MELBOURNE: CROWN METROPOL- HOTEL REVIEW

I got to stay here as I was in Melbourne for a work conference and awards night, July 2015. I was excited to finally get to stay at the Crown Complex. This complex was a game changer for Melbourne when it was built. Housing a casino, restaurants, shops, bars, 3 hotels, conference facilities, ballroom all in one large location on Melbourne's Yarra river. 

The hotel really is lovely. The check in area was well staffed and the lifts plentiful and fast.

I was in room 2161 which had twin double beds. Floor to ceiling windows looked out towards the Port of Melbourne. 

The room has a myriad of light switches, which took me forever to work out. Just want simple switches and decent lighting. There was only room for one suitcase on the luggage shelf which formed part of a clothes hanging area, there were also two smaller closet spaces, but no spare luggage rack to put out. This is a twin room, but only provides space for one person to put their case up. 

The beds- amazing. I love soft linen. I really liked the pillows. The beds were really comfortable. Good night's sleep.

The bathroom is a modern design but not suitable for conference guests who are two people who may not even know each other. Apart from the sliding door opening up to the main part of the room, so you can say hi to your room mate while brushing your teeth, there is then a huge gap between the wall and this divider, thus allowing your room mate to hear and possibly smell all that is going on in the toilet/bathroom area.

This to me is a major design flaw in this hotel and I am sure that there have been a number of complaints about this. Even putting glass bricks or some kind of screen in that space, would help. 

I think the hotel is lovely, but some design flaws make it difficult for me to understand why the rooms were designed this way to counteract the overflow for conferences.

Room from entrance hall, lighting not so good.

Large vanity area, but only one sink

Toilet to the right, Shower to the left. Toilet door opens outwards towards you, shower door inwards.

Room photo taken from windows, the closets are up to the right. The entrance to the bathroom is opposite the closets up there on the right. You can see the sliding screen and how you can see the shower door. and then on the right of that brown screen there on the left you can see the gap.

Photo below shows how big the gap is.

I took this photo from the gap between the main wall and the bathroom. It was a good 12 inches wide.

MELBOURNE: BEAR BRASS- RESTAURANT REVIEW

It was running friends gathering for brunch that brought my friend and I here on a Sunday, July 2015. Situated on Melbourne's Southbank (Federation Square end), Bear Brass has both outside and inside seating. It's quite a cosy set up. 

To begin while I waited for my friend I started with a freshly squeezed orange juice which was just amazing. Came in one of the new style hipster jar receptacles. I had had a late night out after my work awards and then heading out to visit a muso friend who was playing at a bar in town, so juice was just great.  The restaurant was very busy so being a Sunday, I would say a reservation would be almost essential. 

For my meal I ordered the Eggs Atlantic option and got them to scramble the eggs and put the hollandaise sauce on the side. The eggs were great, light and fluffy and the sauce just yum. The smoked salmon was fresh.

The coffee was ok. Nothing exceptional but it filled the caffeine gap.

My friend had the fruit salad which looked exceptional. It was fresh, and offered more than your usual banana apple orange combo. 

We were there to catch up and although it was busy, the other tables were moving quickly. I did notice that after our second coffee and our plates were cleared, we were given not much more attention. One of our other running friends came in to catch up a little later in our stay, bringing her girls with her. We weren't offered a water refill or asked if we wanted anymore coffees or if the girls wanted anything. When we asked for the bill, that too was a rather lacklustre event and we weren't asked how our meal was.

We had stayed 3 hours but were more than happy to keep buying drinks, but as I said after our second coffee we were given no more attention.

The food here is great and I would return here for that alone.

Breakfast Menu

Juice in  a hipster jar.