Sofitel Melbourne On Collins

Had, 3 nights that were booked last year when we found that Neil Diamond the musical was playing 2 blocks away at the Princess Theatre. Great show. Upgraded to Celestial Suite on 50th Floor which was much appreciated, beautiful room except for the bathroom which must have been an afterthought. Difficult to fill the bath, shower head very small and need to be double jointed to reach the toilet paper. Had lunch at the Atrium Bar, very nice and thanks to Zennon for his great service and help also thanks to Ana Paula in Club Sofitel for her attention to us and always happy smiling face. The hotel has become a favorite of ours and back October long weekend to celebrate our anniversary.

I am reviewing here because, despite being Accor Platinum and having 2 linked bookings, the hotel didn't send me a review link, likely because I raised issues during our stay. We stayed for a weekend this time as a family (2A + 2 teens) having stayed as a couple the last 2 winters for a similar trip. This time we booked a suite and also a twin room and used a suite night upgrade as a platinum perk. With each stay the lounge is getting busier and is now overrun. We went down for a drink ahead of our children on the first night and were told we couldn't be seated in the lounge as it was full and were put in the Atrium bar instead - with the welcome drink menu and only dry bar snacks. Far inferior to the lounge offering. We were eventually seated in the lounge before heading out for dinner, but it wasn't a great experience. The next night, despite being down in the lounge until almost 3pm, there was no mention of sessions for the evening canapés and drinks until we arrived just after the advertised start time to find they were running an earlier session and all the tables were already full again. It then involved being offered a table with no chairs, moving chairs around that didn't really fit the table, and eventually moving to fireside. Breakfast wasn't much better - each morning we had to wait for a table for breakfast and on the second morning they tried to seat us on 2 separate tables near each other rather than as a family. I do a lot of travel for work and part of the value of Accor for me is to be able to use my perks for family and personal travel and Sofitel Melbourne has previously been a great winter stay. However, what was great 3 years ago was busy last year (sessions you needed to prebook for the lounge for evening drinks, but still great service and late check out offered proactively) and now just not feeling special at all. They clearly have capacity issues to address but what they are currently doing isn't working. Not wanting to hear from guests who haven't had a great stay is not reflective of a culture of wanting to improve.

As a Gold Accor Explorer member it is disappointing to not be able to give Sofitel Melbourne a good review. Firstly dont tell people your room will be ready in an hour and then over 2.5hrs later still not ready. If I was told 3hrs no problem I would have returned instead of waiting. Staff are really hit and miss. Most Reception Staff need training in customer service to not border on rude and offer riendly service rather than making guests feel like an inconvenience. The exception was the lovely young blonde man who eventually gave me my room card. The food for both Room Service and Atrium is very average. Pizza was disgusting and hardly eaten but both the Atrium and Reception Staff had no interest. I actually vomited that night after eating it. Not a full toilet roll on holder and no spare. Shower either scolds you or is so cold. You get a work out pumping soap or shampoo dispenser. On the surface Sofitel Melbourne looks nice but needs many improvements. This review is based on 2 stays in a very short time. Very disappointing.

I was disappointed with this Sofitel for a number of reasons. No greeting on arrival for the concierge to take cases. Having to follow up for cases to be taken to the room. Follow up as cases did not quickly arrive in the room. The room itself was above average, but if this had been a standard 4 star hotel, which it’s not billed to be. At breakfast there was no one to take my mother and I to a table and 3 times in a row they could not bring the coffee my mother had kindly requested. Having been sick for 3 days after breakfast on the Sunday (another guest had also been sick too after the breakfast that day), I was told Health & Safety would be in touch. It is now over a week since I checked out and nobody has been in touch as I was advised they would be by a Manager who came over when I was relaying my sickness to reception. I will never return to this hotel and would also advise anyone else not to bother and to stay in the Ritz as I did on my last night in Melbourne. If comparing this Sofitel and the level of service to the last Sofitel I stayed in (Amsterdam) then this really was suboptimal.

Unfortunately very bad. I stayed in Room 4323 and I must say it was a horrible experience. Besides feeling very old they have this light sensor that is meant to turn the lights on and then off as it detects movement. Good idea except I had to wait like 5 or more minutes before the lights would come on. Then the bathroom reminded me of my parents bathroom in the 80’s. The shower was incredibly sensitive. Start the hot water tap and it’s scolding and when you slightly turn on the cold water tap it becomes freezing. It genuinely was a bit of a nightmare. It’s a real shame as the staff were very good, and professional. It’s a shame I wasted my points.