Grand Hyatt Melbourne is as posh, pristine and as perfect as it looks from the outside looking in. Step inside and you’ll never want to leave as it ticks all the boxes for everything you need in a 5 star hotel. Grand Hyatt Melbourne is as good as it gets for business, pleasure or your next big event, Scott Podmore discovers.
The lowdown on Grand Hyatt Melbourne
The Grand Hyatt Melbourne is one of the big noters dressed in gold and prestigiously wedged in the Paris end of Collins Street pretty much near “everything” that matters in the city: fine dining, casual dining, great shopping and fashion houses, Flinders Street Station, trams, Swanston Street, Federation Square and only a 5 minute Uber or quick tram ride to the sporting precinct housing the MCG and Rod Laver Arena… there’s a distinct sense of place when you #gogrand.
It’s all about 5 star luxury of the highest order for business or leisure travellers in Melbourne’s CBD. And when I say “big noters”, well, they have good reason to be. Recently Grand Hyatt Melbourne was named as one of the Top 10 Hotels in Australia by readers of DestinAsian magazine. Furthermore, readers voted Grand Hyatt as one of the Top Five Hotel Brands for Business.
Grand Hyatt Melbourne
123 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic 3000
facebook.com/grandhyattmelbourne
The room
There are some serious rooms for serious business and luxury travellers at the Grand Hyatt where sophistication and elegance combine for room options that deliver on just about every level.
Ours was the Grand Suite King, an 80 square metre apartment in the sky, with two luxurious rooms offering 180-degree views of Melbourne. One of the big bonuses that comes with a Grand King is access to the Grand Club Lounge (more about that further down). The King rolls with a long highlights reel that extends beyond the views of Melbourne’s CBD including smooth Egyptian linen, a separate living and dining area with regal work station with bucket chair, a beautiful Italian marble bathroom (with bath, of course), June Jacobs amenities and plenty more.
Other room options? A total of 550 spacious and stylish rooms, including 84 club rooms and 25 premium suites, all have a big personality. Suite options include The Ambassador, a premium 100 square metre suite with kitchenette and dining area that seats 4, while The Diplomat overlooks the Yarra River and Melbourne skyline views, is a 141 sq m king bedroom suite with separate living and work areas, large bathroom with stunning sunken spa tub. If you’re ready to go all out, try the Premier Suite and its floor-to-ceiling city views from the oversized king bed in this 182 sq m suite with all the bells and whistles.
Hotel facilities
Only the best for one of the best 5 star shining lights in Melbourne’s CBD from prestigious Collins Street.
Where to start is the big question. Let’s go with meetings and events: Grand Hyatt Melbourne has a choice of 15 inspired event spaces to launch a range of experiences, options and opportunities. The hotel’s function floor has the latest facilities and technology and can be easily configured to accommodate occasions of all sizess, from a private seminar for 10 to a lush cocktail reception for 1500 guests.
We’ve already mentioned the Grand Club Lounge experience, but the City Club Health & Fitness Centre is truly world class an almost impossible to put into words; you need to walk into it and breathe in the whole experience. It is a unique example of a 5 star inner city gym featuring state-of-the-art facilities, cutting-edge Life Fitness equipment, indoor swimming pool, rooftop tennis court, and a team of professional trainers. Expanding on the healthier approach, City Club Health & Wellbeing facilitates results-oriented massage therapies, beauty and relaxation facial treatments with a focus on total wellbeing. Tap into these two areas and you’re not just having a luxurious hotel stay, in some small (or big way) you will have shifted your health, fitness and outlook on life.
Then there is hot cocktail bar Ru-Co, designed to highlight the “talents of our mixologists”, according to the Grand Hyatt team, with a menu chock-full of signature cocktails, craft beers as well as single malt whiskeys and cognacs, and a wine list drawn from the 2700 premium bottle wine room. The Bistro Bar provides a change of pace but retains the elegance.
Onto the food…
Food
The Grand Hyatt is as innovative as any 5 star hotel comes when it comes to the way it approaches food and it all points to Collins Kitchen whether it’s brekky, or a la carte lunch or dinner.
Most famously, it’s renowned for a mighty buffet breakfast that rivals the best of them (Gourmet Traveller Hotel Guide Awards, Best Breakfast 2015, 2016, 2017). Perfect for early risers, it opens at 6am (6.30am weekends) and although not cheap, the expression ‘you get what you pay for’ certainly applies here. Freshly cooked waffles are world-class, there’s a broad selection of cold and hot options, including a popular egg/omelette station that does omelettes like no other.
The ‘Living Grand Sunday Lunch’ is an interactive gastronomic journey to behold, while you can discover a bygone era of elegance with a bespoke High Tea in Style by Cristina Re, and keep an eye on the seasonal pop-ups including Burn City Smokers and Italian wizards Ladro. We didn’t try the room service but a fellow guest who regularly stays at Grand Hyatt informed us he never wants to eat outside his room again when in town. It’s that good apparently!
Point of difference
There are a few, namely the incredible health and fitness club and exquisite conference and events facilities including the extravagant Savoy Ballroom and its 7.5metre high ceilings, but a standout is the sustainability factor: all new guest rooms are fitted with PIR sensors to determine when guests have vacated the room. The room control system sets back the AC system and shuts off lighting until you return to your room. Energy efficient compact fluorescent lighting is used throughout all rooms and water-saving devices are fitted to basins and showers, allowing the hotel to manage energy and water consumption responsibly.
Grand Club Lounge
The exclusive Grand Club Lounge on level 31 re-opened after a design refresh in August last year.
Food is superb, as are the 180 degree views of Melbourne’s city skyline, and it provides the perfect retreat any time of the day to work or simply unwind.
The Grand Club Lounge is available exclusively for bookings made with rooms that include Grand Club access and features exclusive check-in and check-out services, a complimentary daily continental breakfast, refreshments all day long, evening drinks with canapes and boardroom access.
10 Words Or Less …
5 star luxury in a multiple award-winning hotel on Collins.
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