Melbourne CBD for one night
Aug 19th, 2005, 12:16 PM
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Melbourne CBD for one night
Need to ask about these hotels - Ibis Little Bourke and Enterprize Hotel (on Spencer Street). We will arrive early evening (if lucky) on XPT train and will only need one night accommodation, just enough for a good sleep and then out in the morning to do a little exploring before commuting to Geelong later in the day. Would either of these hotels be perfectly fine? Daughter and boyfriend stayed at Grand Chancellor not long ago and were pleased, but tripadvisor does not favor it. Hotel Enterprize has an amazing low rate that includes breakfast and most reviews I can find on it are favorable. We will not have a car so being close to the trainstation would actually be a plus for us.
And the tram I read so much about? Is it close to this area?
And the tram I read so much about? Is it close to this area?
Aug 19th, 2005, 05:46 PM
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Maryk, the difference in price between the Enterprize and the Grand Hotel is significant - about $230 AUD per night. Do you name these two just because of location? Is the Enterprize an acceptable option? For one night, if I can spend $90/room rather than $230/room, I'd probably pick the $90 room if it wasn't a complete dump. Thanks for your help!
Aug 20th, 2005, 03:48 AM
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Inthechips2,
I can offer this bit of advice. I am still over here in Australia and will be returning home (to the USA) on Tuesday. I first arrived in OZ on Aug. 5th for my business conference in Melbourne (pronounced 'Melbun' by the Oz locals). I and my wife stayed at the Hotel Enterprize. They have several size rooms. I first checked in with my confirmation we made from the US for room with private bath/shower for $99 Aus. The room was pretty small so I asked for an 'upgrade' and they agreed to charge me $20 Aus more for a MUCH larger room. We were very happy with the new room and I had plenty of space to lay out my work on the second bed and use the desk to finish my presentations. There's an internet cafe right next door as well. You can use their machines or do like I did and use your own laptop. I would highly advise using the hotel for one night's accoms. We stayed there for 5 nights. There was no breakfast included but I found a GREAT place on Collins Street for breakfast that was $5.99 Aus for eggs, bacon, toast, and tomato and that was all I needed. Restaurants around the Convention Center (which you'll be near) are a little steeper to catch the tourist dollars but if you search out the food places that cater to the 'working Ozzie', you'll find some really good value only a few blocks in the opposite direction of the Conv. center. The Enterprize is a stones throw from the main train station (almost across the street). You'll also be close to the Crown Center which has lots of shops, restaurants, and a big gambling casino (Crown is also close to the Conv. Ctr.) We didn't much care for that area.
As for the trolley, I never did get to use it. There's a free trolley that goes in a loop in the CBD but due to road construction, the trolley doesn't go all the way around. Chinatown is a nice walk and the crowds there are not to be missed.
When we left Melbourne after the conf, I decided not to return to the US right away and we flew to Brisbane (and stayed in Noosa a few days), then on to Cairns (where we stayed out on the reef for three days and two nights diving the GBR), then we flew here to Sydney where we're spending the last five days of our Oz adventure. By the way, if you get the chance to visit Sydney, we're staying at the Hilton which is only about 30 days old and is VERY modern. A little pricey but we were blessed with the opportunity to use our Hilton Honors points for these 5 days so this is one less expense to write off on our taxes.
One last thing ... we found Melbourne to be about the least friendly (overall) of all our cities visited in OZ. Don't get me wrong, there were some very nice folks but there were also some not so nice. We're blessed with the ability to travel all over the world so we usually can get a vibe on a city and can usually discern between a city's 'attitude/flavor' and one individual having a bad day. (hey, it happens) I'd have to say that Melbourne is like some cities in the northeast US. Some folks were just as nice as they could be while others were a bit more 'standoffish'. Probably all are good folks but some you just need to get to know them better.
Have fun and remember a few phrases: "Fair Dinkum" (look this one up yourself), "No worries" (instead of 'you're welcome'), "How are you going" (instead of 'how are you doing'), and "Ta" (which means 'thank you')
type to you later....
I can offer this bit of advice. I am still over here in Australia and will be returning home (to the USA) on Tuesday. I first arrived in OZ on Aug. 5th for my business conference in Melbourne (pronounced 'Melbun' by the Oz locals). I and my wife stayed at the Hotel Enterprize. They have several size rooms. I first checked in with my confirmation we made from the US for room with private bath/shower for $99 Aus. The room was pretty small so I asked for an 'upgrade' and they agreed to charge me $20 Aus more for a MUCH larger room. We were very happy with the new room and I had plenty of space to lay out my work on the second bed and use the desk to finish my presentations. There's an internet cafe right next door as well. You can use their machines or do like I did and use your own laptop. I would highly advise using the hotel for one night's accoms. We stayed there for 5 nights. There was no breakfast included but I found a GREAT place on Collins Street for breakfast that was $5.99 Aus for eggs, bacon, toast, and tomato and that was all I needed. Restaurants around the Convention Center (which you'll be near) are a little steeper to catch the tourist dollars but if you search out the food places that cater to the 'working Ozzie', you'll find some really good value only a few blocks in the opposite direction of the Conv. center. The Enterprize is a stones throw from the main train station (almost across the street). You'll also be close to the Crown Center which has lots of shops, restaurants, and a big gambling casino (Crown is also close to the Conv. Ctr.) We didn't much care for that area.
As for the trolley, I never did get to use it. There's a free trolley that goes in a loop in the CBD but due to road construction, the trolley doesn't go all the way around. Chinatown is a nice walk and the crowds there are not to be missed.
When we left Melbourne after the conf, I decided not to return to the US right away and we flew to Brisbane (and stayed in Noosa a few days), then on to Cairns (where we stayed out on the reef for three days and two nights diving the GBR), then we flew here to Sydney where we're spending the last five days of our Oz adventure. By the way, if you get the chance to visit Sydney, we're staying at the Hilton which is only about 30 days old and is VERY modern. A little pricey but we were blessed with the opportunity to use our Hilton Honors points for these 5 days so this is one less expense to write off on our taxes.
One last thing ... we found Melbourne to be about the least friendly (overall) of all our cities visited in OZ. Don't get me wrong, there were some very nice folks but there were also some not so nice. We're blessed with the ability to travel all over the world so we usually can get a vibe on a city and can usually discern between a city's 'attitude/flavor' and one individual having a bad day. (hey, it happens) I'd have to say that Melbourne is like some cities in the northeast US. Some folks were just as nice as they could be while others were a bit more 'standoffish'. Probably all are good folks but some you just need to get to know them better.
Have fun and remember a few phrases: "Fair Dinkum" (look this one up yourself), "No worries" (instead of 'you're welcome'), "How are you going" (instead of 'how are you doing'), and "Ta" (which means 'thank you')
type to you later....
Aug 20th, 2005, 06:35 AM
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Thanks reallyblessed, just the info I was looking for. I know there is about a $20 AUD difference between the two sized rooms and may just go for the largest right off the bat. We only need the one night and the location sounds perfect for our needs.
Our daughter's boyfriend lives outside of Melbourne in Geelong. He is familiar with the city and that will be nice. We have been to Australia but it was nearly 25 years ago.
Thank you again for your great advice!
Our daughter's boyfriend lives outside of Melbourne in Geelong. He is familiar with the city and that will be nice. We have been to Australia but it was nearly 25 years ago.
Thank you again for your great advice!
