The Ritz Carlton Melbourne

The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne

With a bold vision to anchor the West Side Place precinct, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Melbourne coalesces the brand’s signature refined luxury with local influence and design sensibility.

Set at 80 stories above the Melbourne CBD, the hotel is one of the tallest in Australia. The tower is designed with a ‘quilted façade’ that abstracts the reflections of the city line and neighbouring buildings. It brings the buildings to life, capturing the pulse of the city and its densely populated urban context, and provides the brand with prominence across the Melbourne skyline.

Our design team worked in collaboration with the Marriot and Far East Consortium to unlock the potential of the site and demonstrate the unique opportunities a luxury development would have at the western edge of the city. The site has a strong future to become a more centralised location as the CBD expands and futureproofs the Ritz Carltons’ presence as a strong landmark in the central CBD.

A Hotel in the Sky

The Ritz Carlton Melbourne is the epitome of penthouse luxury. It was influenced by the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, where that hotel check-in is located on Level 103, and the uppermost Level 118 is only accessible to bar and health club patrons. For the Ritz Carlton Melbourne, this concept is flipped, giving all visitors access to a stunning check-in experience.

On arrival, guests enter the hotel lobby via the porte-cochere and take a direct elevator straight to the sky check-in on Level 80. The sky lobby on the Ritz-Carlton’s upper-most floor is an intimate, elegant and comfortable space with an unmistakably Melbournian edge.

Luxury Amenity

The Ritz-Carlton at West Side Place offers guests state-of-the-art function spaces and thoughtful amenities that are exclusive to Melbourne. Designed to enhance every aspect of their stay, these include a day spa, restaurants and bars, concierge services, function rooms and a business centre.

On Level 1 of the podium is a 500-seat grand ballroom and 3 meeting rooms, with pre-function bars as part of the breakout space. Visible from the ballroom, there is an extensive outdoor garden terrace – large enough for social functions and suitable for almost any event. In addition to these, on Level 2, there is a smaller-scale apartment-style venue that incorporate 3 boutique meeting rooms and a boardroom centred around a residential-scale display kitchen and bar.

Several restaurants are located on the upper-most floor, along with the sky check-in on Level 79. They provide a unique space with incredible views of the city’s Docklands, Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay. The in-house dining is an extension of the living room lobby lounge, with a destination bar and restaurant led by an award-winning chef.

Naturally Connected

The design of the public realm integrates the hotel development with Melbourne’s unique laneway culture and places the Ritz Carlton at a centre of a new thriving retail precinct. The outcome includes over 3,000m² of ground floor retail and 475m² of dedicated parkland and garden space across a central laneway from Lonsdale to Little Lonsdale Streets.

A new central laneway running north-south of West Side Place connects Lonsdale Street with Little Lonsdale Street. Designed as a shared pedestrian and vehicle zone, it features a continuous ground treatment without kerbs. An arcade running east-west also allows movement through the precinct as an alternative pathway from Spencer Street, Merriman Lane and Lonsdale Street.

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West Side Place

West Side Place