The Windsor Hotel

The Windsor Hotel is an elegant grand Victorian hotel that was known as "the Duchess of Spring Street".  It dates back to 1884 when it was built to impress, and still does. I enjoyed staying here in February 2022 when Sylvia and I went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre.  Here are my photos.

This post has been sitting in drafts for a while.  Sometimes things move slowly like the changes in an old hotel, my blogging and even waiting to see a musical.  We had originally had ticket to the Harry Potter musical for March 2020 just before we locked down for Covid for the first time.  Two years and 3 postponements later we finally saw it and wanted it to be the treat we had originally planned.

The entrance lobby is impressive as you would expect of an iconic heritage hotel.  We liked the big leather armchairs while we waited for our room to be ready.

Beside the lift on our floor was an impressive list of Distinguished Guests who had stayed at the Windsor.
It felt like any celebrity who has been to Melbourne has been here.  From Katherine Hepburn to Kylie Minogue, from Robert Menzies to Gough Whitlam, from Douglas Fairbanks to Daniel Radcliffe, we were in excellent company.

We checked in before the performance and were very happy with our room.  We didn't just want it for sleeping.  I had booked because the play was about 4 hours in two performances.  I wanted somewhere to go between performances.  The Windsor is just down Spring Street from the Princess Theatre.  It was a nice opportunity to stay in a Melbourne hotel which we rarely do.

Between performances we went back to the room for tea.  Sylvia had chips and I had a salad (tomatoes, beans and lettuce).  There wasn't a lot of offerings for vegetarians in the room service menu.

Sylvia loved some of the little touches of the room, like the little walk in dressing room with fluffy bathrobes.

I can't remember if many people wore masks who didn't need to or if those who should have didn't but there was a lot more covid and masks around Melbourne then.  As we left the theatre, an Anti-Vaxxer with a placard yelled out "Did you see the Cursed Child?"  and when people said yes, he yelled "That's because he was vaccinated."  It didn't get much traction with a theatre crowd who had to be vaccinated to see the show.

At the end of the second performance it was nice to have our comfortable beds nearby.  We both slept well.

We were up early next morning and ready for breakfast before we checked out.  I was fascinated by the radio in the old bedside table but I can't quite remember if we tried it or not.

We went down to the dining room (One Eleven) for breakfast.  I had high tea there many years ago with my mother in law from Scotland.  She loved it.  I also went for high tea with E some years back but in the ballroom.

We ordered a drink and had a mini pastry from the bakery tray.  The pain au chocolat was excellent.

Sylvia ordered the eggs on toast and enjoyed it.  I wanted to have something a bit more adventurous after little options the previous night.  I had the spinach pancake - on the menu right now it is filled with cottage cheese, tomatoes, avocado and hazelnuts.  I think this might be what I had but am not sure.  I was very happy with my choice.

 Then it was time to check out in the lobby and head home.

Staying so close to the theatre and in such a lovely hotel, made the musical a really special experience.

The Windsor Hotel
111 Spring St, Melbourne VIC 3000
www.thehotelwindsor.com.au