Royce Hotel

In a bland neighborhood of office buildings and condo buildings, entering the Royce is a respite — the 1920s lobby is home to a tall ceiling, lots of sunlight, and a grand staircase. This kind of charm owed to history might be a dime a dozen elsewhere (Paris, New York) but it’s special here, a young city where most hotels are chains or modern boutiques. In the 1920s, the lobby was an opulent showroom for fancy cars, and today the iron chandeliers, original windows, and colorful tile work remain; in addition, the Mezzanine Suites were once the showroom’s high-ceilinged offices. All this gives the hotel romantic flair, but the hotel knows it takes more than restored details to woo guests; as such, it includes thoughtful touches like a “welcome” note and drink voucher for every guest, and locally made chocolate for returning VIPs. It’s particularly nice to have a romantic hotel in this neighborhood, where the focus is more on office buildings than couples retreats — though the lovely Royal Botanic Gardens up the street is a welcome exception. But while couples and even families flow in on the weekends, Royce gets plenty of business travelers during the week. After all, it’s reasonably close to the CBD and has its own ballroom and six meeting rooms. Travelers who want a modern boutique and don’t need to be near the city center (Melbourne’s suburbs are where its hip culture comes to life anyway) should consider the Art Series chain of boutiques. One (The Blackman) is just a six-minute walk away while the others are in the (very) worthwhile suburbs of South Yarra and Prahran; as a bonus for leisure travelers, they tend to be less business-focused. 

Royce sits on a wide, busy road, outside of the CBD but also not in one of Melbourne’s popular suburbs: it’s in a bit of a no-man’s-land among office buildings and hotels, with a few coffee shops and convenient stores dotting the neighborhood. That said, several central tram lines run just outside the hotel on St. Kilda Road, making it easy to get around (if a tram came right away, it would only take 15 minutes to get to the center of the CBD). Walking into the Royal Botanic Gardens takes just 10 minutes, and it’s a 15-20-minute stroll into the tony South Yarra neighborhood. It’s a perfect spot for those who want to be removed from the chaotic center and don’t mind a short journey to the sights; those who prefer action at their doorstep should stay in the CBD.- Eight-minute walk to the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park 

• 10-minute walk to Royal Botanic Gardens and the popular Tan Track for jogging
• 10 minutes by tram or 20-minute walk Arts District (museums and theaters)
• 15 minutes by tram or 30-minute walk to Flinders Street Station and Federation Square 
• 25 minutes by tram or 30-minute walk to Melbourne Cricket Ground

Our favorite thing about the Royce’s rooms is their size, with standard rooms starting at a generous 30 square meters (323 square feet). The rooms here haven’t been fully renovated since 2006, but the decor — though a bit bland — has held up well, with schemes of neutral caramels, tans, browns dotted by accents of chartreuse and eggplant. Guests don’t need to worry about bad views or lack of sunlight, given there are no high-rises nearby, a benefit of staying outside of the CBD. Bathrooms are large if fairly plain, with the toilet always set apart behind a separate door; only a handful of regular rooms have tubs, though all suites do (and some of those even have a small flat-screen above them).The Royce is good about peppering the guest’s experience with small thoughtful touches, and that extends to the rooms. All rooms have three coffee options (espresso makers, plungers, instant), plush robes (read: actually soft), full-sized hairdryers, good toiletries (not a given in Melbourne) by Lilly Pilly, and minibars that include Australian-made goodies whenever possible (nuts, cookies, and the like).Snag a room with a balcony if you can (which unfortunately only applies to 21 of the 100 rooms) — they’re huge, and are reason enough to stay here. The two-story Mezzanine Suites are also worthwhile if you don’t mind staying on the ground floor; their history as the showroom’s offices will give you a unique tale to bring home to friends.In-room technology is lacking, though. There’s a regular phone, a CD player, and an older 42-inch flat-screen TV, but no USB ports, no smart TV, and only some rooms have docking stations (those that do are for older generation iPhones and iPods). However, the front desk can provide chargers and adapters if guests need them.

While most guests will want to venture out to experience what makes Melbourne such a “foodie” city, it’s convenient that Royce is home to a bar and restaurant. The ground-floor Dish serves modern Australian cuisine and is open for three meals a day during the week, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday. Next door is the hotel’s bar The Amberoom, which has vaguely disco-inspired decor (iridescent beaded curtains line the mirrored wall; brown leather banquettes and bucket seats). It feels incongruous to the hotel’s 1920s lobby, but it's convenient nonetheless. All Royce guests get a free drink voucher upon check-in, and there’s a happy hour Monday through Friday. For guests who get the munchies, the hotel also has 24-hour room service. The hotel’s fitness center, if you can even call it that, only has one bike and one treadmill, but guests have free access to Fit411 (an independent gym) which is a five-minute walk from the hotel.The ballroom (which, while it has no windows, has charming ceiling arches from the 1920s) and six meeting rooms are popular, and during the week we saw hundreds of meeting attendees stream out through the lobby after a morning presentation. There’s no business center, but guests can use the free computers and printer in the lobby.