We recently stayed at the Parkview Hotel Melbourne. My husband had received the “Romance Package” as a gift, so we made use of it with a shopping trip to Melbourne.
Unfortunately we couldn’t use it our chosen weekend to tie in with an event in Melbourne we were attending, as it clashed with the Australia Grand Prix, and the hotel was full and it’s during one of their ‘block-out’ periods for use of the gift voucher.
The Romance Package is available from the Parkview website for $289.00-$309.00 (depending on where on the website you find it) and includes:
- Overnight accommodation for two
- Champagne and strawberries on arrival
- Three course dinner for two in Woods Restaurant
- Breakfast for two
- Car parking
- Late checkout of 1.00 pm
So a Romance Voucher Gift Voucher for $289 represents great value when the individual price of these items is over $430.
My husband took care of the booking, checkin and parking the car, so I can’t really comment, apart from it seemed pretty seamless.
When we got to our room we found the room was a bit stuffy and warm, although it cooled down reasonably quickly once the Air Conditioner was turned on. We found the promised champagne and strawberries in the mini bar fridge. The champagne could have been a bit colder, but pleasant enough. Given we had indicated an arrival of between 2pm and 4pm, and it was 4pm by the time we got there, it would have been nice if the room and champagne were both cooled.
I would have liked to make use of the balcony to enjoy the champagne, but unfortunately it was in a filthy state with a discarded ice cream punnet on the ground, and ice cream splattered on the glass doors between the room and the balcony. The balcony overlooks a cricket ground and players in their whites were still playing when we checked in, so that would have been a nice setting if clean and tidy.
We made use of the room’s facilities to freshen up before dinner in the on-site Woods Restaurant.
With the Romance Package, a three course dinner is included (drinks extra). We enjoyed starters of Char-Grilled Squid Salad and Crispy Black Pepper Pork. I had asked advice from the wait staff about how ‘hot and spicy’ the menu items were as I am not super into hot foods – the advice was pretty loose and I found the pork for entree was of OK heat. The banh hoi dipped in the accompanying dipping sauce was good.
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Melbourne Parkview Pork Entree -
Melbourne Parkview Squid Entree
For our mains we had the 24-hour 5-spice Lamb Shoulder, Aromatic Prawn Curry and sides of smashed chats and pandan rice. Well, the Prawn Curry was tasty, but perhaps a little too much heat for me – and that was with avoiding the sambal! The entire menu is Asian-influenced and many of the menu items include a bit of spiciness.
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Melbourne Parkview Prawn Curry -
Melbourne Parkview Lamb
The meals were filling and we took up the option of having our desserts delivered back to a room an hour or so later.
For dessert we enjoyed Fried Banana Cheesecake and Vietnamese Coffee Pavlova. I loved the raspberry sorbet with the cheesecake, it really cut through the richness of it, and I would definitely have it again.
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Melbourne Parkview Vietnamese Pavlova -
Melbourne Parkview Fried Banana Cheesecake
Special mention to our food/beverage person Athena – attentive and made sure everything was on track for an enjoyable dinner and evening.
The drinks list was good, with the husband enjoying some craft beers (Anytime Pale Ale) and myself a cold glass of Pinot Grigio.
Saturday night a block from the Alfred Hospital is a bit noisy as you would expect. Several emergency helicopters landed during the night, but if you’re not a light sleeper you will be fine. The bed was very soft, enjoyable sleep was had.
In the morning we had the buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. There was the normal selection of juices, cereals, fruit and Bain-marie hot items. The scrambled eggs were pretty good.
Though the Romance Package has a late checkout of 1pm, we pretty much checked out after breakfast at about 10am.
I would return again to the Melbourne Parkview, and hope that my feedback re cleanliness of the balcony is taken in the way it’s intended – constructive criticism only.
