ayvajack

I'm looking for suggestions on where to stay in Victoria for up to 10 days. We will be travelling by car from QLD with 3 little children (ages 1, 3 & 5) and would prefer somewhere with water views and/or safe swimming beaches or somewhere relaxing that has a few 4+ star apartments with restaurants, pools etc. so we can relax and not travel too much. Family in Victoria (living mainly in Western suburbs) would be joining us for a week or so. We don't want to camp or stay in budget accommodation - we're after something nice & spacious as far as accommodation and preferably within a hour or two of Melbourne. Any suggestions or accommodation tips would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

marg

Here's a few suggestions, bearing in mind the age of your children (you won't want a surf beach for them) and the possibility of family visiting with you.
Lakes Entrance has a safe beach for children plus a surf beach, about three/four hours from Melbourne, good range of accommodation and restaurants.
Sorrento/Blairgowrie/Rye (the family can take the ferry across the bay from Queenscliff). Again safe beaches for the children but surf beaches within easy reach, plus lots of accommodation.
Queenscliff and Portarlington have some nice beaches, plus you could take the ferry across to Sorrento/Portsea for a day's outing.
There are lots of nice of places along the Great Ocean Road - possibly Anglesea or Apollo Bay.

ayvajack

Thank you for those suggestions. I will see what I can find on the Mornington Peninsular for accommodation.

DownUnder

Lorne is also a great place for family holidays and I would suggest the Cumberland http://www.cumberland.com.au/
However if it is for this summer you might find it very hard to get a booking anywhere.

JohnFitz

Even though family are in the west of Melbourne I suggest Flinders at the Mornington Peninsula .

It is 1.5 hours drive from the inner west ( I do it weekely ) and has a good motel / hotel and some nice houses to rent .

It has two beaches ,lovely walks , a golf course on the cliff top you can drive through , good cafes / pizza and pub food .Winery heaven . And it is not hysterically busy like Sorrento et al- you can actually park a car free !!!

But you will have to wear Ralph Lauren with collar turned up , an Alice band in your hair and walk a pair of dogs ( any kind ) . lol

Susan7

What a hoot, they can practice fitting in by watching Trude and Prue on Kath and Kim. There's a pronunciation guide on their website that had me in stitches:

http://www.kathandkim.com/threw.htm

Bokhara2

Ayvajack, I stayed at Silverwater Resort San Remo last week and think it would be perfect for you. Upmarket accommodation and (yes AND) geared for kids too. They had dodgem car races on the lawns and a kid's party night while I was there.
Easy access to all the other attractions of Phillip Island, too. There was a family who'd been there for a week and were booking two apartments for next year, so they must have enjoyed it.

http://www.silverwaterresort.com.au/

JohnFitz

Good idea Bokhara as there are safe beaches for children , plenty of shops , cafes and tourist things to do and just 1.5 hours drive time on freeway / highway from Melbourne which is not too long for children .