The Intercontinental Melbourne shouldn’t be thought of as a luxury hotel but it is located in a free tram zone and can be affordable on points.
Booking the Intercontinental Melbourne
Official link to hotel: https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/us/en/melbourne/melha/hoteldetail
We had three nights to spend in Melbourne. I had looked around at Hyatt and Marriott but didn’t find anything that really inspired me. There were quite a few luxury hotels I looked at that didn’t allow 4 in a room together. And when you couple on top of that the tours I wanted to take, I needed a hotel that was also conveniently located.
Well, the good news is that the Intercontinental Melbourne ‘The Rialto’ met the basic needs of this trip. All of us could stay in one room and while Intercontinental hotels might be a step down from top-end properties in other chains, it works. We weren’t planning on staying long in our room anyways aside from sleeping.
I originally booked the hotel with cash but then eventually found a good rate on points (140,000 IHG points for the three night stay). However, I should note that I also have the old IHG Select credit card that gives a 10% rebate on points, so I got 14,000 back after staying. That made it fairly cheap at just 126,000 points for 3 nights.
The rate could have been cheaper–if the timing worked out, that is. I signed up for Intercontinental Ambassador status ($225 USD or 45,000 IHG points). Along with the status, you also get a free weekend night, which is more like a BOGO offer. Unfortunately, both the paid night and the free night have to be over a weekend (Fri night, Sat night, Sun night) and on this stay, I only had one over the weekend. Thus, I didn’t get a chance to use it on this trip.
Why sign up for Ambassador status? It’s really just because I was curious to see if the experience is different from the last time I stayed at an Intercontinental hotel. Call it a thought exercise for now, but I hope to still use the BOGO night another time.
First impressions of the Intercontinental Melbourne
We arrived into Melbourne from our flight and made our way over to the Uber line. While we could have taken the bus, we didn’t want to hassle with all of our luggage.
Soon enough, we made it over to the Intercontinental Melbourne and proceeded through the main entrance.
Once inside, we saw a rather simple lobby that had a few chairs in it.
Just to the left was the front desk. Here, a friendly employee checked me into the room but things got a little confusing. Ambassador members get a $20 USD food and beverage credit per stay, which translates to $25 AUD (close enough). Another benefit of the status is a guaranteed upgrade, but none was available. The hotel offered up either 10,000 IHG points or a $70 AUD credit. Since I was going to dine at the hotel anyways one evening, I chose the credit.
However, that second credit never applied. I didn’t realize it until long after I left that the restaurant charge reflected the $25 AUD credit but not the extra $70. At checkout, the agent only asked if I took anything from the minibar and then said I’ll receive the bill via email. For me, it didn’t feel worth it to haggle with the hotel’s accounting department long after the stay, so I just ate the benefit. I wasn’t expecting it prior to the stay so from that perspective, I didn’t lose anything.
This is one of those things that’s easier with Hyatt’s concierge benefit where I would just shoot an email to the representative and they can handle getting the billing corrected. Sadly, there is no equivalent with IHG.
Anyways, lesson learned–just take the points next time. I also received a voucher for 4 drinks that I could redeem at the bar (more on that later).
The room
After checking in, we made our way up to the 6th floor, where we found our room for this stay (618).
The bedroom
We booked a room with two double beds and that’s exactly what we got. The beds were not as firm as I would have preferred, but they worked for getting good enough sleep each night. What we noticed was lacking was the number of pillows–just 4 in total and not that firm. One thing to note is that these beds were on wheels and moved around quite a bit even if you didn’t intend to move the bed. Any nudge seemed to move them, which was a little annoying.
Across from the beds is a small TV atop a desk. Usually I like being able to watch the TV from the desk while working but this was a bit too close for comfort.
Next to the beds was a single chair and a small side table. Despite the room fitting 4, they don’t expect you to spend much time indoors since there isn’t enough seating for all.
On the plus side, they give a couple of water bottles for free. There is one on two of the night stands around the bed, including this one next to the lighting controls. What really would have been nice is if they had electrical outlets near the beds.
In a little corner across the way was the coffee machine and some snacks. These snacks aren’t free.
And the mini-fridge underneath was packed with drinks that you have to pay for. But there is no weight sensor, so you can add some items of your own to it.
The closet is functional, with a safe, iron and ironing board, and drawers to use for your stay. That said, they could have given more drawers to use (still felt like more room to put stuff compared to The Reykjavik EDITION).
The other side of the closet had plenty of hangers and a couple of robes.
When you’re in the room, you can see it has a balcony but unfortunately, it’s locked. I tried to open it as a test and the note is correct.
You don’t get much of a view–just a glimpse of the outside through the other side of the atrium.
Bathroom
The bathroom is fairly simple in size but there’s a major design flaw with the shower. Before we get to that, the bathroom vanity and mirror weren’t bad at all. It felt welcoming though a bit simplistic in terms of the countertop.
