The rooms - and rooftop bar - at this new Melbourne hotel are drawing crowds

Just don't forget to book a table at the onsite restaurant.

Melbourne Place Hotel.

By Akash Arora

Updated April 1, 2025, first published January 14, 2025

When Explore checked in to Melbourne Place Hotel in the Victorian capital's bustling CBD just before Christmas, finishing touches to the lobby were still being applied - it's that new. And while we had to skirt around the bollards when checking in, the guestrooms upstairs were a picture of peace.

Seductive colour palettes - from burnt orange in one room to sage green in the other - dial up the wow factor from the get-go. In fact, so luscious are the interiors - textured couches, sheer drapes and Frette sheets - that you're tempted to never leave the room. But leave you must; how else will you experience the hottest ticket in town?

Mid Air rooftop bar.

A table at Mid Air - the hotel's rooftop haunt, with ravishing-red brick walls and architectural windows framing city views. Head here for a cocktail, then make your way to the onsite Marmelo restaurant, where tasty courses inspired by the food of Portugal and Spain range from Iberian pork shoulder to lobster with piri-piri butter. melbourneplace.com.au

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Marmelo restaurant.

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Words byAkash Arora

Akash is the Deputy Travel Editor for Australian Community Media. He has lived and worked in four cities around the world – Sydney, London, New Delhi and New York – and, at last count, travelled to 42 countries.

My all-time favourite destination is ... New York. You can drop a pin anywhere in Manhattan and start walking in any direction, and the sights and sounds of the city that never stops will begin to stimulate all your senses in an instant.

Next on my bucket list is … Scandinavia - at the peak of summer, when the sun almost never sets.

My top travel tip is … If you’re flying to Sydney from anywhere in the world, pick a window seat far from the wing on the left-hand-side of the aeroplane. If the weather gods and flight path align, you’ll have the most incredible views of the Sydney Harbour and Opera House.