Melbourne’s landmark Hotel Windsor has been serving traditional afternoon tea, complete with three-tiered silver stands, since 1883 in its signature dining room, 111 Spring Street Restaurant.

The decadent selection of cakes and pastries are prepared under the watchful eye of the hotel’s executive pastry chef Nigel Braithwaite, previously executive pastry chef with the renowned Savoy Hotel in London. 

The Hotel Windsor’s afternoon tea favourites include fresh scones and home-made jams, finger sandwiches, an array of delicate, seasonal cakes and pastries, a choice of the world’s finest teas, and the ever-popular indulgent weekend chocolate fountain. The Hotel Windsor afternoon tea is available seven days a week for AUD$45 per person Monday to Friday and $AUD65 per person on weekends. 

“Afternoon tea at The Hotel Windsor is one of Melbourne’s must-do experiences,” David Perry, The Hotel Windsor CEO and general manager, says. “It is booked out months in advance for special occasions such as Easter and Mother’s Day, when we will do three sittings, and most weekends throughout the year demand is so strong that we offer two sittings."

“The opulence of the weekend buffet, the quality of the ingredients that go into our scones and cakes and, of course, the unique history and heritage of the hotel combine to offer a very memorable experience, for both locals and visitors to Melbourne.” 

Reservations for the hotel’s afternoon tea are essential and can be made on 03 9633 6004.

The 180-room Hotel Windsor was built in 1883, pre-dating some of the world’s leading grand hotels including the Savoy in London, which was built in 1889, the Waldorf Astoria in New York which dates back to 1893 and the Ritz Paris which opened in 1898.