Cool makeover for this hotel in the best part of Melbourne
The hotel
Rydges Melbourne
Check-in
Let’s face it, the homegrown four-star hotel brand Rydges, with more than 40 establishments across Australia and New Zealand, has never quite been a byword in accommodation excitement, unlike its much funkier, cheekier group-mate QT. So what do you do as custodians of Rydges Melbourne when you finally get around to funking it up, without copying QT to a tee? How do you boost appeal to a cost but comfort-conscious corporate and leisure clientele? The answer and result is rather brilliantly on display at the 370-room, keenly priced Rydges, right in the heart of the Victorian capital’s theatre district and the country’s best and most authentic Chinatown.
The look
The newly renovated Rydges Melbourne – 1970s exterior vibe.
The new-look Rydges is QT-like, being part of the same Australian-owned EVT group, but is not as cutesy. The seemingly unremarkable 23-storey early-1970s tower, on the corner of Exhibition and Little Bourke streets, in which Rydges Melbourne operates, is actually heritage-listed. But it’s the internals, not the externals, that matter here. Crucial to the success of Rydges Melbourne’s rather lavish makeover, completed last year, is the involvement of design firm Luchetti Krelle and general manager Lee Davey, who previously ran QT Melbourne, around the corner in Russell Street. Where Rydges Melbourne, with its muted pale to chocolate browns and everything-in-between palette, does start to stray a little into QT territory is in the hipster swimming pool area with its Palm Springs-meets-Spring Street vibe. Not that anyone is complaining.
The Palm Springs-style rooftop pool.
The room
Guests can check into and out of their rooms at a bank of self-service terminals in the middle of the inviting marble-floored, living room-like lobby. with staff on hand to assist luddites. Rooms range from cosy 21-square-metre king standard rooms, to capacious 60-square-metre apartments featuring a kitchenette, laundry and separate lounge and dining space. I’ve been allocated one of the latter, with Luchetti Krelle’s restrained yet elegant colour palette flowing through to this pleasing and smartly equipped accommodation, city-centre apartment.
The bed in the Deluxe apartment is vast and snooze-inducing.
Out + about
The hotel sits at the best end of Australia’s best CBD with the city’s aforementioned theatreland and Chinatown right on Rydges Melbourne’s revolving-door step. Right around the corner, or thereabouts, are an eclectic quartet of the city’s Italian food and wine institutions, namely the two-hatted Grossi Florentino, Pelligrini’s espresso bar, the no-hatted Waiters’ Restaurant (formerly the Italian Waiters’ Club) and the more recent Becco. Combine food with thought at the nearby Hill of Content and the Paperback book stores.
Food + drink
Bossley Bar & Restaurant on the ground floor.
Aside from the myriad culinary delights in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, there’s Bossley, the in-house restaurant. Bistro and bar in equal measure complete with on-trend Paris-style cafe curtains, it’s a major improvement on the lower denominator Bobby McGee’s which operated here for yonks.
The verdict
Bossley Bar and Restaurant Bar
Rydges Melbourne represents an intelligent, if not model, hotel refurbishment, with little expense seemingly spared (take that, QT). It’s now rightly regarded as the Rydges flagship. One down, 40-odd less exciting Rydges to go.
Essentials
Rooms from $255 a night. Rydges Melbourne, 186 Exhibition St, Melbourne. Ph: (03) 9662 0511. See rydges.com
The writer stayed as a guest of the hotel.
Our rating
★★★★½
Highlight
The hotel’s art-filled lobby is a popular place to hang out, especially at the suite of banquettes lined up between the reception and the restaurant – perfect for working and socialising.
Lowlight
The quasi-brutalist late-1970s tower housing the hotel may not appeal to every guest but remember you’re staying in a heritage-protected building representative of Melbourne’s early skyscrapers.
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