Melbourne City accomodation

[Lovebite]

Hi team,

I know that a lot of the CS community are from Melbourne, and I am after a little advice.

I am coming to Melbourne for 5 weeks, and my employer will put me up in an apartment in the city. Admin have asked if I have any specific places I would like to stay, and I have no idea.

I thought staying on Lygon street might be nice, as I like the idea of eating in the great restaurants and drinking great coffee. Ideally, Id like to be able to walk as little as possible to arrive in the centre of the restaurant area of lygon.

Any advice? I was looking online, and found the Clocktower.... which seems pretty close, then maybe quest-on-lygon..... but I dont even know which part of lygon street has the restaurants and cafes...... surely its not the whole length?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as would any coffee house advice...... nothing better than good advice in that area!

Thanks in advance,

James

[robusto]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Welcome to Melbourne, Lovebite.
The restaurant sector of Lygon Street stretches from Elgin Street in the north... to Grattan Street in the south.

Enjoy your stay.

[rice]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Hi Lovebite,

Other places for gastro fun are Richmond (east of CBD), Port Melbourne/South Melb/St.Kilda (both south of CBD , good sea views).
All the areas are well connected to the CBD by trams and a taxi would take about 5-10 minutes.

BTW what sort of food are you looking to eat?

[JR]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Lovebite

I thought staying on Lygon street might be nice, as I like the idea of eating in the great restaurants and drinking great coffee.

I think you might be disappointed. In my experience Lygon street does have a great atmosphere but the restaurants are okay at best and the coffee is terrible, but I may be just going to the wrong places.

I would take Rices advice and stay in the city and PT it to wherever you want to eat but you may not have to travel, the city has great restaurants.

My $0.02
Dan

[Lovebite]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Hi Lovebite,

Other places for gastro fun are Richmond (east of CBD), Port Melbourne/South Melb/St.Kilda (both south of CBD , good sea views).
All the areas are well connected to the CBD by trams and a taxi would take about 5-10 minutes.

BTW what sort of food are you looking to eat?

I dont know really...... I want to be able to go out and get a good cooked breakfast, and somewhere I can get lots of variety for evening meals. Im happy to pay good dollars, but Id rather cheaper and more authentic feeds.

My favourite restaurants are those little family run restaurants where every member of the family get involved.... you know what I mean?

I would also like plenty of good coffee.

I have 5 weeks there, so as much variety as possible would be best.

Do you guys think that the city will have the same cafe / restaurant feel?

[Lovebite]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Thanks for all the responses so far..... please keep them coming. Its all good advice.

[luca]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Hi James,

What Nim said.

Chinatown in the CBD is nice for cheap and good quality cuisine ... and there are heaps of restaurants and places for bfast in the city. Ditto for Victoria St Richmond (Vietnamese district). St Kilda is a fantastic place to stay, but I gather the food is, by and large, a bit more on the expensive side. Brunswick St in Fitzroy is just down from Lygon St and has a heap of cafes, including Atomica. Staying in any of these places would be fine - you can public transport into the CBD in about 5 minutes. A monthly met ticket is about $90 dollars and probably well worth it.

In terms of coffee places ... there are decidedly few that are up to snuff, but its improving. Might be worthwhile to bring a rig down or see if a Melbourne CSer is able to lend you something to tide you over ...

Cheers,

Luca

[Lovebite]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Thank you very much.

I think Ill take the couple of weeks as an opportunity to visit as many different Melbourne cafes as possible...

Im looking forward to riding my push bike around the areas you have mentioned. should be fun.

Hopefully Ill find a nice cafe close to my accomodation... *fingers crossed*.

Do you think theyll mind if I BYO beans? ;-)

[yulia001]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

I agree with Luca, whenever I visit Melbourne I like to go to Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.  Grungier than Lygon Street, theres some great cafes for good coffee and cooked breakfasts.

Cheers!
Yulia

[robusto]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

I agree with Luca, whenever I visit Melbourne I like to go to Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.  Grungier than Lygon Street, theres some great cafes for good coffee and cooked breakfasts.

Cheers!
Yulia

Yes, "eclectic grunge" might be a good way to describe the once-unfashiopnable Brunswick Street.... a place not so long ago where life was lived on the edge, where the cosmopopolitan met the drug addicts.  

Theres a danger Lygon Street will become a caricature of itself as it struggles to retain uniqueness in a very competitive city/world where al fresco dining is ubiquitous.

[p38arover]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

I dont know how much your boss is willing to pay for accommodation but my wife and I usually stay at the Grand Mercure Hotel Melbourne in a two-room apartment. They have a small kitchen, a large lounge area and large bedroom.

Its location is excellent, close to trams, rail, shops,

321 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
tel (03) 96294088

Ron

[Lovebite]

Re: Melbourne City accomodation

Accomodation is all sorted now.... Im staying at the Carlton Clocktower apartments? looks fine.

Can anyone suggest some "do not miss" Melbourne cafes / coffee houses? Id like to hit the top ten in my spare time......