Stylish, comfortable and value for money: Airport hotels don't get any better

Staying at this hotel is one of the easiest ways of starting a holiday. Enjoy a relaxing night's sleep and a delicious breakfast in the morning, then simply walk across the bridge to the airline check-in area. It's also convenient if, like us, you realise you've left something at home; you can duck into one of the airport stores the night before a flight.

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Prominent local hotel designer Susan Standring is behind the new-look hotel, which draws strongly on sustainable design and recycling concepts, and features sleek, comfortable and eye-catching flourishes. Bright splashes of yellow, and muted couches and day beds welcome guests in the lobby, while lots of natural wood - some of it recycled and repurposed during the renovation - creates a calming mood in other common areas of the property.

Room types cater for everyone from solo travellers and business flyers to families, large and small. Each room either has a view across to the terminal or back towards the Melbourne CBD. The popular family rooms feature a dividing wall between the main bed and twin beds giving some separation and privacy, while corner business suites have a separate bedroom with lounge and office areas. You don't even have to be staying overnight to book a room with day rooms available for three, five or eight hours.

The final stages of renovation, the Airo Restaurant and Bar Airo, finished in April 2024. They are both abuzz in the evening, and the bar lounges are a popular hangout during the afternoon - a welcome respite from the action outside as a sea of cars and travellers flow through the busy arrival and departure lanes.

Airo Restaurant morphs from a daily breakfast spot (the extensive hot and cold buffet includes an automatic pancake maker machine which is a hit with the kids) to lunch (weekdays only) and dinner with a focus on local producers and a mix of modern Australian and Asian cuisines. The Bar Airo menu, available from 4pm to 11pm, can also be ordered in the restaurant giving diners, particularly travelling families with fussy kids, an extra option.

There's plenty to love about this airport hotel, starting with plane-spotting, which you can do from rooms with runway views. Despite the proximity to the tarmac, the rooms are super quiet, blocking out the noise of jet engines and the traffic below. More views await at the hotel's swimming pool and large fitness centre with floor-to-ceiling windows - it's the perfect wellness sanctuary to stretch your legs in before or after a long-haul flight. If travellers have work to get done, there's a well-equipped business centre as well as a number of function rooms, board rooms and event spaces, named after Victorian towns (from Ballarat and Daylesford to Bendigo). And if you're staying longer at the hotel and wish to head into the city for some sightseeing or business, the SkyBus has two pickup and drop-off points within a short walk of the property.

The view. Deciphering the tail markings of some of the less familiar international airlines is a lot of fun.

The writer was a guest of Parkroyal Melbourne Airport.

Pictures: Michelle Smith; supplied