Oaks On William

On the 25^th floor looking south, I never realised how beautiful Melbourne is, I would stay here any time, this bloke from the bush just looked at the lights, the room was really comfortable for myself and I loved the tv at the end of the bed, Only thing is I think they need darker blinds, the room was still bright after closing them,
The bed was so comfy and the shower was great, the staff down the foyer were just brilliant,
Would I go back? Hell yeah

The staffs here are friendly and readily assist you to get around in Melbourne. House keeping is fantastic but the only thing is to make sure you bring along your own shower gel. They only provide shampoo, conditioner and soap. Do prompt the staff for high floors and probably facing William St as there is a nice park up front else you may be facing an office tower with people looking at you curiously just as you are doing the same.
The room service provided is by a 3^rd Party and they have a good selection (browsed through their menu) and you are able to order online too! Hey, how’s that for IoT (Internet of Things)! There’s good food at food pricing around so I have too much a variety to contemplate ordering the room service. We also went to Coles Supermarket and packed bottled drinks and food as there are microwave ovens, cooker and fridge! How’s that for a well equipped apartment?
Only grouses… Only 30 mins of free wifi per day. Do make sure you get your data roaming plans activated or risk «cold turkey» with you being thrown bald to Stone Age for a while. There’s also a gym and a laundry room with vending machine for your sudden craving. But no, there is no swimming pool. It’s just a nice apartment where you sleep in a bed and come back to rest. You should be going out to see Melbourne wouldn’t you?
Overall, the hotel is good in location to Melbourne Central and the new Emporium and most importantly, 5 mins walk to Queen Victoria Market. And there’s also Flagstaff Station for you to travel anywhere by train. I would definitely come back to stay. Nice place! Anytime!

After staying on St Kilda Road for years, I decided it was finally time to try someplace new, and in the CBD more or less. Price and location drove me to Oaks on William. I checked in and was directed to my Studio View room on the 22^nd floor. However, getting to the 22^nd floor isn’t the easiest — you get on one elevator, go to floor 3A, get off, walk around the building to another corridor and get on another elevator for the 22^nd floor. It seems as though this would be required for floor 20 and up.
The room itself was well appointed, with a small kitchen area, a small but functional bathroom, and a nice sitting area. I found the bed comfortable enough. My issue was the view… first, it had a balcony which was great. However, the website talks about the view of the city, when in fact I had a view of the park and not much else. I was quite disappointed, as I hoped to see the other buildings of Melbourne from my bed and balcony, and had paid extra for this.
WiFi is expensive at $ 18 per day, but was quick and reliable. Location is good — 10 minutes from Southern Cross Station, on the edge of the CBD, and about a 7 minute walk south of Swanston Street and the associated tram lines. Tram 55 does stop right by here, but that line may or may not be useful depending on where you need to be.
I would likely stay here again, but would not be dedicated to it. Being in the city certainly gave me many more food options that I am used to on St Kilda Road, so the area in general will draw me back… but not sure if the hotel will.

For our stay at the Oaks, we were sure to pay extra for the «Park View» from out balcony. Our flight from Sydney was arriving at 10AM and check in is at 2PM. We called ahead to find out if we could check in early. The Front Desk promised to attempt to accommodate but could not make any guarantees. We arrived at 10AM and were told that they could not allow us to check in early unless we agreed to a «partially obstructed» view. Even though we were exhausted from our early morning flight we declined as we wanted the Park View that we had pre paid for. We returned at three in the afternoon (by this time thoroughly exhausted) went up to our room and low and behold the view from the balcony was «partially obstructed». The rooms on either end of the hotel are set back thus the view is obstructed by a wall and you are only allowed a 45 degree view as the balcony is set back as well. I was furious. I stepped back into the room from the balcony and my girlfriend was already passed out on the bed so I wasn’t going to fight with reception for a better room. We were basically robbed of the extra money we paid for the view. In addition, The Oak uses Wifi as an alternative funding source as you have to pay for it (it’s 2014 — next they are going to tell me that I am welcome to use the fax machine for free). To add insult to injury, out of the 11 different accommodations that we spent the night at on our trip, the mattress at the Oaks was the second most uncomfortable. Like a pile of straw. This is a brand new hotel no less. Go figure.