Hotel Review: Ibis Melbourne Hotel & Apartments

One of the main reasons I chose this hotel is that it is located very close to a tram station, as well as a Skybus Link station.  However, when I arrived at Southern Cross Station, I discovered that Skybus had updated their Skybus Link stops 4 days ago and the stop across from the hotel is no longer being used.  This meant I had to drag my suitcase along the busy streets of Melbourne for 10 minutes, which wasn’t the best experience, especially in 33 degree weather!

Nonetheless, I made it to the hotel in one piece and after a simple check in, I arrived at my room on the 9^th floor.  The room I received was very simple and only had the very basic amenities, although I was pleasantly surprised to see a safe in the room.

There were a few things that I wasn’t a fan of, or that I found odd with the hotel.  I can’t say that I’m a fan of the shower, as I found the angle of the showerhead to be quite awkward, which made for a bit of a difficult shower.  This was also the 3^rd hotel I’d stayed in in Australia that did not have hand towels. 

Secondly, there was no trash can in the room.  There was one in the bathroom but generally hotels would have one in the room as well and I found it strange that this property didn’t.

Thirdly, the bedsheets and pillow cases are of quite a low quality.  I’m usually not very picky with this stuff, but the sheets and pillow cases aren’t soft and comfortable to the touch, which was quite surprising.

The hotel had laundry services on floors 2, 5, and 11.  Each floor had one washer and one dryer.  A small pack of detergent can be purchased at the front desk for $4 and at the current time, it costs $4 for the washer and $4 for the dryer, which means a total of $12 to do one load of laundry.  I ended up using the laundry on floor 5 and upon discovering that the dryer didn’t work, the front desk refunded me the $4 and asked me to try another machine on a different floor.

I stayed 4 nights and usually don’t require my room to be cleaned daily.  However, after the second night, I wanted to see if I could get some new sheets and toiletries, so I placed the “Please come in” sign on my door.  When I returned to the hotel shortly after 4pm, I discovered that my room had not been cleaned, which was a bit disappointing and surprising.

I’m not sure that I would choose to stay at this property again, given the location and level of service.  I had picked it mainly for the ease of transport to and from the airport, but since the airport shuttle bus no longer stops close to the hotel, I think there are far superior choices in the same area.