The Olsen Hotel, Melbourne
Expert reviews
“The Olsen Hotel, a 224-room property in South Yarra, is dedicated to the 91-year-old landscape artist, John Olsen, one of Australia’s most accomplished painters, with his works scattered throughout.”
Featured in New York Times’ 36 Hours in Melbourne.
What guests liked
- Boutique style
- Great location
- Friendly staff
- Comfortable beds
All you need to know
The Olsen Hotel is situated in the famous Chapel Street of Melbourne. There are 224 spacious and elegant rooms for the guests. The rooms are designed with the artistic works of Dr John Olsen. When you enter the Hotel, you will find a sculpture that will blow your mind.
Here are some of the best services of The Olsen Hotel.
Rooms
The Olsen rooms are categorized into different styles to complement every guest. The room types are studio suite with and without balcony, deluxe studio suite single and twin bed, and many more. Here, in The Olsen’s, you also get penthouses to make your stay even more pleasant.
Facilities
The Olsen Hotel is packed with loads of facilities for the guests. The hotel gives you a 24-hour room service. You get the facility to organize an event in the hotel. You are granted access to one of the smart cars to tour the city. The hotel has a gym and massage room to give health benefits during your stay. You get many more facilities such as Valet service, local tours, pools, sun deck and much more.
Meeting Rooms and other events
The hotel has six meeting rooms well equipped for all business presentations. You can go pre-booking the dates for your meeting and then you are good to go. If you have a marriage function, then the Olsen offers beautiful penthouses for such events. They offer exclusive discounts on overall costs as the wedding event offer.
Hotel deals & lowest price guarantee
We partner with Booking.com and Agoda. Both booking websites offer the lowest price guarantee so you can be certain you will always get the best deal for this hotel. If you have seen a better price elsewhere, all you need to do is contact the booking website and they will refund you the difference immediately. You can price match right up until the day before check-in.
Location
Recent guest reviews
8 February 2025
Fabulous
The location was great for what we needed. Breakfast was fine.
On arrival, the receptionist seemed quite disinterested . Not a good way to start our break.
4 February 2025
Fabulous
Perfect location, big rooms, lovely pool
Food and beverage options are a bit average and expensive for what they are. No free bottled water in rooms was a bit surprising.
3 February 2025
Great stay - would stay again.
Really great location, good sized room and I love the amenities at the hotel! I love staying here when I’m in Melbourne
The bed felt a little hard. I struggled to get used to it.
3 February 2025
Great place. Well located. Will return
Costly. Comfortable. Clean. Convenient and great value
Location. Quality. Comfort
1 February 2025
Efficient, nicely-decorated Melbourne hotel in a pleasantly busy neighborhood.
Efficient, knowledgeable staff. Comfortable room, large enough for two people and large suitcases. Great location, lots to explore!
29 January 2025
Fabulous
Good location. Good rooms
The restaurant was very average, poor service and overpriced
28 January 2025
Ideal location, great staff, comfortable room, good value for money
Location, late check if you become a member , 1pm! Nice and clean
Charging $100 deposit which took several days to be returned to my account
19 January 2025
relaxing. until check out
bed, room, location. excellent. very disappointed to find $500 worth of overcharges on my account on checkout, mainly for parking (I don't have a car)
18 January 2025
Fabulous
The location was excellent very good for my purposes parking was easy, breakfast menu was good and the cafe service good
Mattress was a bit soft but very comfortable. The bathroom was a bit small
13 January 2025
I thought the staff were friendly and helpful. The hotel is old and dated.
Staff and service
The room was shabby and dated. Damaged blind, cupboard hanging off its hinge and chips in veneer.
5 January 2025
Excellent
I didn’t having any breakfast while staying there.
Not comment
4 January 2025
Had three different rooms. First room was outside the door to the pool / gym area and started banging at 0530. Staff
Location Cleanliness
Tired - looks in need of a refurb
3 January 2025
Very good
The location in South Yarra was great. It was just around the corner from the station and close to the tram stop. There were lots of great restaurants nearby including Woolworths for convenience. The rooms had a kitchen which was basic but enough for us to have breakfast or heat up left over food. The room was a great size and the shower was strong. The sun deck and pool were a nice option. The price for our new year stay could not be beaten. It was wonderful to have a window to air out the apartment and keep it cool without needing to use the air-conditioning.
While my pillow was fine my partner's pillow was lumpy. It was also a little bit noisy, as the air-conditioning unit ticked and the rooms were not sound proofed as people walked to and from the lifts. Additionally, my white eye mask got lost (possibly in the changing of our bed sheet) and I was unable to find it.
