Family-Friendly Holiday Apartment Review of Avani Melbourne Central Residences

Recently we visited the city of Melbourne in Victoria Australia on a family holiday.  I spent weeks during my planning for this trip looking for the perfect Melbourne holiday apartment.  It needed to offer self-catering facilities, central location, activity options for our 11-year-old son (for downtime after spending the day exploring) and finally it had to be affordable.

You would not believe how many self-contained apartment websites I looked at before finally stumbling upon the Avani Melbourne Central Residences (not to be confused with the Avani Box Hill).  Many were expensive, didn’t offer many extra facilities or had poor reviews of being run down.  Whereas in this Melbourne holiday apartment the final stages of building had just been completed.

Let me tell you all about the family-friendly facilities in this Avani Melbourne Central Residences review.  By the way, there are also options for couples at this accommodation as well.

This Review Article on the Avani Melbourne CBD Short Stay Apartments Will Show You:

• The two-bedroom suite
  • Kitchen
  • Lounge/Dining
  • Main bedroom
  • Bedroom two
  • Bathroom/Laundry
• The amenities
  • Pool and Spa
  • Games room
  • Gym
  • BBQ’s
  • WiFi
• Plan Your Trip
  • Location
  • Website
  • Nearby facilities and attractions
  • What to pack for Melbourne
• The Verdict

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My Review of Avani Melbourne Central

There are four different apartment options:

1. One-Bedroom Suite – 45sqm
2. One-Bedroom Superior Suite – 52sqm
3. Two-bedroom Suite – 56sqm
4. Two-bedroom Superior Suite – 66sqm (two bathrooms)

We choose the two-bedroom suite for our one-week family holiday to Melbourne.

We arrive at the hotel before check-in time. The reception staff are very helpful in storing our luggage safely so that we can set out to explore Melbourne whilst we wait. The staff also provide us with a tourist map of Melbourne and mark out some points of interest. They then call us as soon as the room is ready.

Two-Bedroom Suite

When reception takes us up to the apartment they briefly mention the three master power switches.  You really need to pay attention to this as these switches control the overall lighting, hot water, air conditioner and television.  Otherwise, you will be like me back down at reception wondering why you can’t turn the TV on and frustrated waiting for the lifts that seem to take forever – but that is the only really negative thing I can say about the Avani Central Residences.

Our room is on the 50^th floor and the view from the full-length lounge windows over the Queen Victoria Markets is impressive.

Kitchen

Looking about our suite kitchen I notice the modern long-line white gloss cabinets wrapped with a charcoal stone benchtop and stainless steel appliances that are fully equipped with:

• Full-size fridge
• Four burner stove
• Oven (no oven trays though)
• Microwave
• Dishwasher drawer
• Nespresso
  • Note you only receive four capsules for your entire stay, more are available at reception for a $1/capsule
• Kettle
• Toaster
• Frypan
• Saucepans
• Cutlery, crockery and glassware for six
• Starter kit of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and sugar
  • I couldn’t work out if these were supposed to be replenished each day or not as some days they were and others they weren’t
• Washing up essentials
  • Dishwasher powder
  • Detergent
  • Cloth
  • Scourer
  • Tea towel
  • Laundry powder
    • All are restocked daily

Lounge/Dining

The lounge room is compact but has everything that we need.

• Air conditioner
• TV with Foxtel
  • Though Foxtel is only limited channels, many times I would choose a program to watch and Foxtel would reply “your subscription does not include this channel”
• Two-and-a-half seater grey fabric couch
• Coffee table
• Small one-metre square white dining table
• Four grey vinyl dining seats

Main Bedroom

The first bedroom is quite compact, there is insufficient room to leave your suitcase out and walk around the bed.  A bit annoying as there also isn’t any shelving in the wardrobe or much hanging space.

• King size bed
  • The bed itself is quite comfortable but I find the pillows very high
• Two narrow wooden side tables with lamps
  • Too small to use for clothing
• Two bath towels and face washes
• Wardrobe containing
  • Coat hangers
  • Luggage rack
  • Safe
  • Ironing board and iron
    • All these items left limited space for clothing – some shelving would be really handy
• Air conditioner

Bedroom Two

Bedroom two is a similar size to the main bedroom but feels more spacious as it has only a queen bed, leaving more room to walk around.

• Queen size bed
• Two bath towels and face washes
• Two slightly larger side tables with lamps
  • These are big enough to get clothes into
• Wardrobe containing
  • Coat hangers
  • Luggage rack
  • Spare blankets
  • Spare pillows

Bathroom

Remember how I mentioned the master switches, well you must have the exhaust fan on to get hot water which does provide a nice hot shower.  The bathroom is compact but does the job.

