In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- The Mansion Suites are suitably chic, with fireplaces, chandeliers and carefully edited vintage furniture in the sitting area. They feel spacious too, with high ceilings and massive helpings of natural light. Room 5 has beautiful white floors and a zebra-print rug. Alternatively, the Bloomfield Suite (formerly called the penthouse) is like having your own two-bedroom apartment, with a sexy palette of black, white and red, a sleek bathroom with a minimally-modern frameless glass shower and a kitchen for entertaining in style.
- Packing tips
- Tod’s moccasins for long strolls around the Royal Botanic Gardens; Prada tote for all that shopping; a tennis racquet for working off indulgences.
- Also
- On Friday and Saturday nights, guests can enjoy the hotel's Rolls-Royce chauffeur service to get into the CBD in style. The owner, Sally Bloomfield, is the former Melbourne editor of Harper’s Bazaar and has a real love for and knowledge of the shopping, restaurants and other highlights of the area, so is happy to point you in the right direction.
Current offers
- Smith card offer
- Either afternoon tea, including freshly brewed loose-leaf T2 tea with cakes, or a choice of white or red wine and nibbles.
More photos
The Bloomfield
Melbourne, Australia[view map]
- Style
- Fashionably low-key
- Setting
- Peaceful parkside
In a pretty, park-lined street in chic South Yarra but just a 10-minute tram ride into Melbourne's city centre, The Bloomfield is a budget boutique gem for savvy travellers. Formerly part of The Albany hotel, which married an airy 1892 Victorian mansion with a 1960s motel, a retro-cool overhaul has divorced the two – with the swisher mansion relaunched as The Bloomfield. Affordable glamour rules here, with carefully selected vintage furniture and artwork and fashionably attired bedrooms. Throw in a new rooftop pool and chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces on tap, and you've got the perfect rock and roll weekend.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 32, including four suites.
- Rates
- From AU$129 for a Bloomfield Deluxe room to AU$170 for a Mansion Suite and AU$400 for the Bloomfield Suite, including tax at 10 per cent. Breakfast is extra, from AU$6.50.
- Check-out
- 10am, but flexible subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Free WiFi in the reception/bistro area. In rooms: free broadband, flatscreen TV, minibar and Kevin Murphy toiletries. In-room massage can be organised.
- Poolside
- The heated outdoor rooftop pool has spectacular views and is a great place to catch some sun even if you don’t want to get wet.
- Also
- We love the original photographs in the halls: one of the crowd taken at the 1967 Melbourne Cup by Rennie Ellis, and others shot by Linley Godfrey of the Rolling Stones playing at the Kooyong Tennis Centre in 1973.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- The Bloomfield Bar & Bistro, with chef Anthony Siketa, serves modern French- and Italian-style dishes, such as black truffle risotto, from Thursday to Saturday nights. Breakfast is served here daily from 7am till 11am (or a more laid-back noon on Sundays), and plans are afoot to offer Sunday roasts for lunch soon too.
- Dress code
- It’s all about understated cool, with a slightly rock aesthetic. Leave the sequins and stilettos back in your room.
- Top table
- The three booths are in demand. We love the one near the window.
- Last orders
- At the restaurant, dinner is served from 6pm till 10pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The bar often shuts around then too, although if it’s busy it can stay open till 1am, and you're welcome to take drinks back to your room after-hours.
- Room service
- A short in-room dinner menu, including burgers, fries and dumplings prepared by the front-of-house staff, is available from Sunday to Wednesday, 6pm to 11pm. From August 2009, room service hours extend to 11pm–5am to cover late-night munchies.
- Hotel bar
- The hotel was a hangout for musicians in the 1970s and is fast becoming a hub for muso and fashion types today, with the bar interiors capturing the boho vibe perfectly and an iPod mix of 1960s and1970s tunes providing the soundtrack. You could spend hours looking at the framed offerings on the wall: posters, letters, photographs, ticket stubs, all from the owners’ personal collections. Grab a booth, a table or one of the rattan armchairs and order a Bloomfield Bellini – cinnamon and peach puree topped with sparkling wine.
Also worth knowing
- Children
- Children are welcome and the hotel can provide infant cots (free), extra beds for older kids (AU$20 a night) and babysitting with a local nanny (from around AU$65 for three hours' minimum, then around AU$17 an hour, ideally with 24-hours' notice). More…
- Weddings
- This hotel is suitable for weddings. More…
Smith Members offer
Either afternoon tea, including freshly brewed loose-leaf T2 tea with cakes, or a choice of white or red wine and nibbles.
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Click here to become a Mr & Mrs Smith member
Smith travel team
If you'd prefer to talk to someone, or don't want to book online, call our travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.
The Bloomfield
Corner Toorak Road and Millswyn Street
South Yarra
Melbourne
3141
