I have stayed at the stamford on business previously but this time was with my wife. The separate room from the lounge/kitchen is great, I can work or watch TV while she has a rest. The hotel gym is well equipped and the staff very friendly. the hotel is well located.

We pitched up at the Stamford Plaza Melbourne after three nights at the Sir Stamford Circular Key Sydney. Thus our expectations were high - the reality proved somewhat disappointing.

The two hotels are part of the same group but here the similarity ends. Gone the personal touch, gone the resplendent rooms with a view, gone the warmth and coziness. Instead we found twin towers, tall and aloof, separated by a street where the sun don't shine.

Our room - and we swapped twice; once to get a bath and once yet again to get a bath (but one not in a smoking room) was dark and overlooked the building enclosed rear. Standard decorative fare awaited, drab colours, slightly tired and with a small bathroom complete with a plastic bath that was only able to accommodate 3/4 of me at any one time or the alternative of standing for an inbath shower.

Situated on Little Collins in the CBD, it was handy five minute walk to the trams and another five or so on to Federation Square but you could have been anywhere in the world as the atmosphere of the hotel registered so low on the Richter Scale. Expensive wi-fi only contributed to the desire to use the room solely as a place to freshen up and to lay ones head.

Staff were polite when approached and one concierge went out of his way to retrospectively explain the vagaries of Melbourne's toll road charging system after we had inadvertently travelled along a chargeable stretch. He allowed us to use his telephone f.o.c. and following a small credit card transaction, we hopefully have escaped a penalty.

We enjoyed Melbourne itself very much but I shed no tears when we checked out. The upside of the hotel? - its close proximity to the excellent Chin Chin Asian restaurant for supper and the eclectic Il Solito Posto basement trattoria for breakfast.

Sorry, there'll be no 'wish you were here' postcard from me for the Stamford Plaza.

I recently had to travel to Melbourne to be with my daughter, her husband and 4 year old granddaughter who was undergoing major heart surgery in the Royal Children's hospital. As I could only book the accommodation at the last minute, I was very fortunate to be able to book a premier king bedroom suite at the last minute. Check in and check out were friendly and efficient. The suite itself was very comfortable, although the decor was slightly dated. The bathroom was on the small side but I liked the old fashioned shower taps (no fiddling about to find out how the taps worked), although when I booked the room, I was under the impression that L'Occitane bathroom toiletries were included, as well complementary newspapers. This was solved by just one phone call to housekeeping and L'occitane bathroom toiletries were delivered within 5 minutes. I was slightly taken back that no toothbrush and toothpaste or shaving kit was provided, these had an additional cost of approx. $5 and $6 respectively (in all other 5 star hotels we have stayed in these were provided as well as shaving kit). As I was in Melbourne for 7 days, the kitchenette came in very handy, just to have the occasional meal in room. The bed was heaven, never have I slept so well in a hotel as in the Stamford Plaza, the pillows were great. A good "green" option is to get a credit of $10 to be used in Harry's bar/cafe for not having the room serviced.
The location of the hotel could not be better, a 5 minute walk (less if one is a fast walker) to the shopping malls, CBD and all the trams.
Now to the negatives: breakfast was a big disappointment, poorly presented, not a big choice in any particular section, and for what it offered very expensive ($32 with a 20% discount).
The gym is small, only 2 treadmills, 2 bikes and 2 cross trainers and only one cable machine with a very limited amount of weights.
Overall, yes I would stay in the Stamford again, definitely and planning to come back sometime next year under less stressfull circumstances.