Review: Voco City Centre Hotel Brisbane (IHG)
- Konrad Tillman
- Jun 25
- 4 min read
Intro
During my last-minute one-night stay in Brisbane, due to flights being cancelled into Sydney, I had the opportunity to check out the Voco City Centre Hotel. While I would usually review a more name-brand hotel, such as the Marriott, this was a free stay due to Virgin Australia putting me up here.
Well, how was it? Perfect for a short 5-hour sleep, but I would seek out a better hotel if I were to come back to Brisbane and wanted to enjoy more atmosphere.
Good For: People on a short business trip or transit.
Not So Good: Those looking to enjoy Brisbane for their vacation.
Location+Pricing
The Voco City Centre Hotel is located about a 20-minute drive away (with no traffic) from Brisbane International Airport, about a 5-minute walk from the W hotel, and about 10 minutes to the Botanical Gardens. Sitting right on the waterfront, the location is actually not too bad at all.
In terms of pricing, the Voco can range anywhere from about 150-250 USD per night, depending on the day of the week and the season. Obviously, Christmas time in Australia can be bonkers pricing-wise.
Lobby/Check In
Located right when you walk in the door is where you will find the lobby, a coffee bar, and a bar at night. While not the most beautifully decorated lobby, it functions for the purpose that it is designed for: efficiency.
Heading up to check in, I showed the voucher, which Virgin Australia had issued me, and the staff were happy to confirm that I was in their system.
I got into a little bit of chat with the staff there, extremely kind people, and they told me that most of the time when VA has disruptions, they will send passengers to the Voco. Apparently, the hotel was almost full for the night, since almost all of the flights to Sydney had been cancelled that afternoon/evening
They handed me my key, showed me to the elevators, and it was off to the room.
Rooms
Heading up the painfully slow elevators (one of the caveats here), it wasn't long before I came across my room for the night.
The Voco Hotel offers a couple of different options in terms of rooms. You can select standard rooms with either a queen/king-size bed or two twins. Additionally, there are suites available which have their own separate living room.
That didn't matter to me, I could have slept on the floor, I was that tired 😪.
My room was pretty standard, but functional. It was nicely appointed with a couple of different chairs, a desk, and of course, a decent bed. Comfiest bed in the world? Nope, but not bad either. A coffee machine was present as well. Aside from sleep, probably the most important thing about a hotel 😅.
Finally, there was a bathroom located close by to the entrance. Once again, functional is the word to use. It was clean, it was relatively modern, but nothing over the top.
Honestly, the perfect way to describe the rooms here is like a modern Courtyard Marriott in the United States.
Dining
Even though I had arrived late from the airport, I was still feeling quite hungry, no thanks to Virgin Australia's buy on board service (cough cough). At this late hour (8:30 pm), the only restaurant open was the one on the second floor.
The hours for the restaurant are as follows:
Breakfast:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 6:30 AM-10:00 AM
Saturday, Sunday: 6:30 AM-10:30 AM
Lunch:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 12:00 PM-4:00 PM
Dinner:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 6:00 PM-9:00 PM
It actually has quite an extensive menu, with relatively reasonable prices. All together, I think my glass of wine and chicken parmesan (I always mix up the spelling here, ha) came to about 35 AUD. This meant that I only ended up spending 5 AUD.
Once again, the food was functional. Not exceptional, but a decent price and tasted good. However, the kind staff were the highlight of the meal. Lovely people.
Other Amenities
Where the Voco really stands out to me is where I didn't check them out. However, I have done a bit of research, and this is what the Voco offers:
A 24-hour fitness gym, featuring machines and weights. Perfect for the business traveller on jet lag...
A rooftop swimming pool that is open from 7-7 (no skinny dipping at 1 am 😉).
Business center featuring copying, printing, and shipping services
Free internet access to guests across the property
Final Thoughts
Look, I had a very pleasant short stay at the Voco in Brisbane. It is a perfectly designed 'functional hotel'. The staff were friendly, it has all of the amenities you need, and a place to grab coffee downstairs in the morning. However, if you are on vacation for 5 days in Brisbane, this might not be the place for you, solely based on the ambience of the hotel. If I had longer, and this was on my own dime, I probably would have booked the W next door for 70 USD more.
But yeah, it was perfect for what I needed.
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