Essence Hotel Carlton

“Convenient clean hotel”

This is a convenient place to stay at the city end of Swanston Street. It’s close to the University of Melbourne and shopping. The rooms are modern and clean. There is no restaurant but there are plenty of places to eat close by on Lygon Street.

“More university accommodation than hotel”

This hotel is in a super convenient location, and the staff were really polite. It is a shared building with a UniLodge and I found it noisy during my stay, with someone late night gaming (and the associated shouting) as well as plenty of shouting across the corridor. The other shortcoming was that… more

This hotel is in a super convenient location, and the staff were really polite. It is a shared building with a UniLodge and I found it noisy during my stay, with someone late night gaming (and the associated shouting) as well as plenty of shouting across the corridor. The other shortcoming was that the room was grubby, not exactly dirty but when I arrived someone had obviously previously eaten a pastry in the room and the crumbs were all over the floor. I mentioned it to the reception and asked for it to be cleaned - they let me know that they don’t have house keeping staff in over the weekend (I arrived on a Friday night) but that it could be cleaned on Monday. Unfortunately it wasn’t, I asked multiple members of staff all lovely, apologetic and polite and each time was promised it would be cleaned. It unfortunately took until the following Friday (a week after my arrival for this to happen). It’s definitely suitable as university accommodation but not really a hotel experience.

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“Not a bad hotel but it feels like a budget hotel when it isn't...”

- Overall The Essence Hotel Carlton (formerly an ibis hotel) is a quaint hotel that sits near the corner of Queensberry Street and Swanston Street. For the pricing it offers for each room, it makes it very hard to pinpoint whether it wants to consider itself as a budget hotel or if it is trying to … more

- Overall The Essence Hotel Carlton (formerly an ibis hotel) is a quaint hotel that sits near the corner of Queensberry Street and Swanston Street. For the pricing it offers for each room, it makes it very hard to pinpoint whether it wants to consider itself as a budget hotel or if it is trying to set its sights higher. - Room We had room 529, which is a corner room, so we had a nice view of Queensberry and Swanston tram stop and the two streets. The queen-sized bed was comfortable. The room did look like it wasn't vacuumed thoroughly when we entered. The TV was unplugged, and after we plugged it in, the remote in the room did not seem to work for it, and as there was no way of manually changing the channel on the TV itself, we unplugged it again. Room also comes with a combination safe next to the bed, a ironing board and iron is provided as well, and a small kettle with tea and coffee set is also provided. There is also a mini/bar fridge that can accommodate some items. The room also has air conditioning however, even on the lowest temperature setting and highest fan speed, it felt like it was inoperable and felt warmer than usual in the room. Bathroom was also a nice size considering the size of the room. Usual bathroom necessities such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion available. Also a basic hair drier which is a nice addition. The room we stayed, the door was frosted/tinted glass, and the whole window to the outside world was also frosted. Because of a lack of curtain or cover, any light from outside came through both, which illuminated the room a bit at night. Some covers suitable for humid environments should be placed in there to obstruct light. Something must be mentioned, which is the shower has a sliding glass door. The wheels/tracks were causing some serious effort to open and close the door for the shower. These should be addressed and kept in well-maintained condition. If a fire alarm activated, this could trap people in, which is an endangerment to life. The only way out would be to break the glass, and that would not be a viable solution when barefoot in the shower. You could leave the door open, but water splashing out to tiled flooring would also be quite hazardous.   - Amenities Wi-Fi is available for guests and easy enough to connect to. I tried it out and it isn't horrible with little traffic, but can get congested and slowed down in the evenings. Mobile reception is marginally better so something to consider. Parking is available if you drive there but comes as extra with $29 per car per night. It can accommodate smaller cars comfortably, but larger cars might struggle. No accommodation for EV chargers or wall plugs however there is a Chargefox charging station around the corner. Also steel yourself as there are sewerage pipes and bins in their basement parking so there is quite a smell. Not overpowering but noticeable. Ground floor, there is a lounge, a gym, an outdoor deck area for socialising, a laundry service (which we had not used during our stay this time) and a couple of vending machines next to the elevator; a Flying Turtle drinks machine and a 7-Eleven vending machine which can stock travel essentials such as toothpaste and toothbrushes. - Staff Very polite and well mannered. Accommodated us very nicely. The front desk is staffed 24/7, even after hours. - What's Around The Queensberry/Swanston St tram stop is not even a minute's walk away. Hopping on that can take you down to Melbourne Central and also Flinder's St train station. Swanston Street itself is bustling with activity and plenty of food and shopping options. Chinatown on Little Bourke Street is about a 10-15 minute walk away, as is Queen Victoria Markets. If trams aren't for you, the MCG is about a 35-45 minute walk depending on traffic. Plenty of food choices available around the area. If you do need to urgently buy any items, there is an EzyMart on the corner. - Pricing As of writing this, my wife and I stayed here for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, hence the two nights we stayed resulted in approximately $1000 for the 2 nights (most hotels ramped out prices for that weekend so that was the average price per night per room in any hotel in Melbourne at the time). Otherwise, prices in some parts of the year can be between $120-250 on average per night per room depending on time of year and events happening around Melbourne. For that price, it's not a terrible hotel for a short stay, however in the context of ramping up prices for a concert venue, at nearly $500-600 a night for a room that can only accommodate 2 people at the very most, I would expect the air conditioning to at least be functional and operable, especially during a Melbourne summer.

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