The Lyall Hotel

The hotel that doesn’t feel like a hotel. Close to everything but far enough away from the hustle. Very quiet, large well appointed rooms. Special mention to Olivia on the front desk. Fantastic customer service and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to restaurant recommendations. Highly recommend

Stayed 4 nights at The Lyall and generally I am positive. The location is good and the staff are friendly and helpful. A special mention should be made to John who gave us some great recommendations. I suggest you don’t book the breakfast inclusive package. The food and coffee are good but the hotel had a very odd rule where we could only choose one item from one list and one coffee if juice selected. The way the breakfast package is administered is awkward and I think the staff were a bit embarrassed by it as well. This was at odds with the 5 star hotel experience. In our month away in Aus, it was the only hotel which had a regulated breakfast! We would definitely return but just go out for brekkie.

Excellent hotel, professional friendly staff, clean rooms and perfect location. Seeing familiar faces each day created a rare sense of belonging. Highly recommended

One of Melbournes most elegant boutique hotels. Staff are amazing, always attentive and accommodating. Rooms are impeccable and the ambiance is classy yet extremely relaxing. Feels like a home away from home.

Terrible customer service and communication. Unauthorised additional charges on credit card that were never explained. 2 person limit per room, which wasn’t signposted, created significant problems for us. Wouldn’t stay there again.

The Lyall Hotel is an absolute standout and one of the finest boutique hotels we’ve stayed at in Melbourne. From the moment you arrive, you’re welcomed with genuine warmth, professionalism, and attention to detail that immediately sets the tone for a wonderful stay. The rooms are spacious, beautifully designed, and immaculately maintained, with thoughtful luxury touches that make you feel completely at home. The private balconies, high-quality amenities, and overall calm, refined ambiance create a perfect balance of comfort and elegance. The staff deserve special mention — friendly, attentive, and always willing to go the extra mile. Their personalised service truly elevates the experience and makes you feel valued as a guest rather than just a booking. The location in South Yarra is superb — quiet and sophisticated, yet just steps away from excellent cafés, restaurants, boutiques, and public transport. Dining at the Lyall Bistro was a highlight, with delicious breakfasts in a relaxed setting. Surrounded by great restaurants, boutiques, and cafés, the South Yarra location is ideal. The Lyall Hotel offers luxury without pretence, exceptional comfort, and heartfelt service. Highly recommended — we will definitely be back.

Great staff!

I so wanted to love this hotel (beautiful, wonderful location, boutique) but I was, unfortunately, extremely disappointed. I booked the Domain Suite (the largest suite) for my wedding day about 1 year ahead of my wedding. The suite is huge and I was excited to use it as a space to get ready with my mother, bridesmaids and hair and makeup artists. Only 1 week before my wedding day, I was told that the hotel’s policy is that only 2 people can be in a room at any one time, at any time of day. “Building code” was cited as the reason (I seriously doubt that there is a building code with this restriction…). In any event, this policy is not on the hotel’s website (from what I could see), and was not communicated to me in good time before my wedding day. In the circumstances, and to address my frustration and concern, the hotel offered to increase the limit to 4 people and give me another room at the hotel for the day so that the bridal party could spread out. Although this was far from ideal (it defeated the real objective, which was to get ready together), I agreed. However, on the morning of my wedding, the hotel staff “had no record of this arrangement”, and informed us that the room limit was 2 people. We spent significant time over the course of the morning of my wedding negotiating with the hotel staff in an effort to relay the previous arrangement. Eventually, the staff accepted that this offer had previously been made. Suffice to say, this was extremely stressful to deal with on the morning of my wedding and it was unprofessional for hotel management to fail to communicate the arrangement to staff who were on shift on the day. To make matters worse, during my stay, 2 additional, unauthorised amounts were charged to my credit card: one unauthorised charge was $2,800!! I called immediately following each charge to ask what was going on. The response was that these were likely mistakes and would be investigated. Both charges were ultimately reversed but this was, again, highly unprofessional and, frankly, unacceptable for a 5 star hotel. This hotel has so much potential but, unfortunately, has serious shortcomings. I certainly would not recommend it for weddings.

Found the bedrooms a bit small to be five star. Normally luxury hotels have slightly bigger rooms. But the beds are simply amazing. Most comfortable hotel beds I have slept in … for a long time. Remind me of the same experience at four seasons. But what I truly love about this place is the location. A short walk out of Murphy street you have Toorak where there are a lot of nice restaurants and cafes. So you never really get hungry here. A short walk down Toorak and u can turn into Chapel for more interesting shops. A walk up Toorak will land you near Melbourne Botanic Gardens which is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places for your morning walks!

Loved our stay at the Lyall. The staff were all truly so lovely and kind. We really enjoyed chatting with all of them and they went above and beyond with service. The rooms were beautiful, and I’ll be dreaming about their beds. They were sooo comfortable with the nicest sheets. Gorgeous outlook from the room with lots of calming greenery from trees. Lux bathroom and shower too. Perfect location, so much to do and beautiful walks to go on. Can’t wait to come back.