Answering your 5Ws and 1H from CBD, Melbourne.

27 July 2018

Planning a travel itinerary can be quite tedious but interesting especially if it’s a first for you to that country. You’d try to squeeze as much into a day and find the best route to get you from one destination to the other. In this post, I’ll let you in on some of the places to visit and the right location to stay at if you are planning to do tourist-y things when you are in Central Business District (CBD) in Melbourne. 

Where to Stay?

Thankfully, I’ve had the privilege to experience staying in the city for a couple of nights and the suburbs as well and I’ve got you covered on some of the questions on what to do, how to get about and where to stay. I am so grateful that our hotel was within walking distance from everything when we stayed in the CBD! My friends and I decided to stay in the CBD for a couple of days to experience the hustle and bustle of Melbourne’s city center. The hotel that we stayed at was Jasper Hotel, Melbourne. 
The view while enjoying a cup of coffee at Jasper Kitchen

Jasper Hotel is a boutique hotel strategically located on Elizabeth Street within the heritage vicinity of Queen Victoria Market. Equipped with modern facilities which is perfect for both business and leisure, I don’t question Timeout Melbourne’s review of which Jasper Hotel is Top Three on its list of ‘The Best Boutique Hotels in Melbourne’. It’s recently upgraded, and refurbished hotel has an indoor courtyard filled with sunlight from the glass ceiling. If you are planning on a business trip for conferences and meetings, it can cater up to 640 delegates for conferences. And, of course, with their 4-star rating service, the hotel has amenities that ensures their guests are well taken care of with a 24-hour reception and concierge desk, free WiFi and complimentary access to the Melbourne City Baths and Gymnasium, just to name a few. However, something to note about the hotel is that because it is in the CBD, the hotel does not provide parking spaces. For those who are planning to drive in from other parts of Melbourne, you may want to park at the CBD Parking which offers 25% discount if you’re a guest at Jasper Hotel. The hotel does take good care of things don’t they! With such good service and hospitality, this boutique hotel does live up to it’s standards. 
Indoor Courtyard

There are different suites and room choices available to accommodate single, double and families with children. The picture below is a room good for families as there are one queen and one king sized beds with a view overlooking Queen Victoria Market.
Family Room

The room we stayed in was the Premium Courtyard Room. Since there were three of us, we had requested for an extra bed. The room in my opinion was a good size (since it was able to accommodate an extra bed) with a beautiful view outside the room. The indoor courtyard is perfect to sit and have tea or just enjoy the weather. It comes with a little area equipped with tea, coffee and hot chocolate making facilities and a mini fridge. What I absolutely loved about this room (and of which I think is pretty cool) was that it had a portable music player which was just what we needed because we love listening to music when we’re in the room.

Premium Courtyard Room
Room Toiletries

The Premium Courtyard Room comes with Portable Music Player

Where to go?

Staying at Jasper Hotel was a good decision because it is located within the Free Tram Zone. We had the advantage of starting our day in the CBD and working our way through and to places we wanted to explore. It has easy access to transport options such as trams and trains, shopping destinations, sporting and cultural facilities. Being in the precinct of a heritage building, Jasper Hotel is located just around the corner from Queen Victoria Market. Walking along the streets to Bourke Street Mall, Swanston Street, Flagstaff Garden, Melbourne University and RMIT. If you are away from home and are craving your local Asian food, be excited as there are various Asian cuisine restaurants in the CBD and especially around Jasper Hotel. You’ll find Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and even Indonesian cuisine just walking distance from the hotel. If you are in for other Asian favourites, Chinatown is just a tram stop and a walk away!

What to do? 

Activities and places to visit in Melbourne CBD are limitless, there are so many things and places to see that may not be enough for just a couple of days stay. But, here are some recommendations on what to do within and around the CBD when staying at Jasper Hotel, Melbourne.

Central Business District, Melbourne
Queen Victoria Market

Places to Visit

  • Queen Victoria Market
  • Queen Victoria Building
  • State Library of Victoria
  • Shrine of Remembrance
  • Hosier Lane Art Street
  • Flinders Lane

Places to Eat

  • Jasper Kitchen
  • St Churros
  • Three Crowns
  • Suda
  • Calia Coffee
  • Lygon Street

Places to Shop

  • Spencer Outlet Centre
  • Docklands
  • Bourke Street Mall
  • Melbourne Central

When to go to these places?

Planning your journey from Jasper Hotel using the https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/ is very handy. You can use this to estimate your traveling time so that your day is planned accordingly to what you want to do. You need to check on the timing for certain places such as Queen Victoria Market as they are only opened on specific days and time. The same applies to the State Library of Victoria. Although the library is open until late, the dome has it’s opening hours hence, it is best to plan your visit accordingly. For example, on the day that we went to the Shrine of Remembrance, we walked around the corner and took a tram towards East Brighton and got off at St Kilda Road and walked up towards the Shrine. After we were done, we took a slow walk back towards the hotel making a couple of stops along the way to the Hosier Lane Street Art and then stopped at St Churros for a cup of hot chocolate and churros.

Street Art Lane at Hosier Lane

Why you should visit these places?

The question is ‘Why not?’ Be a tourist for a day or just relax and have a cup of coffee, some of these places are worth visiting because of its’ history. If you are looking for beautiful places to shoot a photo, then the list above would be a start. Plus, if you are an Instagrammer, these places are totally Instagram worthy! Yes, you can thank me later :P

Royal Botanic Garden
State Library of Victoria

Who to rely on?

