HotelChatter

The best thing about the Rendezvous is that it has a great location. It's on Flinders Street, which is the bottom axis of the grid of streets that form downtown Melbourne, and from here it's easy to walk to many places you'll want to go, plus the trams are right outside and the train station a quick stroll.

This year and last year, the Rendezvous Melbourne has been winning state and national awards as the best re-developed hotel around, and that's reflected in how pretty it looks.

It has the advantage of being in a heritage-listed building to start with, but they have decorated it tastefully and it looks pretty elegant.

Some tips on your hotel room? Ask for a room that's not directly on the Flinders Street side of the hotel. You would get a great view over the river (like this picture from room 828) but we think it's pretty noisy with all those trams rattling past.

Breakfast is reputed to be pretty good there so make sure you've got a package that includes it. Double rooms with breakfast go from A$229 (US$216) a night and that's probably a reasonable price for what you get--and in a really excellent location.

[Photo: echoco]