After a two-year renovation, luxury hotel The Royce opened on February 20, 2023 in Melbourne. Located on the fringe of the CBD and leafy South Yarra on grand boulevard St Kilda Road, the 94-room hotel is housed in a heritage-listed building that was once a Rolls Royce showroom.
The building was originally designed in 1928 by prolific Art Deco architect Harry Norris and the leading agent for prestige cars at the time, Kellow Falkiner. Once one of the country’s most prestigious car showrooms and the original home of Rolls Royce in Melbourne, the hotel pays homage to its past with an illuminated port-cochere — a covered entrance for cars which opens into a courtyard, transporting guests to the hey-day of the 1920s.
The boutique hotel aims to bring a type of hospitality service to Melbourne where service is led with discretion, indulgence is encouraged and opulence is expected.
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Included in the hotel’s 94 guest rooms are 18 uniquely-designed suites, many of which offer balconies with views of the CBD and Shrine of Remembrance, and some which have freestanding baths. Six two-storey loft-suites feature the original cornicing from the days of when they were home to the Rolls Royce mechanic workshop, as well as splashes of marble, chrome and classic black and white.
All rooms are equipped with electronic blinds, welcome Koko Black chocolates and, in the bathroom, Dyson Supersonic hairdryers and Molton Brown toiletries.
Guests will check-in at a discrete 24-hour concierge before being swept into the lavish lobby lounge, an area that once played host to Melbourne high society. The art deco space has plush furnishings in navy blue and royal purpose, as well as a 14m-tall curved marble fireplace and a 2m-wide chandelier.
Next to the Lobby, the Showroom Bar serves both drinks and a wide array of British dishes. Dine on leather upholstered bar stools at its elegant dark marble bar top with a fire roaring.
A sweeping marble staircase leads guests to The Royce’s Library and Ballroom, designed for private events. The Library has floor-to-ceiling timber bookshelves lined with a curated collection of classics and is modelled after the speakeasies of the prohibition era, while The Ballroom fits 120 people and features no less than six grand chandeliers.
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