New Lancemore Crossley St opens in Melbourne’s theatre district
A weekend away at this new Melbourne hotel has more than a hint of drama.
The phone messages start pinging at about 10pm Saturday. “Are you in Melbourne?” “Who did you fly with?” A couple of German travellers have zoomed directly from Sydney to the Victorian capital, skipping their $4000, two-week sojourn in a government-approved hotel. Am I about to get locked up in Victoria just as Victorians are reclaiming their freedom?
Fortunately not. My itinerary puts me in the wrong place at the wrong time but, in this instance, on the right airline — not Virgin.
It’s an interesting moment to be in the southern city. In Sydney, my hometown, there’s a relatively relaxed, if not complacent, attitude to hygiene. In Melbourne, where the ordeal of 138 days in lockdown is fresh in everyone’s minds, masks are still mandatory (that changed this week). You can’t enter a restaurant and walk to your table without wearing one. Once seated, you’re welcome to whip it off and natter with abandon.
I meet locals who display the wide-eyed wonderment of prisoners released from captivity. For some, it is their first time in the CBD for three months and their excitement at socialising in the flesh with human beings to whom they’re not related is palpable. The fact I have been on a plane gives me a kind of explorer status, like some Rudi Gagarin of the pandemic age.
At the new Lancemore Crossley St hotel, the doors have just opened and staff are bursting with pride to show off the new digs. Located in Little Bourke Street in the heart of the theatre district, it exudes drama as you enter. With heavy curtains, unshaded overhead bulbs and a chandelier taking centre stage at a rakish angle, the lobby-lounge has a certain red-carpet allure.
The 113-room property has been refashioned from the old Crossley Street Hotel, with a new wing added. Up on the fifth floor is a terrace with day beds, seating, a gas fire pit and a three-legged stainless-steel artwork that resembles a sci-fi spider. Guests are invited to have a drink here each evening, or at the lobby bar if Melbourne turns on the weather.
My Juliet suite — there’s a Henry and William too but no Romeo (wherefore art thou?) — looks out towards a plain brick wall, so feels a little enclosed, but there’s plenty of space for two. It’s decked out with a large (and surprisingly firm) L-shaped lounge, king bed, dining table and chairs in a neutral palette of charcoal, white and cream with tan leather accents. The bathroom is compact but functional, with smart gun-metal tapware and a touch of marble. On the downside, cold water refuses to emerge from the tap, a problem staff are unable to resolve during my stay, but it’s early days and teething problems are to be expected. On the other hand, when I call reception to request a delivery of makeup remover wipes, there’s a polite knock at my door in a jiffy. If I suddenly found myself in need of a necktie, cufflinks or a hair straightener, they would also oblige.
Lancemore Crossley St doesn’t have a restaurant, as such, though breakfast is available as takeaway or dine-in at the lobby-lounge. Through reception, guests can order deliveries of Asian cuisine from nearby Gingerboy or Mexican from Bodega, which is just downstairs. But the best thing about this hotel is its proximity, at “the Paris end of Bourke Street”, to some excellent wining and dining. Southeast Asian institution Longrain is over the road, Pepe’s New York-style Italian diner is nearby and popular Indian restaurant Daughter in Law and Punch Lane wine bar are mere steps away; the abundant eateries of Chinatown are down the hill. Around the corner is iconic coffee spot Pellegrini’s and Hill of Content book shop.
Up on Spring Street, the Princess Theatre is covered in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child paraphernalia but no audiences have graced the auditorium seats for months. Performances are scheduled to restart in mid-January. If, when that happens, out-of-town theatre patrons want to stay in the thick of it, there’s a new hotel on the block ready to play its part.
In the know
Lancemore Crossley St is at 51 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. From $269 a night. Dining and experience packages available.
Penny Hunter was a guest of Lancemore Group.
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