Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto

At Empire Hospitality we pride ourselves in providing Quality Housekeeping Solutions. INTERCONT INENTAL MELBOURNE THE R I ALTO world-class building management systems which run our plant, we’ve managed to cut our energy consistently in big numbers – 17 percent. We also have an iPad in every room and that covers a lot of functions that would have required printing or other services that are not environmentally friendly, and also aren’t live. That covers room service, housekeeping requests, limo bookings, bar bookings, next reservation, membership questions, shopping options… a million things on that iPad in a service called Air Service. We’re the first hotel in the world to have that particular Air Service.” BVO: What lies ahead for the future? Steube: “The goal at this point, during the pandemic, is to be agile and flexible so that everybody gets through what we’re going through at the moment in the best possible shape. Looking to the future, our owners (Salter Brothers Hotel Group) are very engaged with what comes next and keen to do ground- The reaction has been amazing. It’s a unique destination experience in the middle of the city and no one else will ever have it. “We also have something called the History Project with various interns and college students rotating through doing research. And we use the Melbourne Genealogical Society to help us track down real people and learn their life stories, and we try to connect with their descendants. The space I’m talking to you from is in the basement and was actually a chocolate Easter egg factory. By pure coincidence one of the descendants of the founder of that factory brought some family members and was talking about the space outside my office window and I went out and met them. We love hearing the stories. Architecture is great, but what makes this building the way it is are the souls and stories of all the people who went through it. That’s our focus and our differentiator.” BVO: What other special features and technology do you offer? Steube: “We have an enclosed rooftop pool and gym, that’s a lovely place to be. Melbourne is not the warmest in the winter and you can’t swim outside, so it’s very important to our leisure weekend business. For dining, we have two exceptional establishments. “Merchant” is a fantastic restaurant owned and operated by Celebrity Australian Chef Guy Grossi and is inspired by the rich Venetian culture and authentic cuisine he experienced through his family roots in Venice. We also have our own full service restaurant that features a hearty breakfast; a wine bar and business lunch product; and at night we do specialty dishes based on local ingredients. “As for technology, it’s there but it’s under the skin, you don’t want it to be overt. An atrium hotel is not usually environmentally friendly because you have to heat and cool it. And in Australia it can be 40 degrees or two degrees, so you can use a lot of energy. By installing