The weather’s cooling off, but Melbourne’s only getting hotter with a world of events strutting their stuff into town. All promising moments, tastes, thrills and tunes you’ll find hard to forget.

Did you know that if you ate out everyday of your life in Melbourne you’d still never manage to get through all it has to offer?

Get eggcited! Okay okay enough with the egg jokes. But seriously, Easter’s just around the corner and that means Melbourne’s a hot cross bun heaven and full to the brim of things to do with your crew.

Malthouse Theatre is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Ink Hotel Southbank. Because The Night is their newest production and there has been a lot of hype about it. Based on Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, the audience freely explores an immersive set while the cast performs around them. It’s apparent from the start that Because the Night is not your usual theatre performance. The audience is split into three groups, each entering the performance from a different location. Ushers provide each person with a dark robe and Donnie Darko-style black rabbit mask to cover their face. Apart from serving to differentiate the audience from the cast, the costume immediately puts visitors in the right headspace; goodbye Melbourne, helloooooo Elsinore. Performances start on 18th May 2021 tickets can be booked here.   Truly make a night of it and put the “F” “U” in FUn and Book an Ink Mates Rates stay at Ink Hotel Southbank

It’s getting colder outside here in Melbourne and no better time to do some baking. Who doesn’t like a good chocolate chip cookie? General Manager of Ink Hotel Southbank, Tad Lombardo’s recipe is the bomb, even if he says so himself. Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients: 1 Cup Softened Unsalted Butter (227g) ½ Cup sugar 1 ½ Cups Brown Sugar Packed 2 eggs (room temp.) 2 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract 2 ½ cups Flour ¾ teaspoon Salt 1 teaspoon Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Bi-Carbonate of Soda 510g Chocolate Chips (the real stuff!)   Method Preheat oven to 180° Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until, light and fluffy. Sift Flour, Salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Combine Wet and dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Form golf size balls, two inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 9 minutes or until edges are light brown. Note: The key to this recipe is to under-cook the cookies.  They will continue to cook on the baking

Ink Hotels is partnering with 300 Blankets, a major provider of blankets in Victoria for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. 300 Blankets purchases and distributes blankets through their Homelessness Outreach Program. By reaching out to people who are disenfranchised and socially isolated, we can break down barriers and enrich a community where all people are accepted and respected through love, compassion, and dignity. Together we can keep our community warm. Every donation made to 300 Blankets, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping those in our community who need it most. If you would like to donate to 300 Blankets, you can do so here. We thank you!

We’d like to know too! Banksy’s true identity remains unknown. Join us for an intimate paint and sip workshop where you can pretend to be the most controversial street artist in the world for one day. This hands-on experience takes place in our urban commons area where the walls are flanked by street art to get your creative juices flowing. At the end of the workshop, you have your own Banksy inspired painting to take home. The ticket price is $60.00 and includes all materials required to be Banksy. Additional package add-ons are available or if that is not your thing, beverages and tapas-style bar snacks are available for purchase individually throughout the evening at Ink Bar. Bookings are essential via emailing hello@inkhotels.com. This workshop will be held Thursday 29th April 2021 from 6:45PM to 9PM.

This is the first of a series of three masterclasses concerning all things chocolate. At Ink Hotel, we don’t trust anyone who says they don’t like chocolate – there, we said it! Presented by Head Chef Jarrod Stafford and General Manager Ink Hotel Southbank/Retired Master Chocolatier, Tad Lombardo, this informative masterclass will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate, history, science, manufacturing, processing and most important tasting. Yes, there will be free chocolate! This event will take place on Thursday 18th March from 6 pm to 8 pm and is free of charge. Rumour has it that Tad will be making his famous Salted Caramel Frogs…just saying…

Quite literally we are putting all our eggs in one basket! To get things started, we want to play a little game. Be that person to correctly guess (or guess the closest to) the number of chocolate Easter Eggs in our basket at Ink Bar and you could win a free night (including breakfast) plus you get the cache of Easter Eggs to take home. To enter, you must sign up for our new Newsletter. Entries must be made in person and only one entry per person. The competition runs from 22nd March and finishes Wednesday 31st March. The winner announced on Thursday 1st April (no joke!)