Location wise - this hotel is strategically located as it is directly opposite crown casino and abt 5 mins walk from flinders station. The service you get from this hotel is good - no complain. The room is very clean and of a good size with a great view of the southbank and the river. The bed is soft and the pillow is comfortable enough. The bathroom is a bit small but that is about the only compain about the bathroom. Breakfast selection and quality is average only as there are not many things to choose from. 2 minor complaints - the room does not come with a safe and there is no free wifi. Overall, i would say this hotel provide a very good value for the price you are paying - a very clean and efficient business hotel.

This was our third stay and the least impressive. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy the stay but there were several things that were irritating. Let’s start with the good things.

The staff – the “normal” staff are what makes this hotel stand out. By “normal” I mean the staff who are not front desk managers. With the exception of Viviana, who is just a gem, the managers are unimpressive and not friendly. At times they gave me the impression that I was imposing on them when asking for directions etc. Oliver, on the front desk, is very polite and professional, and the girls in the restaurant, Isabel, Maria and Dinah, are wonderfully friendly. So was Miao who brought us room service one night.

Location – great, only five minutes from Flinders Street Station, 10 from Southern Cross/Spencer St, five minutes from the Coles in Elizabeth Street, 10 minutes from the Bourke St mall and right outside are several tram lines and the aquarium. There are several restaurants nearby if you want takeaway. Depending on your room you can see Southbank and the fire display every hour at night.

Breakfast – included in our rate but reasonably priced if it’s not. Full range of hot and cold foods, eggs cooked how you like, pancakes made fresh to order, yoghurt, fruit, pastries etc. The coffee is pretty average though.

Mid-week drinks – this is the first time we have been at the hotel when they have had their weekly drinks. Held on a Wednesday or Thursday night, management invite all guests to come to the bar for drinks and savouries for about an hour. Tony, the General Manager, is there and is quite friendly. (He also mans the front desk at times and always has a smile on his face.) At the end a lucky door prize is given – a hotel polo shirt!

Join the One William Club (free) before you go as there are some advantages.

The annoying things this time:

This was our third stay and we were given the same room as last time – 7011, a one-bedroom suite on one of the lower floors. We stayed for a week and spent over $1500, and as repeat customers I think we should have been given a higher floor. The hotel was far from busy. As it was winter the huge tree outside the window was leafless so we could at least see out. The room itself is a bit tired – peeling paint in the kitchen, missing light switches and dimmers that don’t work properly.

The most annoying thing this time was the pillows. They no longer have any feather pillows, due to “health regulations”, so there is just the one type of pillow. It’s rather bulky and hard, even when you take the cover off. A hotel of this standing should have at least two types of pillows. It took two days and three managers to tell me they didn’t have any other pillows. The bed is great though.

The morning paper wasn’t delivered the first two days, despite a reminder after the first day. They made up for it though but giving us two papers for the rest of our stay.

We got room service one night, using the $50 voucher from our previous stay, and my wife’s steak came well done after being ordered medium. They promptly came and got it, gave us a cheese plate for our troubles, and cooked a new steak. They then checked on how this steak was cooked. Again, good service.

We filled in a feedback form and put it in the box upon checkout. That was July and it’s now nearly February and we haven’t heard from the Tony, the General Manager. After our two previous stays he would address our comments in a letter and include a $50 food and beverage voucher for next time, but we are still waiting this time. Perhaps he didn’t want to write to us anymore.

Would we stay here again? For what we are after, a one-bedroom suite with kitchen, laundry etc, you can’t really go past the Clarion. Check ubid4rooms and sometimes their prices are cheaper even though the hotel actually controls the ubid4rooms prices. There are just some things that the hotel could improve on.

We recently stayed in a one bedroom riverview suite at the Clarion. The suite had fantastic views across to the southbank and up towards Flinders St station. The room had everything that we needed for our stay and the bed was so comfortable. We have stayed at the Clarion several times before and have always found it to be consistent in regards to cleanliness and service. It is in a very convenient location with the southbank and the city centre only short walks away.

Last December 2011, my family had a week's vacation at Rosebud in Mornington Peninsula before we drove back-up and stayed two nights at Clarion Suites Gateway in Melbourne CBD prior to our return trip to Malaysia. We were met by the Manager upon arrival at the basement carpark and he was on hand to help us with our luggage, which arrived at our rooms ahead as we checked-in. We must say we were impressed with the speedy service! The reception staff were friendly and helpful in providing useful information and direction for our travel around and outside Melbourne CBD. We stayed in a two-bedroom suite overlooking the Yarra River. The view was fantastic (the night view on Saturday (with fireworks display) was even more impressive), and the rooms were clean, neat and spacious, with accompanying kitchenette. Clarion is located close-by to eateries, shops, banks, and within walking distance to trams, rail, bus and tourist attraction areas. Definitely a great place to stay, not just the location and view. Great value for money too, except perhaps for the lack of free Wifi access and the buffet breakfast (with a little more spread). Thanks, Clarion for a memorable stay, nonetheless. Looking forward to be back!