Gordon House Apartments

The apartment itself was a solid stay for the price, with comfortable beds, a well-equipped kitchen, plenty of wardrobe space, washer and dryer, smart TV, big couch, good lighting and excellent water pressure. We stayed in the lower ground floor '2 Bedroom Premium Apartment'. The huge spa bath was a surprise, though it doesn't work and has been decommissioned. There were few windows, including one between the lounge and bedroom, which really should have a blind or curtain. Airflow was poor, but opening the patio door or turning up the AC helped. The patio is shared beside a neighbouring apartment's bedroom window, which felt awkward, so we barely used it. The building was a big part of why I booked. Gordon House is a striking Mediterranean urban oasis on the busy east side of the CBD, with glass roofs, glass elevators and vaulted glass ceilings. It deserves five stars for its design. We arrived early and could leave our bags at the Cafe inside, which had great coffee; they brought our bags up to the room, a nice touch. Self check-in was a little clunky, but manageable by following the email and SMS instructions. They responded quickly by email, but never answered when I called, which was poor. We initially got a digital key on only one phone and had to ask reception to send separate keys to all four members of our booking. Four adults should get four keys. The pool looks stunning, but wasn't practical when we visited on a sunny 27-degree October day. Mosquitoes had got there first, and visible mosquito spawn put us off swimming. It was still cleaner than St Kilda, and hopefully better in summer. A great location and plenty of features, though service brings it down a bit. For a low-cost operation, we were satisfied and would stay again.