Last but not least based on my experience, it’s safe to say that in Melbourne, Google Maps would be your best bet for directions. Although Google Maps is not widely used here in Malaysia it is in Australia. So, if you are traveling alone, or for the first time in CBD Melbourne, navigating around the area would not be difficult. Google is very accurate in terms of timing of the trams and trains as well as the location of where you are headed to. Bear in mind that when you are in CBD, you do not need to take and UBER etc. Walking, taking the tram or the train would suffice. All you would need is a Myki card which you can use for train rides as well as tram rides that are out of the Free Tram Zone. Plan your journey here.

Special offer

On another note, with more exciting news to share, Jasper Hotel has currently having a promotion and there is a discount code to share with all of you! Yes, a 10% promotional code for all room types and rates “PROMO18” which is valid until the 31st of August 2018 to be used for your stay in Melbourne! Whether you are a tourist from another country or a local planning a little staycation away from home, feel free to use this code. All you need to do is head on over to Jasper Hotel’s Official Website to book directly or email via stay@jasperhotel.com.au and provide them with the code.

Alrighty, I hope this post was useful in terms of planning your itinerary when it comes to staying in Melbourne. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to drop me a line.

Til my next travel post,

Xx

37 comments

  1. Never been to Melbourne before. Maybe one day. I wanted to explore Melbourne and Mt Buller to play snow in August.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I've never been there. I'll check that out and keep it for my next trip!

      Delete
  2. Mak tak pernah pergi Melbourne lagi, tapi masih dalam wishlist ni. Tunggu anak-anak besar sikit nak kesana, sementara tu boleh menabung lebih sikit. boleh shopping ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, i had to save as well when I wanted to go! Hopefully one day you will be able to bring your kids!

      Delete
  3. I was looking for info on Melbourne early this year since my husband really want to go there for a short trip. But guess we have to skip the plan for awhile because I currently pregnant :D Anyway bookmarked this

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you should. This hotel is situated in the middle and easy access to food and transportation! Not forgetting shopping too! Anyways, congrats on you pregnancy <3

      Delete
  4. lucky you and Melbourne is one of my wishlist, good to know details on hotel there. Maybe one day my dream comes true..need to bring my daughter too..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I hope so too! She will love it for sure!

      Delete
  5. tak pernah lagi terfikir untuk ke Melbourne.Tapi bila dengar cerita pasal Melbourne ni,tertarik jugak dengan tempat² mereka cantik ni

    ReplyDelete
  6. Melbourne 😍 Boleh masuk wishlist nie. Lawa betul kat sana.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wahh bestnya dapat ke Melbourne..sis pernah ke sana sekali je..dah lupa dah macam mana tempat tu sebab lama sangat dah..yang sis ingat sis ada zoo, ke Queen Victoria Market beli jaket kulit kat sana. Then ke Mt Buller main snow....yang lain dah lupa dari ingatan..hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  8. macam best je Jasper Hotel ni..definitely, akan stay di sini kalau pergi ke Melbourne nanti..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wahhhh cantik dan selesanya bilik hotel ni, kalau tidur dekat siti pasti lena... Melbourne banyak tempat menarik, nak pergi juga satu hari nanti.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My next ozie destination will be Melbourne. Stil planning with the itinerary n considering how many days we should take a buzz there....still finding infos bout Mel..thanks for this informative infos

    ReplyDelete
  11. Never been to Melbourne before. But after reading your article make me wanna go there. wish to explore all attractions there. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  12. Never been to Melbourne before. I should go there one day with my family. And thank you for the recommendation of place that you visit you make it easy for me to plan the itinerary.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow!! Love your writing. Easy and comfortable. Your vacation looks interesting. All this program is tentative, I can follow your way. Nak jadual!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. There are a lot of benefits travelling, it will make us more independent and at the same time we have a lot of time to reflect how tiny we are and how great god is.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lama lagi nak sampai ke sini. Itu pun kalau berpeluang sampai. Hehe. Anak anak kecil nak bawa pergi jalan jauh ada banyak kekangan

    ReplyDelete
  16. Melbourne is beautiful and serene. I don't mind staying there forever as I love the ambiance and neighbourhood there.

    ReplyDelete
  17. melbourne mmg best.. tempt menarik..suatu hari nnt boleh la jejak kaki kesana..

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow! love it and thanks for the detail information. I kind of miss Melbourne now, wish to go back soon.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I was in Melbourne a month ago - a very beautiful city, I really want to go back. You may not believe me, but I was in all the places that you recommended for a mandatory visit.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello sir ,
    I am sr and i recently read your full Blog it filled with many useful informations, i want to tell

    you about a interesting website ,i think its going to be useful for your article developments please

    take a look Buy Google Reviews

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice post . Some really helpful information in there, Bookmarked. Nice to see your site. Thanks...cbd edibles

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great! It sounds good. Thanks for sharing.. cbd oil for sale

    ReplyDelete
  23. great post. Thanks for sharing.https://premiumchauffeurs.com.au/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hey, this day is too much good for me, since this time I am reading this enormous informative article here at my home. Thanks a lot for massive hard work. https://cbdtornado.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Cool stuff you have got and you keep update all of us. site

    ReplyDelete
  26. hi was just seeing if you minded a comment. i like your website and the thme you picked is super. I will be back. click here

    ReplyDelete