• Large walk-in shower with glass shelf for shampoos etc.
• Vanity basin
• Toilet
• Very narrow mirrored cabinets with:
  • Hairdryer
  • Soap
  • Shower gel
  • Moisturiser
  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
    • Don’t expect your toiletry bag to fit in here
• One towel rail
• Bath mat
• Hand towel
• Laundry cupboard with washing machine and dryer

The Avani in Melbourne CBD offers serviced apartments.  Every day our apartment is cleaned, beds are made, fresh towels are provided and toiletries are topped up.

Top Trip Tip: This Avani hotel will accept deliveries for online orders of groceries

Hotel Facilities

The main reason I choose to stay at the Avani is the extra family-friendly facilities.  These are the amenities that are going to keep my 11-year-old entertained during downtime at the hotel.  But let me tell you it is not just all aged kids enjoying this equipment, there are loved-up couples, groups of people socialising, and others just catching up on their fitness regime.

The 9^th floor is where you’ll find all the extra accommodation amenities and facilities.  We pop down to the 9^th floor on several occasions.  The pool and spas are always popular and everything is always clean.

Pool and Spa

• Indoor heated 25m lap pool
• A shallow pool that spills into the lap pool
• Two very warm spas outside
• There are no pool towels available
• The large indoor area is filled with outdoor couches to relax
• Sun lounges are outside

Games Room

• Pool table
• Ping pong table
• All the equipment to play is in the games room

Gym

• Fully equipped gym with machine and free weights
• Yoga mats available
• Steam Room
• Sauna

BBQ’s

• Outside there are a number of BBQ’s
• Sinks at each BBQ
• Large dining tables for groups
• There is a separate large undercover entertaining BBQ space

WiFi

There is free WiFi of up to 1GB per apartment per day.  This would be about the only thing to complain about especially if you have kids and utilise online apps etc. to keep them entertained during downtime.

Top Trip Tip: If you plan on using the gym or pool pack a lightweight microfiber towel

Tips to Plan Your Stay at Avani Melbourne Central

Website

We booked our stay directly through the Avani website.  If you become a “Discovery Member” you will receive a discount.

Location

This self-catering serviced apartment is located within the Melbourne CBD on A’Beckett Street between Elizabeth and Swanston streets.

Nearby Facilities and Things to Do

When we first arrived at the Avani prior to check-in time reception provide us with a map of the CBD and pointed out lots of nearby attractions and amenities.

Being located on a small street between Elizabeth and Swanston streets means that you have easy access to the Melbourne trams – which are free to use within the city limits.  Though there are a lot of nearby facilities that are all within walking distance.

Refer to this interactive map to find the exact location of all these places

• Small Woolworths Metro around the corner
• Next door to the Woolworths Metro
• Large Woolworths supermarket at QV
• Chinatown
• Greek eateries on Lonsdale Road – our favourite is Stalactites
• Queen Victoria Markets
• State Library of Victoria
• Old Melbourne Gaol
• Melbourne City Baths
• Carlton Garden
  • Melbourne Museum
  • Royal Exhibition building
• Lygon Street – it is famous for its restaurants

What to Pack for a Trip to Melbourne

They say Melbourne has four seasons in one day and I have to say it’s almost true or at the very least one day to the next can be so vastly different.  During our week in Melbourne, temperatures varied from freezing cold maximum of 14⁰C with a biting wind to balmy 30⁰C sunny days.

This makes it quite difficult to pack into one suitcase.  Not to mention that Melbourne is also the fashion capital of Australia.  So when you are wondering about the city streets you want to feel reasonably smart, yet comfortable, as Melbourne is a great city to explore on foot.  So these are absolute musts to pack:

• Good walking shoes
  • We averaged 20 000 steps per day
• Smart warm jacket
• Think layers when packing tops
  • Our week in Melbourne started mild, became bitterly cold before the sun shone and was hot by the end of the week.
• Folding umbrella*
  • Handy for wet and sunny weather
• Hat
• Day bag to put your water, snacks, wallet, phone, camera
• Swimming costume if you want to use the indoor pool
  • Don’t forget a travel towel*
• And for the kids pack a few travel toys

More Melbourne Information

For more information on Melbourne:

• Check out the official Visit Melbourne tourism website
• Read our latest Melbourne articles:
  • Things to See in Melbourne on City Walks
  • Take an MCG tour
  • Things to Do in St Kilda
  • Experience the Great Ocean Road on a day tour
• Get a Melbourne and Victoria Australia travel guide*

To learn when we publish new articles on Melbourne Like us on Facebook or sign up to our e-newsletter.

The Verdict

I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to stay at the Avani Melbourne Central Residences.  We spent a week in Melbourne and the reception staff were constantly friendly and helpful all the way through to departure.  The location was perfect with so many facilities, trams and restaurants nearby.

Our short-stay apartment provided everything we needed, plus the extras of the kid-friendly pool and games room.  My only gripe would be the 1GB of daily data.   But if that’s all I’ve got to whinge about in this review then I have to say that this Melbourne holiday apartment was pretty well perfect for a family trip.

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• We paid our own costs.
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