2 January 2025
Amazing people
The staff are amazing, no matter what you need they're very willing to help and make your stay as easy as possible. You also don't wait long to get assistance either.
There was only one minor issue that was beyond anyone's control, the aircon on our floor wasn't working and we moved rooms twice. But the room was upgraded and the staff were again, so very apologetic and kind about it all.
26 December 2024
Stay again. They need to upgrade as it needs it.
Friendly staff. Good location. Decent size room. We had a one bedroom balcony.
Could do with furniture upgrade. Looking dated. Shower in a bath was awkward to get into & no rail to hold onto to steady your self. The bath was slippery. The pool needs a railing on the steps in and out. That is dangerous without a hand rail.
25 December 2024
Great
No on-site free parking. Very inconvenient.
24 December 2024
Very good thank you
Service and room
Bed was great and facilities were good
20 December 2024
Excellent stay, comfy and clean
Lovely room with good layout, very comfortable and spotlessly clean. Staff were upbeat and professional. Free lolly bar at reception was a fun touch and we appreciated the unlimited filtered iced water too. Great spot, can't fault the location.
The hotel car park was full which was a little frustrating on a hot day but there's another (cheaper) one a few doors further along if you get stuck. Best to book ahead if you do need a car spot on site.
6 December 2024
Fabulous
Great location..friendly staff.
The lifts .
6 December 2024
Very good value
Pillows very soft. Need at least 1 firm pillow.
3 December 2024
Very good
Clean and spacious Polite welcoming staff
Room was warm
2 December 2024
Perfect stay and will definitely be staying again.
The location was perfect, as well as the view from the bedrooms. Customer service was excellent.
Everything was good.
1 December 2024
Pleasant
Location right on Chapel Street, use of guest parking ideal and cost effective, pool was a decent size. Friendly service.
1 December 2024
Pleasant
Centrally located to cafes and shops
It was dated could do with a renothings were chipped and decor dated.
24 November 2024
Very good
Great a la carte breakfast and excellent coffee.
Bathroom sink chipped badly needs replacing.
19 November 2024
Oslen Manager less compassionate and helpful than a Shell Service Station attendant!!
The Hotel itself, the room and the pool.
I was locked out of home with no phone so I decided to stay at The Olsen. I asked the Night Manager if I could use a computer or phone to add some more money to my Mastercard to pay for accommodation. The answer was an inflexible NO. Policy didn't allow it. He treated policy as is if it was The Law. It's a shame someone in a leadership position isn't willing to show compassion and discretion to a Olsen regular and Accor member! So, I went o the Shell Service Station nearby and the attendant gave me his phone without hesitation and I was able to transfer to my Mastercard.
17 November 2024
Very good
Location and facilities.
15 November 2024
Well located and lovely facilities
Lovely room and good overall facilities. Great location also.
Was overall pretty good - no real major complaints except the pillows were not for us. But you won’t suit everyone with that.
13 November 2024
great location
the room was a bit small, and tight.
10 November 2024
Fabulous
Lovely stay at The Olsen, the check-in process was smooth and efficient, and I was pleasantly surprised with a complimentary upgrade to a more spacious room. The beds were super comfy, really enjoyed the pool, gym, and location. Overall, a fantastic experience, and would definitely return!
9 November 2024
Fabulous
Pool was excellent, I could of stayed there all day. The staff were amazing. Shower was great, bed was comfortable
The housekeeping was a little loud in the mornings in the adjoining rooms
8 November 2024
Great business stay
Love the location on Chapel Street. Great value for money. Always lovely rooms.
6 November 2024
Will stay again when we are in Melbourne
The staff in the restaurant and the front desk were great. The room was clean and tidy.
4 November 2024
Convenient location
Location
Heating was way hot
3 November 2024
Great value for money in excellent location.
Location and value for money
The lifts. Wait for ever!
21 October 2024
Great- thanks to the staff
The place is very comfortable and the staff were really friendly and helpful
A minor thing- the lifts were a bit slow but really no issue
14 October 2024
Will probably try another hotel in the art series
Rooms and bed comfortable but starting to look old as sink in bathroom worn out and cracks
Booked a room with breakfast and then we had to pay $10 each to get a big breakfast. In the past the breakfast was much better
14 October 2024
Excellent hotel.
So comfortable and the staff were so helpful. I arrived early and they let me check into my room.
11 October 2024
Best Boutique Hotel in Town!
Pleasant staff, stylish decor, stunning art works, view, cleanliness, swimming pool, central location and very reasonable room rates.
