Melbourne: Major Magazine Profiles, Details, etc.

From Travel + Leisure magazine, May 2013, they have this headline: "48 Hours in Melbourne, Australia" with these story highlights: " 'It’s all about the hidden and the hip.' That’s how my Australian food critic friend describes Melbourne, and it certainly seems true: in this cultural wonderland, you can ride the public tramway next to longtime resident Geoffrey Rush, absorbed in his latest script; stumble across young street artists tagging paint-spattered alleys; and eat some of the finest har gow dumplings outside of Guangzhou. Melbourne’s two must-visit neighborhoods are a study in contrasting styles. The Central Business District, or CBD, has the highest concentration of major galleries, art museums, and Victorian architecture; edgier Fitzroy, a low-rise precinct a mile to the north, is where hipsters who love cold-brew coffee and surf shops tend to gravitate. "

There is a link off of this current article that goes to what they call the . . . Best Hotels in Australia. It is from their May 2012 T + L edition. They have three Melbourne hotels in this top ten. From Sidney, they have four among the national top ten hotels with some of these details/highlights:

No. 4 InterContinental, Sydney, Australia: Just south of Sydney Harbour, the InterContinental hotel is adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and only a 10-minute walk from the Opera House. Rising from the sandstone façade of the 1851 Treasury Building, the hotel houses a total of 509 rooms and 28 suites, each decorated in warm neutral shades with deep purple accents. Many rooms have built-in window seats with panoramic views of the harbor, although the most impressive vantage point is the rooftop club lounge.

No. 5 Park Hyatt, Sydney, Australia: Park Hyatt Sydney offers a prime location, directly across the harbor from the Opera House and a walkway’s width from the water. Top-floor suites and redesigned rooms are all part of the head-to-toe renovation of this landmark waterfront, which reopened in February 2012. Opera King rooms feature classic 20th-century furniture (such as Eames) and look out on the Opera House.

No. 6 Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney: 34 floors of polished, updated rooms and public spaces, plus the city’s largest outdoor pool and rooms with panoramas of both the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Wednesday through Saturday nights, live jazz performers play in the cozy hotel bar.

No. 7 Sydney Harbour Marriott at Circular Quay: Glass-and-concrete skyscraper featuring a grand three-floor lobby, along the harbor.

No. 8 Westin, Sydney: Former post office building with skyscraper annex in a central downtown location. Fitness buffs will love the workout rooms for their state-of-the-art exercise equipment.

More details for all of the top ten hotels in Australia at:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-hotels-in-australia

From the May 2013 edition of Conde Nast Traveler that just arrived yesterday at our home, they have a page feature with this headline: "the Melbourne Ultimatum" with this sub-head: "The pleasure dome of Sidney has long been Australia's Shhangri-La. But Melbourne is now surging ahead as Australia's Capital of Cool." The text of this article is not yet up on their website today, but it runs from pages 138 to 149 with lots and lots of details, pictures and interesting information on Australia's (depending on your view and needs) either number one or two city. In the coming days, you can check for this article at:

http://www.cntraveler.com/magazine

to see if the full text is up and posted on their magazine website.

This in-depth Conde Nast Traveler profile has lots of interesting insights and contrast between Sidney and Melbourne, plus other great cities in the world. For us in getting ready for our first Australia visit, there is much of interest and value contained in this reporting and analysis. We will only get to see the Melbourne airport as we fly from Cairns to Adelaide, but it looks like this is a city that needs to be on our future to-do list.

Full Travel + Leisure story noted at the top on Melbourne at:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/forty-eight-hours-in-melbourne-australia

Conde Nast Traveler has this link for added info, profile, etc., on Sydney at:

http://www.cntraveler.com/cities/sydney

Plus this good link and story at:

http://www.cntraveler.com/features/2008/05/Sydney-s-Edge

that has among its comments at Sydney and its harbor: "The grandeur of the narrow entrance, through the Heads to Sydney's sheltered water—the continent's ancient sandstone bastions rising steeply out of the water, pounded by cobalt ocean swells—can take your breath away as you sail in from the Pacific. Inside, though, all is quiet, subtle, complex. The harbor is a vast and deep horizontal inlet on a vertical coast, fed by two rivers. Looking north or south, you can see trees, hills, beaches, and houses quite clearly from the other side, and the closeness creates a sense of intimacy. And each side of this deepwater chasm is complicated by countless little bays and inlets and beaches of its own. The long interlocking fingers of land and water that compose the harbor make Sydney a difficult city to navigate on land, even with the bridges and tunnels. The water's edge is never far off, and everywhere on the water there are small boats."

