St Kilda Central Apartment Hotel

I don’t usually write reviews, but this experience left me feeling I had to. We checked in for three nights, arriving at 5 pm, and a young man told us the room “had been trashed.” He said he was cleaning it himself on his own time as a favour. We went to a local hotel for dinner and came back at 7 pm. He insisted on showing us photos of the room, though I’m not sure why. It had been patched up and was pretty unpleasant: a filthy bathroom, no TV because the cable had been cut, no cups or glasses, stains on the walls and floor, curtains falling down, and a nasty smell. It was too late to find somewhere else, so we stayed the night and left in the morning. I asked for a refund for the two prepaid nights we didn’t use, but never heard back from the manager. Other reviews make it seem like they spend little on maintenance and don’t value customer service. I’d strongly advise people to stay away.

The rooms are comfortable and well priced, and I enjoyed the view, especially watching hot air balloons rise over the city early in the morning. Reception was welcoming and both check-in and check-out went smoothly. I did run into two problems. The extra fleece blanket was very dirty and clearly hadn’t been cleaned between guests. Also, the bathroom tap leaked onto the floor, so I had to use towels to keep the floor dry overnight.

We finally got into the room around 2:30-2:45, even though our check-in time was 2pm. We’d arrived at 11:30 and asked if an early room might be possible. The receptionist was friendly, but seemed completely unsure what was happening. First he said housekeeping would be done in 20 minutes, then kept asking us to wait another 15 minutes. By 1pm he mentioned a new housekeeping team. We sat in the foyer while the kids got restless. If an early check-in wasn’t possible, we could have gone to St Kilda beach and had lunch instead of waiting around. At 2pm he called housekeeping, who said they were bringing the key down. Someone left what I assumed was the key on the desk, but it sat there for another 15 minutes. When I asked the receptionist about it, he asked whether it had arrived. Housekeeping then told him it was right in front of him, and he handed it over. The room was dirty and poorly maintained. It was advertised with a phone, DVD player and cable channels, but none were there, and the TV had a dark lower half. We had only two towels for four people, and the promised daily room check didn’t happen. We left the used towels on the floor as instructed; they were still there when we returned from the city, so we had to ask reception for replacements. A very disappointing start to our Victorian holiday.

We couldn’t have asked for better. The apartment was clean, the furnishings were good quality, and the bed and bedding were comfortable. The rates were very competitive, and the cafes and places to eat are so close. The staff were extremely helpful too. I’d read some other reviews and wondered if they were even about the same apartments, so I wanted to share how it went for us. My husband and I will definitely stay here again when we visit family in Melbourne.