Paper towels in the kitchenette would have been handy. Air conditioning was a bit noisy, had to turn it off to sleep.
9 October 2024
Very good
Was very central to everything in Toorak & the city. We enjoyed our one night stay very much. The staff were very lovely
29 September 2024
Fabulous
large comfortable apartment, well furnished.
18 September 2024
A gorgeous property which we will stay at again.
Loved the art everywhere. We had a suite overlooking chapel st with windows on three sides.
A few things looking a bit tired in bathroom. Spa jets sprayed out filthy brown debris when activated. Terrible lighting and hard to find switches. Bedside lamp didn’t work.
14 September 2024
Pleasant
Location. Nice staff. Lovely pool and sundeck.
Room details a but shabby. TV didn't work properly. Glass walls with swing door in bathroom terrible for privacy.
9 September 2024
Overall love this hotel and this was my 2nd stay
Love the pool and the lolly bar, lobby also smells so nice
Thought there was a spa because of advertising photo used when we asked where it was we were told it's in the penthouse
9 September 2024
Very good
Location to family
2 September 2024
We would stay again for the convenient location. Just some more minor attention to detail to make the stay more comforta
Beautiful room and lovely pool, loved the art, the bed was very comfortable and bathroom fabulous with lovely body wash
When we first arrived to check in, there were no car parks for drop off as there were two vans blocking the drive way. There were no robes which we had to ask for and waited over an hour to request again. There wasn’t a cutting knife for cooking so we had a very late meal. We had to call reception to find out how to turn on the stove top which was a bit frustrating. There was no plug for the sink to do dishes. No cutting board to prepare meals. No salt and pepper with the condiments which would have been handy. In the pool area, there were no cups available at the water machine. No toilet available at the pool area either. The pool was a bit too cold.
29 August 2024
Fun and comfortable and easy x
Great location, lovely comfy rooms
23 August 2024
Great location, friendly and very attentive staff , other than a few minor cristisms ( really not worth complaining abou
Great location and very attentive friendly staff, willing to help with anything you ask. Left a little birthday surprise for my son, which was very lovely to come back to and find
We liked the hotel, but just a few cristisms for the purpose of improvement. There were stains (chocolate like stains ) on our curtains that I noticed when opening them, windows had fingerprints. The lifts were also really dirty, floor and entrance to lifts and mirrors were also not clean. Room service was really expensive and not great.( im nog usually fussy with food) We waited 20-30 mins for our car valet ( Sunday morning). ( I do think there was an issue with another persons car before us- I think a small incident). In fairness, usual the wait time was 5-10 mins and they did always pre warn us that it would take approx 10-15 mins
18 August 2024
It adequately met my needs for that trip to Melbourne. Staff exceptionally helpful.
Location, accessibility to public transport, and to my target area of Melbourne
Weird pillows. As long as queen bed is wide. Not easy to arrange comfortably. Restaurant food fair average quality, but premium price: a mismatch.
Hotel facilities
Food & Drink
- - Restaurant
- - Bar
- - Breakfast in the room
- - Special diet menus (on request)
- - Kid meals (additional charge)
- - Wine/champagne (additional charge)
General
- - Room service
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Facilities for disabled guests
- - Family rooms
- - Lift
- - Safety deposit box
- - Soundproof rooms
- - Heating
- - Non-smoking throughout
- - Air conditioning
- - Grocery deliveries (additional charge)
Business facilities
- - Meeting/banquet facilities (additional charge)
- - Business centre (additional charge)
- - Fax/photocopying (additional charge)
Reception services
- - 24-hour front desk
- - Express check-in/check-out
- - Luggage storage
- - Concierge service
- - Invoice provided
Activities
- - Fitness centre
- - Fitness
- - Bicycle rental (additional charge)
Outdoors
- - Terrace
- - Outdoor pool
- - Sun terrace
- - Outdoor pool (all year)
- - Outdoor furniture
Cleaning services
- - Laundry (additional charge)
- - Dry cleaning (additional charge)
- - Ironing service (additional charge)
- - Daily housekeeping
Parking
- - Street parking
- - Electric vehicle charging station
- - Accessible parking
Pool and wellness
- - Heated pool
- - Shallow end
- - Sun loungers or beach chairs
- - Fence around pool
- - Swimming pool
- - Swimming Pool
Miscellaneous
- - 24-hour security
- - Key card access
- - Security alarm
- - Smoke alarms
- - CCTV in common areas
- - CCTV outside property
- - Fire extinguishers
- - Face masks for guests available
9 February 2025
Funky well apportioned hotel