All posts tagged: Melbourne

24 Hours in Melbourne

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A visit to Melbourne is always a good idea. With a vibrant arts scene, a smorgasbord of the country’s best cafes and restaurants, graffiti-clad laneways, excellent shopping, the leafy banks of the Yarra River, and cool urban neighbourhoods, even a short break in the city will leave you buzzing from Melbourne’s endless energy. We stayed at St Jeromes – The Hotel, which is on the third floor of Melbourne Central, where in addition to the impressive central skylight architecture, you can find Australian fashion labels like Sass & Bide and Scanlan Theodore, and in the exit laneway towards Swanston Street we stumbled on graffiti artists working on a mural, a common sight in the city. Two laneway visits are a must in Melbourne city – the narrow cafe-clad Degraves Lane and graffiti-filled (it was where Banksy created rat murals which were later cleaned up by council workers) Hosier Lane, which is also the site of one of my favourite Australian restaurants, the Spanish gem MoVida. EAT: Gazi is a modern Greek restaurant owned by restauranteur …

Festival Vibes at St Jerome’s – The Hotel, Melbourne

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Laneway Festival (previously called St Jerome’s Laneway Festival) is one of the most-loved summer festivals in Australia – with a lineup this year including the likes of Grimes, Beach House, CHVRCHES, Japanese Wallpaper, Big Scary, Purity Ring, The Internet, Battles and more (I’m hyperventilating just thinking about it). So there was no second guessing when it was announced that the founder, Jerome Borazio, had started a pop-up rooftop glamping hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, which conveniently has coincided with the David Bowie Is exhibition at the ACMI. That’s right, David effing Bowie and a festival-themed glamping stay. Hello, Melbourne. Although slightly tricky to find – the hotel is on level 3 of the Melbourne Central station and shopping complex – once you step onto the astro-turfed rooftop, surrounded by views of the skyline, you suddenly forget how you got there anyway. Our friendly concierge treated us with cupcakes on arrival as he explained what’s on offer, which is a lot of very cool extras, like free ten pin bowls at Strike Bowling next door, a stocked …

Prahran + Windsor – Melbourne

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Hop a tram and venture south-east of Melbourne city to the hipster neighbourhoods of Prahran and Windsor. When wandering along Chappel Street, you will discover a strip that is an infusion of gritty urbanism and gentrified sleek style. In Windsor, take a seat at the boho Borsch. Vodka and Tears for pierogies (which would be my last meal on earth), boutique vodkas (infused with honey, walnut, clove, jasmine and lilac, anyone?) or the beetroot broth of it’s namesake. Or sit in the sun (well, this is Melbourne, it could be any kind of weather) at the popular courtyard of Tusk Cafe Bar. If pure health is more your thing, then grab an acia bowl or green smoothie at Nutrition Bar, who also hold healthy workshops from time-to-time. For some very-Melbourne threads you should duck your face into Plane Clothes. Which brings us to Prahran, a suburb long explored for inner-city cool. To further the healthy standard set by Nutrition Bar, you could visit Paleo Den or The Collective yoga and pilates studio. Add to this …