrade but only to the next room category – as per my experience at Westin Melbourne.
At Check In a phone call was made and someone made known of my arrival, I thought it was to house keeping to ensure the room was ready as I did arrive an hour or two before official Hotel Check In time of 3PM.

Nearly instantly the Room Division Manager came and greeted me.
I do wonder what the couple near by also checking In thought, maybe who is he, he must be awesome, oh my god he has better hair than any woman I know – fairly normal thoughts I say

Up to the room on the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] floor and walked into the small lounge area.
The room was nicely decorated, as was the Bedroom.
A 40” approx. TV was located in the lounge with a 55” TV in the Bedroom.

The Bathroom was located between the two and had a window that looked into the Bedroom or the Bedroom into the Bathroom.
An electric blind could be closed for privacy.

One design flaw is that to close the curtain in the Bedroom you needed to go behind a pillar that goes through the room and then reach behind the TV to try and pull the curtain closed.

I would of gone to the Terrace Bar but it is closed on a Sunday and Monday night.

One thing that was a little annoying was the noise in the alley way of bottles / rubbish removal etc. very early in the morning.
I knew this might be the case as I have stayed on the other side of the road at City Budget previously.

Check Out at 5AM was super quick as to be expected at that time of the morning.

I have a further 4 stays booked through out this year so will be interested in seeing how those experiences are when the time comes.

It seems so long ago I stood on the roof top of City Budget Hotel and saw the crane be bought in and assembled to construct the building and to see it built and stay in was a nice feeling.

 

[Keith009]

For SPG die hards, the new Sheraton Melbourne makes a pretty solid and often cheaper alternative to the Westin. I prefer the Westin decor and lobby ambience on the whole but that's splitting hairs now. For a circa $50-60 savings a night on rates I've seen, and an apparently more generous upgrade policy (never got anything different at the Westin either as Gold or Plat - have learnt to book bigger rooms as a result), I'm very happy to stay at the Sheraton.


Decor is pretty bog standard for an upscale big chain hotel in its class. Sufficiently contemporary and inoffensive, albeit with very garish carpets in the room. I booked a Traditional Room, the lowest room category. As a Gold member I got upgraded to a Superior Room which was comfortable enough with a very nice bed. 4pm late check out was applied without fuss (was actually automatically registered when I requested for a 4pm check out online I think but thought it best to ask in person anyway just to make sure).


Location wise I prefer the Sheraton to the Westin as a leisure traveller, though both are not far from each other in the grand scheme of things. The Westin has a nicer location for daytime stuff which feels more upmarket, as it has a better proximity to shops on Collins St. The Sheraton is at a section of Little Collins which is pretty dead in the day however it's more buzzy at night with more convenient access to a better selection of laneway bars if delicious craft coughtails and small wine bars are your thing. Loop (super cool rooftop bar) at Meyers Place is practically opposite the hotel, with Madame Brussels on Bourke St just around the corner. Eau de Vie isn't far away either. Then rock on to places up and around Exhibition like 1806, Seamstress, Emerald Peacock, Red Lantern etc. Both hotels are in good proximity to lots of great restaurants; lots of fantastic spots on Flinders Lane are really close to the Sheraton once you take the shortcuts through the office building next to the Sheraton and Collins Place. Finally, Sheraton has slightly better access to good coffee with lots of very nice coffee places within a 50m radius - Little Bean Blue just up the same street, and The Mess Hall and Self-Preservation which are both on Bourke.


If travelling on business, the location preference will probably depend on which end of the CBD you need to be in - Sheraton is at the "Paris end" of the city between Exhibition and Russell Streets whilst Westin has a more central position in the Hoddle Grid (i.e. layout of Melbourne CBD) on the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets.


My only complaint during our stay was that housekeeping did not replenish the bathroom amenities daily, even when the shower gel and shampoo bottles were near empty. I had to request for fresh bottles from guest services. That was irritating and felt 'cheap.'


Some pics of our room:

 

[Isochronous]

I look forward to visiting the Sheraton when I next return to Melbourne.

Has anyone tried the restaurant there?

 

[boomy]

Both hotels are in good locations in the CBD.
Sheraton is often priced under $250 which is fair for this type of hotel but Westin is overpriced IMO.