Amelia Wade stays at a newly-opened, design-driven Melbourne hotel.
Location: Housed in the former Greater Union Cinema on Russell St, the QT is very central and just a short walk to most of Melbourne's finest — its laneways, galleries, exhibitions, shopping strips and theatres.
Check in experience: A breeze. After an unnecessarily long day due to a missed flight, I finally arrived at the QT and overheard someone talking on the phone. It was 5pm, I still hadn't arrived and she was concerned. I interrupted and introduced myself and was greeted with a genuine sigh of relief that I hadn't fallen out of the sky somewhere over the Pacific. I was swiftly given my key, directions, Wi-Fi password and even a Netflix recommendation.
Room: Stunning and hopefully noise-proof so the bellhop didn't hear my squeal of excitement after he closed the door. The private queen en suite on the sixth floor was huge, decked out with design features to complement the hotel's two colour palettes which flow through all 188 rooms, art, a decedent minibar filled with the city's specialties (though no price list) and a television angled perfectly towards the bed. They'd really thought of everything, right down to the black-and-white umbrellas, matching the staff uniforms.
Wi-Fi: Free, fast and even works in the elevators.