On the vanity are a bunch of amenities in case you left anything at home.
And here is the shower. My normal pet peeves of the shower don’t apply here–it has a door and you don’t need to get soaked with cold water when turning it on. Perhaps if you’re observant, you can spot the problem before I give it away.
Did you notice it? If you turn on the water, the door opens into the shower head. Perhaps they thought no one would be entering and exiting the shower while the water was running? But if you want to warm up the shower for the kids or they want to shower together, that door swinging open into the shower is going to be a problem.
And, no, you can’t just swing it open outwards. They prevented that by putting a metal notch at the top. I’m guessing that’s because they don’t want the glass door to hit the bathroom door. It’d just be better if they put in a sliding glass door.
Shower amenities are from Byredo, a good brand.
Dining options at the Intercontinental Melbourne
Alluvial
Website: https://www.melbourne.intercontinental.com/dining/alluvial/
Hours:
- Breakfast
- 6:30AM – 10:30AM weekdays
- 7AM – 11AM weekends
- Lunch
- 12PM – 3PM daily
- Dinner
- 5:30PM – 10:30PM Monday – Saturday
Alluvial is the main restaurant venue at the Intercontinental Melbourne. In fact, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know there was another dining option at the hotel. Alluvial is on the bottom floor.
In fact, it’s at the bottom of the atrium where our room overlooks. If you peek at the area from around the elevators, you get a nice view of the restaurant from above.
We dined at Alluvial for dinner one evening before our early morning flight out the next day. When we have an early flight, we like to just keep things as simple as possible.
Dinner menu
The restaurant describes itself as having a locally-inspired Melbourne dining menu. From our brief visit to Melbourne, I’d say that’s a fair way to classify it though it’s also fine to just say there is a mix of cuisines. The first menu had plenty of entrees and main dishes.
The second menu had grilled items and side dishes.
There is a separate kids menu that doubles as a coloring book.
Inside the menu are some pretty standard kids items like spaghetti, burgers, and salmon.
Drinks
At check-in, the front desk agent handed me a single drink ticket but didn’t specify what it gets me or how many drinks it counts towards. There is a “4” written on the front, but I wasn’t sure if that meant 4 drinks are covered.
Upon getting seated, the server noticed the “4” and assumed it also meant we would get 4 drinks. His hesitation made me wonder how legit this all was. But he let us redeem the voucher at the table rather than going to the bar a few steps away.
He remarked that any glass of drink would be covered, similar to our experience at the Intercontinental Tahiti. Thus, we got a couple of cocktails. Turns out that mixed drinks actually aren’t covered (should only be beer and wine) but he let this one slide. Of course, there was an awkward conversation about how he messed up on understanding the benefit. Guess they don’t see these drink vouchers all that often!
With the awkwardness of the conversation, I actually didn’t record in my notes what drinks these were or how they tasted. But they certainly looked pretty!
For the next set of drinks, I asked about a draft beer while Jenn went with a local sparkling wine. Unfortunately, the bartender came by to let me know that their tap wasn’t working and that he would just get me a bottled beer instead. Maybe these drink vouchers aren’t meant to be.
At least we got a nice family photo together after placing our order.
Food
Let’s start with the adult meals. First up is the handmade pappardelle, which had plenty of flavor. It’s made with some slow-braised beef cheek, which is where most of the flavor comes from. The noodles are freshly made greens on top made the dish just a bit lighter but it’s still a heavy dish. The kids tried this one, but they preferred the kids version more. I think it’s because this one has a little hint of earthy flavor from the mushrooms.
Jenn ordered the confit duck leg, which was tasty. If you’re looking for duck, this dish will satisfy that desire. However, it does look a bit lacking. This is one of those dishes where you probably want to get a side dish to accompany it. But, Jenn wasn’t too hungry and it filled her up. She is a smaller lady so your mileage may vary.
Char ordered the salmon, which was small, but when you compare it against the duck leg above, it doesn’t necessary stand out as being quite that small. Along with the salmon was mashed potatoes and broccoli, making this a very kid-friendly option. It’s good and was what she was hoping for, so she was pretty happy.
And finally, the kids spaghetti with beef bolognese. The kids both loved this dish, which was a bit abnormal for Char because she doesn’t normally crave pasta with red sauce. It’s a little simpler than the adult version but still has good flavor. Sometimes you order a kids meal and get a bland dish but that isn’t the case here. The noodles are also freshly made, which was good. We ended up ordering two of these because the kids loved it so much.
Dessert
There’s always room for dessert, right? At the end of the meal service, we asked to see the dessert menu, which had a few options that intrigued us.
We settled on the roasted rhubarb panna cotta. Unfortunately, this one had a grainy consistency, which was unfortunate as it took away from the good flavor of the dish. The biscotti that came with the dish was arguably the better component of the dessert, but that doesn’t speak well for how the dessert scored for us. We normally like ending our meal with something sweet, but this time it was more of a swing and a miss.
