The hotel
Hotel Indigo Melbourne Little Collins
Check-in
There’s Flinders Lane, Hosier Lane, Hardware Lane and Manchester Lane. Then there are the places that are really lanes, such as Centre Place and Duckboard Place, and the streets, like Little Bourke and Little Lonsdale, that are also really masquerading laneways. Yep, Melbourne, you’re the ultimate alley cat. Now there’s another new shopping arcade with distinct laneway vibes in the form of the newly opened Melbourne Walk, which unifies no less than eight buildings, some dating to the 1920s and with their splendid surviving facades.
The precinct is also home to one of the Victorian capital’s newest upscale digs, the 179-room Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Little Collins Street (really a laneway, lest we labour the point), reached through a discreet, ground level doorway.
The look
Indigo is defined as a colour between blue and violet and, sure enough, once you arrive by elevator at the hotel’s cavernous four-level main public expanse, from that non-event ground floor miniature lobby, blue is most definitely the primary colour.
The centrepiece is a spectacular, seemingly more ornamental than practical, spiral staircase teamed with some equally fabulous artwork, chief among them being Cabinet of curiosities, a six-metre high piece by local muralist Lisa King.
The rooms
The so-called brand ethos of Hotel Indigo, of which, at last count, there are more than 180 iterations around the world, is all about “creating bespoke, local experiences with a strong sense of place”. That’s reflected in the appealingly designed and decorated guest rooms with their abstract wallpapered bedheads depicting the famed Melbourne street grid.
In my room overlooking Little Collins Street, there’s no door on the toilet cubicle in the L-shaped bathroom – which doubles as a convenient walk-in wardrobe – though there are two sliding doors at the entry points from the hallway and bedroom with its especially comfy mattress. Oh, and the equally cosy, white waffled in-room bathrobes are well worth the $80 purchase price-tag at reception.
Food + drink
The attractive but unexceptional Fern Bar & Dining occupies much of the main public space, and, by virtue of its secreted location above the city fray, will have to compete with the abundance of vibrant dining choices, both casual and formal, back at street level. Opposite, Fern Bar, facing that showstopping spiral staircase, deserves to become a popular drinking hole for inhouse guests and outsiders. During my stay, it was a little too chilly to sample the adjoining external landscaped courtyard, with its series of sculptural skylights, but it should be popular on warmer days.
Out + about
You’re in the epicentre of the world epicentre of espresso with cafes abounding close to the hotel, including a personal favourite, the nearby, quintessentially Melbourne, Brunetti Oro Flinders Lane. Elsewhere, while Degraves Street (really a lane), has shed most of its original street cred, its alley-lined covered tables and chairs are as heaving and humming as ever.
Shop ’til your credit limit drops in the adjacent Bourke Street Mall (watch for the trams), site of the new three-level flagship store of the Mecca cosmetic chain inside the gorgeous late 19th-century Coles Book Arcade.
The verdict
Do we love Hotel Indigo? Let us count the (lane)ways. Being a Sydneysider and a one-time resident of Melbourne with a life-long affection for the Victorian capital, I am in my element at this brilliantly located hotel.
Essentials
Luxury Escapes has a two-night Hotel Indigo deal, valid for two guests for $499. It includes daily continental breakfast with an al a carte dish at Fern Bar & Dining; a nightly beer, wine or soft drink per guest at Fern Bar & Dining; and a guaranteed 1pm late checkout. Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Little Collins. 2/288 Little Collins St, Melbourne Vic. Ph: 03 9968 8699. See luxuryescapes.com/indigo; ihg.com
Our rating out of five
★★★★
Highlight
Location, location and even more location. If you want to be in the thick of Australia’s CBD from central casting, this is the place to stay.
Lowlight
Ensure your taxi or Uber driver doesn’t take you to the other Melbourne Hotel Indigo, namely the one on Flinders Lane.
The writer stayed as a guest of Luxury Escapes and Hotel Indigo.
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Anthony Dennis is editor, travel, at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
