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I stumbled upon this South Yarra find via Wotif...it's a lovely French inspired budget hotel in the midst of leafy South Yarra, Melbourne. Public Transport to CBD is usually very easy but right now the heavy duty upgrade of the Domain Tram interchange is slowing things down during the working week. The hotel has recently changed management ...so there have been a few changes that I don't like - no mini bar in the room, the breakfast costs have gone up & the online costs don't match the actual in house charges at checkout. Dinner is no longer available nor is there any room service...The MIllswyn Double rooms facing Millswyn Street remain my favourite ... quiet, well kitted out (thought the irons and iron boards really need an upgrade to appease the working / business traveller). Otherwise a lovely location and feel to the place and I would recommend to budget conscious travellers looking for a very different Melbourne Hotel experience...

It looked great on the Internet. Not so much in person... The fridge was strangely enough in the cupboard. Couldn't even find my room at first, the receptionist said that it was room number 87 but in fact it was 78, very disorganised. Internet is not free as said on internet. It's a long walk to restutaunts. I don't recommend it.

The location of the Albany motel is really good coz it's so near the city centre. I was sorry to read the bad reviews from some of the people here coz I booked the Albany for 2 weeks (in fact I'm typing this while I'm still here).The counter staff were very helpful. They were always helping to call for taxis, try to help us in finding information on tours and places we wanted to go and other stuff. Of course it's not a 5-6 star hotel but it has it's own character which is even nicer and it's in a very pleasant neighbourhood where you can smile and say hi to people jogging, walking their dogs or going to work in the morning while sitting outside the hotel having your breakfast at the alfresco area.There's fawkner park just across the road as well which is gorgeous. We got the triple original room which was very big for 3 people. We had a little jacuzzi tub and very good water heater (it's been a little cold since we got here and the hot water was very welcoming).Though there are a few cracks on the ceiling, it's not a big deal coz it doesn't affect the stay at all unless you're gonna be spending your whole holiday staring up at your room ceiling. The rooms are very well cleaned by room service every day and they always top up the organic shampoo, conditioners and shower gels.The pillows are so far the best I've slept on. (I dare say even better than the 5-6 star hotels I've stayed in). They're soft and bouncy and stay in shape through the night. I'm already 2 days away from the end of my stay and I have no complaints whatsoever about this place. I'd definitly recommend it to anyone else (unless you need alot of 24hr room service and stuff like that)... And I would definitly come back here and stay again coz of its value and location.

Hotel is quite run-down (though recent change of management may remedy this with time) and noise can be an issue. The bed was super comfy, although the doona was rather warmer than necessary. However, we were happy to stay at this hotel for its price and location - close to the Botanic Gardens, several very good cafes, nearly all the St Kilda Rd trams - and, just as important, free (if limited) carparking.

We have stayed here before and always had a pleasant stay. We only booked a basic room this time as we were only going to be there for a short time.It was basic but it was clean ,beautiful comfortable bed, great hot shower. Such a great location.