Ronnie’s
Website: https://www.ronnies.melbourne/
Hours:
- Lunch
- 12PM – 3PM Tuesday – Friday
- Dinner
- 5PM – 10PM Monday – Saturday
Ronnie’s is another option for lunch or dinner, but we actually didn’t stumble across this one at all during our stay. I believe it’s in the connected building outside the hotel portion of the building. And we never made it over there, thus I have no photo of it. It serves Italian food, giving you more options than what you’ll find at Alluvial.
Bluestone Lounge Bar / Wine Lounge
Website: https://www.melbourne.intercontinental.com/dining/bluestone/
Hours: 6:30AM – 11PM daily
Right next to Alluvial is the Bluestone Lounge Bar and Wine Lounge. It seems odd that a bar is open at 6:30AM but on top of cocktails and snacks, they also have coffee in the morning.
Club Intercontinental
Hours:
- Breakfast service:
- 6:30AM – 10:30AM weekdays
- 7AM – 11AM weekends
- Afternoon tea
- 2PM – 4PM daily
- Evening drinks and canapes
- 5:30PM – 7:30PM daily
If you’re staying in a club room, staying in a suite, or you’re an IHG member redeeming a lounge access award, you can get access here. The entrance to the Club Intercontinental is in the lobby, right next to the front desk. We didn’t have access on this visit, so we can’t speak to what it’s like inside.
Pool and fitness center
Up on the 10th floor, the top floor of the building, you’ll find the pool and fitness center. Just scan your keycard at the glass door and you’re in.
The pool is indoors with plenty of natural lighting. However, with it being late fall when we visited, the pool didn’t feel very heated at all. And the room itself was a bit chilly with the windows cracked open. Maybe this one is more enjoyable during the Australian summer?
There are a number of red lounge chairs surrounding the pool, giving a nice splash of color.
Next to the pool is the hot tub. Actually, I should use the word “hot” in quotes because it felt anything but hot. It’s warmer than the regular pool but not by much.
Proceed a bit further into the pool and you’ll find a sauna. I didn’t enter but I’m assuming at least this has to be warmer than the hot tub was.
And then you’ll find the fitness center also past the pool. It seemed like a well-rounded gym with plenty of exercise machines and some free weights by the TV.
On the other side of the gym are some machines for building muscles.
The only other thing I want to point out about the gym is that if you need more water, they have bottled water here. The fitness center usually is the place to find more water if you need it.
The Intercontinental Melbourne is located in the free public transit zone
Before wrapping up, I just want to call out one thing about the hotel’s location. Melbourne has a free public transit zone where jumping on their tram system is completely free. The Intercontinental Melbourne is located right in that zone. You’ll see the free tram zone in the picture below.
Boarding it is simple. Just step onto the tram and that’s it. No need to swipe a card or download an app. Then, when you’re done, just exit.
You’ll know which stops are free because they’re visibly identified with plenty of signage. You’ll also hear an announcement when you get near the end of the free zone. Once you’re outside the zone, you’ll have to pay a nominal amount to continue by tapping the entry/exit scanners inside the tram.
Recommendation: Only if you don’t plan to relax in the room
The Intercontinental Melbourne has a mixture of positives and negatives. The hotel is in a good location and can be a cheap stay on points. But it also lacks the feel of a “luxury” hotel. It feels almost like a nicer version of a Holiday Inn, if that makes sense. And that’s typically the problem I have with most Intercontinental hotels. To be fair, not all of them feel this way, but it seems like the more historic the hotel, the more likely it feels like outdated luxury.
If price is what motivates you, there are cheaper IHG hotels in the city. However, weighing all the options, it’s fine here. I don’t have any regrets about staying here. In fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again given the circumstances of our stay. We had long adventures planned each day, didn’t need a breakfast from the hotel, and wanted a good location. With needs like those, this hotel works well because we’re not overpaying on services we didn’t use.
If you’re looking for a hotel where you can relax in the room and unwind, look elsewhere. But if you’re planning to be out all day, this hotel can work for you.
Which Intercontinental hotel have you visited and enjoyed?
View other posts in this series:
- A Brief Programming Note: Secret Trip 2.0 Is Here
- Trip Introduction: Secret Trip 2.0 is Back with New Players
- Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #1
- Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #2
- Virgin Australia Lounge SYD: Simple But Easy to Access
- Virgin Australia 737-700 Business Class Review: Short And Sweet
- Intercontinental Melbourne Review: A Good Location But Not Luxury (this post)
- Penguin Parade & Moonlit Sanctuary: The Best Melbourne Day Trip
- Melbourne Day Trip: Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Review and Highlights
- Supernormal Melbourne: What We Liked At This Fusion Spot
- Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #3
- Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #4
- Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #5
Author
Discover more from food.wada.travel
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.