Melbourne: reliable info & hotel

Hi Robert,
Agree, sadly Lonely Planet is not what it used to be.
There are lots of choices in Melbourne but the following information would help people to give you some useful advice. Which university campus is the conference at? Does the conference registration information give any suggestions for accomodations? How big is your budget?

Thank you for your reply, Helen,

The university that is hosting the conference is the Swinburne University of Technology. As it is just a ten-minute tram ride from the city center, I believe I do not need to stay nearby.

The conference organizers did suggest a couple of places near the university, but they are not particularly compelling, e.g., "Corporate Living Accommodations Hawthorne."

Less than Australian $225 seems like a reasonable budget. The conference is in July which is, I believe, the offseason. The city center would be nice for a bit of sightseeing before the conference begins.

Robert

I've had good luck with the Meriton Suites chain in other AU cities, and they have relatively new hotel in Melbourne. They are well priced and an excellent standard. It's not really the right side of the city, but is in the city and close to transit options, South Bank etc.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Little Collins Street this spring. It's conveniently located near the train station and tram lines. Pretty standard HIE property, nice breakfast, not a fancy neighborhood but not grungy either.

Hi Robert,
Swinburne is indeed easy to reach by train from the Melbourne central business district. We have stayed at the Best Western Melbourne City Hotel and also the Travelodge Hotel Melbourne Docklands. I can’t remember the breakfast arrangements however, Melbourne has a thriving cafe scene, so picking up breakfast is easy. Both hotels are near Southern Cross train station which is also the drop off and pick up location of the airport bus, so extra convenient.
July is winter in Australia and the Victorian school holidays are for the first 2 weeks of July this year, not sure how much that would likely impact on accomodation costs and availability. The thing that is likely to impact is Australian Rules Football (AFL), July is in the middle of the season and the game is hugely popular in Melbourne. Probably easiest just ot play around with your dates on the hotel websites or on booking.com
You can find out more about Melbourne’s public transport system at https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/ , I believe that buying a Myki card is the easiest way to go about it, not sure if you can use the tap on/ tap off system with a credit or debit card or how much in terms if extra fees and charges would result from using overseas cards. The public transport system is easy to use and the combination of trains and trams is so good that I can’t ever remember catching a bus there other than to the airport.
Hope that you have an enjoyable conference and a great trip to Melbourne.

Thank you, Helen, Kiwi, pippin789, Eatsrootsandleaves for the helpful replies.

Hotel arranged. Transport will work.

Pot and parma? Looks delicious.

As for Chloe (for other visitors):
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38559150
https://asenseofplacemagazine.com/chloe-how-a-19th-century-french-nude-ended-up-in-a-melbourne-pub-and-became-an-icon-for-australian-soldiers/