Mercure Melbourne

My husband and I stayed at the Mercure Treasury Gardens for four nights while staying in Melbourne. We were lucky enough to find out that Mercure has a free Shuttlebus pickup/​drop off from the airport, which was a huge plus as we had no transportation in Melbourne.
Upon check in, we were greeted warmly and informed that our room was not yet ready, so would we like a drink while we waited? We happily accepted, and enjoyed a couple of beers in the lobby while they got our room ready. **Disclaimer: Upon checkout, we were billed for said drinks. In the future, I will decline which we assumed were complimentary beverages.
We got a room that overlooked the gardens, which was especially lovely at night when the city lit up after dark. The room itself was standard — lots of deep purples and fuchsias in the décor. It was a decent size for two people, a little run down (chips on the corners of walls, scratches on furniture and carpet was a bit dirty) but overall comfortable. The wifi was spotty, and only gave you a small allowance of data over the course of 24 hours, at which point if you exceeded what you were able to log in so long as you were exercising «responsible usage» AKA sharing with other hotel guests, I assume.
We shared an entrée in the Lime restaurant downstairs, which consisted of mini meat pies, samosas and quiches, which was verrryyy average. Breakfast was much better, however the soy latte I ordered was weak and lacking in actual coffee flavor.
The best part about this hotel is its central location to pretty much everything. Right down the block are several free tram zones, Flinder’s Street Station, shopping, the Regent Theatre (where we saw The Lion King!!), and heaps of amazing restaurants. Mostly everything was walking distance to the hotel. Just for location reasons alone I would definitely stay there again.

Clean, friendly, efficient. Great staff (sent us a bottle of wine to our room because they heard it was my birthday). Rooms are small but very comfortable. Highly recommend.

The hotel is a bit dated. The lobby looked like that of a two or three star hotel. Bathroom was small, the bathrooms of our hotels in Japan were much bigger and that’s saying a lot considering Japan hotel rooms are known to be very very tiny. The room was not very clean as well. There were dust and stains on table surfaces. The carpet was dark gray in colour and I didn’t attempt to walk around the room barefoot in fear that the carpet has not been properly vacuumed. One of the shelves in the wardrobe was lopsided. Walls are very thin, you can hear each time someone opens or closes their door, and you can hear people’s conversations in the hall of your floor. We could also hear the noise in the nearby Treasury Gardens (we had a garden view room on the 3^rd floor). The wifi in the room was not that reliable, it was slow most of the time and we initially had trouble connecting and had to contact their tech support to get it sorted for us. We did not have breakfast as there were a lot of cafes not too far that we felt were of better value. Not sure what warrants the four star rating of this hotel. We paid quite a premium as we stayed during the Australia Day long weekend and we stayed at a premium Privilege type room so I was expecting a room of a much higher standard. I would look at other properties the next time I’m in Melbourne.

Looking for a venue for a vegan meal in Melbourne CBD on a Monday is not the easiest option. We met up with a friend staying at the Mercure in Spring St and whilst waiting my wife checked out the menu of Lime the inhouse restaurant. A very pleasant surprise.
The entrees, mains and deserts all contain two vegan options. And the kitchen is so proud (rightly so) of its vegan chocolate mousse that it even provides the recipe.
Mains are a great offering of Asian fusion fare.
If your tired of the «alternative» lifestyle vegan offerings, this is a great choice with views across the Treasury Gardens.

Nice enough hotel with an awesome location next to Treasury Gardens. Close to the Cricket Grounds, tram stations, and waterfront. The rooms are on the small side and daily service was spotty, but the location more than makes up for it. Internet is expensive, and keep an eye on the bill, as they overcharged us. No pool.
Breakfast is the highlight. Definitely get breakfast.