This was published 1 year ago
The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne opens: City's highest hotel features sky-high restaurants, bar
By Katherine Scott
Melbourne has welcomed its first Ritz-Carlton hotel eight years after being announced, featuring a sky-high pool as well as one of the city's highest restaurants and largest suites.
Launched on Thursday and occupying the top 17 floors of an 80-storey complex, the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne has now also taken the title of the city's highest hotel.
The 275-guestroom property pays tribute to its surroundings with "destination-led design" and a strong culinary component, in keeping with the city's epicurean reputation.
The sky-high pool.Credit: Christopher Cypert
It marks the second Australian hotel for the Marriott-operated brand, which critics anticipate will set a new benchmark for luxury in the capital.
The luxury hotel occupies the tallest of the four glass towers in the $2.4 billion West Side Place high-rise precinct, built on the former home of The Age's Spencer Street office and financed by Hong Kong developer Far East Consortium (FEC).
Australian firm Cottee Parker Architects have led the design of all four skyscrapers, with a honeycomb-like facade interspersed with green living walls.
The Ritz-Carlton is the highest hotel in Melbourne.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
BAR Studio is behind the hotel's interiors, which take inspiration from Indigenous culture, Victoria's gold rush era, Melbourne's European heritage and iconic laneways.
Among some of the property's aesthetic highlights is a Sky Lobby Reception on the 80th floor, with views that stretch out to Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra, and a top-floor signature restaurant, Atria, so named for the brightest star in the southern constellation, Triangulum Australe.
Former Marque chef Mark Best has signed on as culinary advisor for the hotel's three dining offerings, which also includes sky-high cocktail bar Cameo, and Lobby Lounge, where guests can indulge in high tea and more casual lunch offerings.
The hotel entrance.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Michael Greenlaw (Vue de Monde, Bibendum in London) helms the signature restaurant, which he says is driven by a quest for the unusual, the hard to find, and the hyper-seasonal.
We want Melburnians as well as guests to adopt Atria as their own," said the executive chef. "The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne is attuned to the culinary obsessions of this magnificent city."
Guests can expect curated culinary experiences, theatrical cocktails and exciting epicurean journeys, according to Greenlaw.
The Ritz-Carlton's rooms and suites take an understated approach to design, with dark wood and natural stone made more luxurious with touches of glass, gold and custom light fixtures.
The Ritz-Carlton Suite lays claim to being one of Melbourne's largest, spanning the length of the building and boasting its own in-room sauna, among other luxe features.
The launch comes four years after its original opening date due to a litany of pandemic-related setbacks and delays, including the collapse of construction company Probuild last year.
It's one of a raft of new five-star properties to debut in Melbourne in recent times amid a hotel boom, joining The Royce Hotel and the Le Meridien.
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