Good above background for why and how the Sydney harbor is different from many other more commercial harbors in the world and why it is rated as so scenic and beautiful.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 127,810 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Terry

We spent 4 days in Mebourne and seven days in Sydney this past March.

I concur with the statement that Melbourne being more artsy. Many museums. We stayed in the Marriott in CBD which was very convenient. YOu can take a free tram that gets you to most of the areas. Melbourne has broadway type shows. We missed it, but Angela landsberry and James Earl Jones were doing Driving Miss Daisy during fall Season. Plus there was host of others. the Main Melbourne Museum is as good as any European or US museum plus it has the most fabulous collection of artifacts from all of the Chinese Dynasties. PS we also did the Great Ocean Road.

With regard to the Sydney Marriott the six days at the hotel were super. I can see why it rated high. Convenient, very friendly staff and the best concierge service we ever encountered. Circular Quay is a hub for buses, ferries and the train service. Plus the Solstice ships dock there. For full disclosure there are other close by hotels, some higher, some lower.

If you have time to kill, take a bus to the City Market (Tues- Sun) IN the basement is a market where the vendors sell all of the same souvenirs for 1/3 of the street/ tourist trap price.

Terry, thanks for sharing this.

Keith

Terry

 

We spent 4 days in Mebourne and seven days in Sydney this past March.

 

I concur with the statement that Melbourne being more artsy. Many museums. We stayed in the Marriott in CBD which was very convenient. YOu can take a free tram that gets you to most of the areas. Melbourne has broadway type shows. We missed it, but Angela landsberry and James Earl Jones were doing Driving Miss Daisy during fall Season. Plus there was host of others. the Main Melbourne Museum is as good as any European or US museum plus it has the most fabulous collection of artifacts from all of the Chinese Dynasties. PS we also did the Great Ocean Road.

 

With regard to the Sydney Marriott the six days at the hotel were super. I can see why it rated high. Convenient, very friendly staff and the best concierge service we ever encountered. Circular Quay is a hub for buses, ferries and the train service. Plus the Solstice ships dock there. For full disclosure there are other close by hotels, some higher, some lower.

 

If you have time to kill, take a bus to the City Market (Tues- Sun) IN the basement is a market where the vendors sell all of the same souvenirs for 1/3 of the street/ tourist trap price.

For the city market do you mean Paddy's market or the one in "the Rocks" area

Terry: We spent 4 days in Mebourne and seven days in Sydney this past March. I concur with the statement that Melbourne being more artsy. Many museums. We stayed in the Marriott in CBD which was very convenient. YOu can take a free tram that gets you to most of the areas. Melbourne has broadway type shows. We missed it, but Angela landsberry and James Earl Jones were doing Driving Miss Daisy during fall Season. Plus there was host of others. the Main Melbourne Museum is as good as any European or US museum plus it has the most fabulous collection of artifacts from all of the Chinese Dynasties. PS we also did the Great Ocean Road. With regard to the Sydney Marriott the six days at the hotel were super. I can see why it rated high. Convenient, very friendly staff and the best concierge service we ever encountered. Circular Quay is a hub for buses, ferries and the train service. Plus the Solstice ships dock there. For full disclosure there are other close by hotels, some higher, some lower. If you have time to kill, take a bus to the City Market (Tues- Sun) IN the basement is a market where the vendors sell all of the same souvenirs for 1/3 of the street/ tourist trap price.

Appreciate so much these added tips and ideas on Melbourne. Will share these on our roll call. Several on our cruise are doing Melbourne either before or after our Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014 cruise on the Solstice.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 5,931 views for this shorter version of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

It might be Market City. It's one block west of the corner of George St and Hay St. It's intimidating with all the stalls, but worth it. Most four hundred numbered buses pass on George.