Crown Melbourne

Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the now-international Crown brand.

Initially having opened in 1994 on the north bank of the Yarra, Crown Melbourne relocated and re–opened on the south bank of the Yarra, in 1997. It remains one of the central features of the Southbank precinct of the Melbourne central business district. The entire complex has a space of 510,000 m2—the equivalent to two city blocks—making it the largest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world. The complex also hosts three hotels, Crown Towers, Crown Promenade, and Crown Metropol. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week except on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day when it is closed from 4 a.m. to midday. It was founded, owned and run by Lloyd Williams until the Packer takeover by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited in 1999. The casino is accessible by tram routes 12, 58, 96, 109 which all pass near Southern Cross railway station and the Melbourne City Centre.

The crown rewards cards features five different tiers (member, silver, gold, platinum, and black). Everyone starts at the member tier and can upgrade their card when they attain a certain amount of status credits. Membership status is reviewed every six months and cards can be downgraded due to inactivity.Status credits can be earned by accumulating points. Either 500 casino points or 1,500 lifestyle points form one status credit.Casino points are earned when a player inserts their reward card into a poker machine or when they hand their Crown Reward Card to the croupier. Typically, on a table with a $50 minimum bet, a player earns 500 casino points per hour. When earning lifestyle points, every dollar spent on hotels, restaurants, bars, retail, or events earns 5 points.Points can also be redeemed without effecting the users ability to earn status credits with 100 points usually equaling a $1 reward.

There are several nightclubs and restaurants as well as "Kingpin" (formerly Galactic Circus), an electronic games arcade, laser tag game, bowling alley, and many luxury brands.

Crown has three hotel towers:

Crown Towers: a skyscraper comprising a five-star luxury hotel located within the Crown Entertainment Complex. It houses 481 rooms and villas over 38 floors. Located on the banks of the Yarra River it overlooks the city centre, Kings Domain, Port Phillip and Docklands. Crown Metropol: reputedly Australia's largest hotel by number of rooms. This five-star hotel houses 658 rooms across 28 floors. Crown Promenade: a 465-room, 4.5-star hotel on 23 floors. It is located on the block behind Crown Towers and is connected to the main complex by a pedestrian overpass. It also houses Australia's only purpose built hotel conference facility the 'Crown Conference Centre'.A fourth hotel, One Queensbridge, had plans for its construction approved, however, plans unfortunately fell through due to a failure to acquire financing.