Royal Melbourne Hotel

This is the second of John’s posts after a stellar job on the Richmond post. I’ll be back next post, but for now, on to the Royal Melbourne!

Sheer delight from Cory, Dad and myself upon getting to the Royal Hotel Melbourne. 30% of that was because we were keen again for a beer and the place itself looked nice. 70% was due to the fact that we had survived another Uber ride on Melbourne’s streets. I hate driving in Melbourne. It seems the Uber drivers hate driving in Melbourne and hate us. 

With shaking legs and rapidly beating hearts, we head on inside what is a nice enough ye olde brick building on Burke St that is now The Royal Melbourne. It was a Police station with cells from the 1800’s up until 1970. So either drunks trying to get out or drunks trying to get in I guess.

It had a nice front area that extends to the other side of the footpath, which I think is a perfect place to sit and enjoy a cold beer, watching people walk by who aren’t able to stop in to have a beer. 

In saying that, this Royal isnt a place to sit there and have a session, unless someone else is paying. Seems pretty pricey, but also that feeling of a place you go to be seen. Like most bars now, it was much more than a place to just sink pots and leer at passers by. It was a pretty big place, with one of the biggest TV’s i’ve seen. It had the restaurant and pub grub area as well, all looking modern but still with character and I think making good use of the brickwork of the old building. 

However, this isn’t The Block, and all the exposed brick and wow factor couldn’t cool the burn of having to buy some very expensive beers. I can’t remember how much they were, maybe I was just annoyed Dad made me use my own bank card. Be that as it may, not a bad place and certainly looked the goods if you were out with a massive group of mates or wanted to watch something on the big screen, but for me it’s not a Royal to rush back to, not without a lot more money and friends.

Royal Stats

• Town/Suburb: Melbourne, VIC
• Population: 149,615 (City of Melbourne)
• Date Visited: Friday, February 14, 2025
• Visited By: Cory, John and Rod
• Beer Sponsorship on Sign: Carlton Draught
• Beer Consumed at Pub: Balter XPA
• Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $17.30 (Pint)
• Unique Award: First Royal That Used to Be a Police Station
• Tour Progress: 56.5% (78/138)
  • The Royal at Footscray turned out to be closed. We have adjusted the total number of Royals on the Tour to reflect this