The Hotel Windsor

Some of the rooms are VERY small. Ours, luckily, was a bit larger. The carpet in the lobby is awful and needs to be replaced, Looks like stains from a flood. Old hotel so expect that. The location is good. Cleanliness — BAD ! We had huge amounts of mold in our shower and had to tell the manager who agreed it was «disgusting» when I showed him pictures, but offered nothing other than to «try to clean it». It was very noisy too. Stay elsewhere

Disgusting service. Who overbooks a woman on her wedding night? Disgraceful hotel, Ill be letting every Melbournian know about your greedy tactics. DO NOT STAY HERE.

We arrived at the Hotel Windsor on the night of our wedding, in all our finery, to be told that our room was «unavailable due to plumbing issues».
In other words, ‘we sold your room to someone who checked in before you arrived.’ I made sure we wouldn’t have problems checking in late on this special night, as I called days before to be told reception is manned 24 hours. Well, then being siphoned off to a partner hotel around the corner was meant to be the compromise. A corporate, lack-​lustre, non remarkable place that if I had known we’d be staying at, I would have opted to stay with my husbands family in the mansion out in Eaglemont they were renting.
My husband is from La, and I wanted him to experience the iconic Melbourne landmark of the Hotel Windsor. Instead, he experienced their lousy greed with overselling rooms. Their disgusting customer service of not being able to ‘afford’ more than 1 complimentary nights stay, and their pitiful public relations of not going out of their way to move MOUNTAINS for us, in the aftermath of ruining our wedding night.
Not until we made further complaints, and dealt with 2 different employees, we were given a refund. Though what is the money worth? Absolutely nothing, considering the damage is done, and will NEVER be able to be undone. Thank you, Hotel Windsor, you did ruin our wedding night. Don’t ever take it for granted that your room will be available here, even when you PRE-​PAY for it, and yes, even on your wedding night. Whoever is involved in making these business/​financial decisions for the company, I hope that no one ruins your daughters’ wedding night, which I’m sure she will go to lengths to plan and dream of.

5 star… Really?
You can’t fault the bones of this lovely old hotel. But in many unflattering ways The Windsor is showing its age along with its gradual and nonchalant decline into mediocrity.
Customer service was not wonderful but, unlike other elements of The Windsor, I can’t really find cause for harsh complaint. Our check in was seamless, swift and friendly. Check out was much the same. We were not asked about our stay and there was no mention of the refunded $ 50 deposit (though I’m assuming it will show up eventually).
The water pressure in the shower was lacking. It was also ridiculously hard to control the temperature (full hot provided tepid water that fluctuated annoyingly). The provided toiletries weren’t extensive or impressive. I imagine for most business travellers these big bathroom issues would make for a less than ideal start to the day.
I would appreciate differing pillow options as those provided are huge and soft, offering no support. An extra blanket would also have been great as the room temperature was a little chilly for my liking. I had an awful nights sleep due to these issues and the fact that the hotel is extremely creaky (it sounded as though a herd of elephants were partying above us).
I didn’t particularly appreciate the mismatched décor nor the somewhat tatty furniture. When there are dark marks on the mirror, the bath is worn, the chairs are stained and the linen frayed you are right to question The Windsors supposed five star rating.
Our superior room came with free wi-​fi, though many other options offer only paid Internet. The television was extremely basic: unless willing to pay your only viewing pleasures consist of Australian free to air channels.
The hotel provides a great central location and for people visiting Melbourne it’s easily accessible via taxi or public transport.
Should you chose to stay I’d strongly recommend requesting a room at the front of the hotel (with parliament facing views). Otherwise you’ll be uninspired by the insipid alley scenery.
To be frank there are many better accommodation options in Melbourne offering cheaper rooms with better facilities. More importantly The Windsor pales in comparison to other establishment (The Langham immediately springs to mind) that claim five star status. Unless you could get a room here for under $ 100 a night (which, really, is all it’s worth) I’d strongly recommend choosing elsewhere.

What can I say. its pretty.

Future schmuture, sometimes you just wanna drown yourself in old school glamour.
Like an aging Marilyn Monroe, Hotel Windsor is in some ways a shade of her former self, but for chronophiles like me, therein lies the appeal. She’s a little faded, a little dusty, but there’s no mistaking what a drop-​dead knockout she used to be. We’re talking a proper, fit-​for-​a-​royal hotel, one that visiting celebrities made a beeline for, one with a colossal, splendiferous lobby, with a concierge in top hat and tails, with brylcreemed bellboys and wall hangings listing the famous people that have bedded down there over the years. And the Cricketers Bar on premises where touring cricket teams used to drink together in the days when professional sport was less professional and more fun.
The rooms are gargantuan and spacious, the bathrooms better than my one at home, and there are robes in the cupboard, robes halfway between bristly and soft with just the right amount of stiffness, none of this pussy fabric-​softened robe with no backbone to speak of.
I loved this place. I cannae wait to go back.

One of the most gorgeous looking hotels in Melbourne, I expected to get a fair bit with my stay here and looked forward to relaxing in one of the classiest hotels in town.
However, while the lobby was really lavishly decked out (the chairs, the ceiling, the chandeliers!), and the corridors quite luxurious, the rooms themselves were fairly simple and while I paid a discounted corporate rate as I was there for a conference, I still felt that the rooms were incredibly pricey for what they were ($ 200++ a night). The beds weren’t all that comfortable either!
I also cannot believe that hotels in Melbourne are still lagging behind the rest of the world and still not offering complimentary wi-​fi. I’ve travelled in many countries and this attitude of using internet as a cash cow is just unbelievable. But I paid for it, slave of the internet that I am. I paid for the extravagant price for internet only to have it stop working in half an hour. It took another 2 hours before it came back online (that’s 2 hours on the phone with tech support too, we ended up trading stories of ourselves). To their credit, they decided to waive my cost to make up for the angst.
Is it worth the per night cost? I don’t think so. But if you want to be seen in the lap of luxury, then go for it.
The afternoon high tea is also one of the more expensive ones around. While definitely not the sugar disaster the Langham was (I have that story written up on the blog somewhere if you are interested), it also wasn’t that impressive. There are better high teas out there, so I would suggest giving it a skip.
Still, if you are staying here, and going here for the high tea for the full package, then why not. Can’t hurt to do it once, right?

Everyone has seen The Shining, right? Classic Jack Nicholson film set in a creepy hotel in the middle of nowhere, scary twin girls, REDRUM and all that? I am convinced that hotel was based on The Windsor.
Having said that, I don’t recall there being any elevators filled with blood, but rather an incredibly stunning hotel with a classic, vintage, ‘old-​world’ charm.
Gorgeous staircases, decadent rooms and while not every one will get a great view you will be spoiled and feel like you are in New York City circa the 1920’s.
I love this hotel and it is always my number one pick when treating myself to a staycation and my number one recommendation to inter-​state guests.

My boyfriend and I booked a «staycation» at the Windsor and while overall we were fairly happy with the hotel, it just doesn’t have that 5-​star sparkle you expect from a hotel of this price.
The lobby downstairs is intended to look historic but instead looks kind of dated in my opinion. We stayed in a room that is slated for renovation and the room itself was nice, but no stand out.
I have stayed in better rooms for cheaper in the States so I was a touch disappointed.
On the plus side however, the location is amazingly close to some of Melbourne’s best dining and the service at the hotel itself was top-​notch. I probably wouldn’t stay again but it was a fun once-​off.