Review: The Tasman Hotel, Hobart

The Tasman is a great hotel in Hobart, right next to the Tasmanian parliament building, and extremely close to the Salamanca Market. The best time to stay here is probably on a Friday night, since you can wake up and go to Saturday’s Salamanca Market the next morning. It has a high end Italian restaurant, Peppina, which is popular with locals, and has great drinks. There is also a nice bar called Mary Mary. The best rooms have a view of the water, but most have a city view or a partial water view. If you can’t get a spot at Peppina, it appears the room service menu has maybe 40% of their items, at the same price (excluding the delivery fee).

Across the street is a really beautiful European-style cafe called Daci & Daci. If you’re not having breakfast in the hotel, I recommend going here.

If you want to skip to my final thoughts about the hotel, click here.

The Tasman Hotel as we know it today is an amalgamation of old buildings and new construction. This is evident if you look at the bottom floors of the building, which have heritage architecture, and then compare them to the glass-box upper floors. The gym is in a super old stone cabin-like room, and it’s kind of cool to think about how much things have changed over the years.

I stayed in two different rooms across two different stays, so this review has pictures of both.

We will start by looking at the upgraded room, then the breakfast buffet, then the non-upgraded rooms, and then close with final thoughts. Overall, I recommend the hotel, and the staff were kind and lovely during my stay. Shoutout to Moe, Vee, Dani, and Daniel (as well as several other staff whose names I have forgotten–sorry!–who made it a fantastic stay!)

This is a “Heritage King” room. I paid for a standard room but was upgraded given my platinum elite status (thank you Marriott!) The ceilings were tall and airy–almost too tall. If you peek out of the window, there is a sea view. I forgot to take pictures when I checked in, so this is a checkout-ready photo, but you still get an idea of the size of the room. The Tasmanian parliament is out of this window.

There is a good tea and coffee selection in the rooms. This is the best place to stay if you want to visit the Salamanca Market, because it is located right next to them. It is a good place to stay if you want to take the ferry to the MONA, although other hotels are also located close to it.

Well appointed bathroom (seen here upon checkout!)

A free bottle of Red Wine and a nice note written – a kind gesture!

Buffet Breakfast at Peppina

Pastries. croissants, and cinnamon buns at the buffet. The cinnamon buns were actually really good. (Unlike most buffet pastries).

An extensive salad bar with great fruit and yogurt on the other side.

A nice juice area at the Buffet.

Tea and coffee at the Breakfast Buffet. There was also an omelette and pancake station, a toast area, and more. It was really nice.

Honey station at the Peppina breakfast.

This is a pastry I got across the street at Daci & Daci. Highly recommended if you don’t go to breakfast at Peppina.

The Tasmanian parliament building, which is next door to the hotel.

Hobart harbour, near the hotel.

Overall. the Tasman has an airy and luxury feel.

Joining the Marriott rewards program is a good idea

As with all Marriott-affiliated properties, it pays to be a member of their rewards program, especially if you have a high status level. I am a Platinum Elite member thanks to the Amex Marriott, and because of that I got an upgraded room, two free breakfasts, a welcome bottle of wine, and a late checkout. Given the breakfasts cost $55 AUD each (for the Buffet–apparently only available on weekends during the winter) that is real savings. If you are able to get the AMEX Marriott Card, you should really consider it for these benefits. (I am saying this because I believe in it–I was not paid to write this review, and paid for the rooms).

This is the cafe/lounge area. The lounge area is 24/7 but the cafe is something like 7-5.

This was the room during my second stay. I was not upgraded since my father (who is Gold Elite) paid for the room using points. The inside of my base-level room was actually quite nice and pretty spacious. My parents got a smaller room even though they had the same class of room. Their room did have a nice view out of the bathroom, however.

A view of the TV and coffee machine in my room.

Even in the base level room, the bathroom is very nice.

My parent’s base level room was significantly smaller than the heritage king room, although it was still well appointed.

This bathroom, unlike mine, had a beautiful city view, which was a nice touch.

Peppina was actually good! So good that when I tried to go on Sunday night, they couldn’t fit us in for two hours, even though we were staying at the hotel.

So we went to Syra instead. Syra is a nearby middle-eastern restaurant, which was fantastic. I particularly liked their baklava with pistachio ice cream inside.

Final Thoughts: Tasman Hotel Hobart

Ultimately. this is a great hotel, especially if you stay on Friday night: As with any Marriott-linked property, it really helps to have higher status. But even if you are in the “cheaper” rooms, as I was on my second stay, they are actually really nice rooms, with great free coffee and tea, caring staff, and an excellent location in Hobart. I definitely recommend staying here, especially on Friday night, so you can wake up and go to the Salamanca market the next morning.

Peppina (their hotel restaurant) seems genuinely popular: A local I talked to in another part of Hobart recommended Peppina as one of her favorite places to eat in Hobart. It was packed on Sunday night, suggesting anecdotally this is indeed a popular place to eat among locals. I briefly ate at Peppina on another night, but only had appetizers since I wasn’t hungry, and it was genuinely good.

The Service was overall very good: I got sick in the middle of the night, and briefly went to the hospital. The front desk staff who was there at 5 AM was very kind, and even sent a free mint tea and cappuccino to our room, once we got back from the hospital. I really appreciated that.

Platinum Elite status pays off: The second time I stayed at the hotel my father booked it using points and he was a Gold Elite, which meant we did not get upgraded to a nicer room.

Good Ways to Increase your Status and Save Money at Marriott Hotels

Marriott Co-Branded Credit Cards: If you are in the United States, the quickest way to get straight to Platinum Elite status is by getting the American Express Bonvoy Brilliant credit card. It has a pricy annual fee, but the welcome bonus, benefits, priority pass lounge access, and $300 USD of annual dining credits makes it well worth it.

Capital One Shopping: Beyond using American Express, Capital One has a good shopping app (which I have used) called Capital One Shopping. I signed up for it a couple months ago, and, as a long time Capital One cardholder, find it a convenient way to save money when shopping online. With Capital One’s recent acquisition of Discover, I’ll be very interested to see what they do with their larger network. Capital One Shopping currently offers a 2.5% discount on Marriott bookings made with their app. Definitely worth checking out.