Melbourne's hotels cluster in two central strips: the CBD grid north of the Yarra, and the St Kilda Road boulevard running south from the river. One is for walking to laneways and trams, the other for gardens and a quieter base.

Melbourne hotels by area: the short answer

For a first visit, stay in the CBD. The laneways, the Bourke Street shops and the river sit within a walk of each other, and a four-star room starts at A$81. St Kilda Road is the better base on a longer stay, with the Botanic Gardens and the Shrine outside and a tram into town; four-star rooms there start at A$104.

The A$23 between the two cheapest four-star rooms is small next to what a date or a room type changes, so pick the area for what is outside the door. The A$43 line on the CBD row is a three-star hotel with a shared kitchen, which makes the bottom of that column a different product from the rooms above it.

The two areas share an edge. The CBD is a grid that ends at the river, with the free tram zone covering the middle of it, and St Kilda Road starts where the grid stops and runs south past the gardens. Both sit on the same tram and train network, so the difference is what is outside the door, not how far you are from the rest of the city.

Every rate in this article is the lowest nightly price over the next seven days, per room.

Melbourne CBD hotels: laneways, Russell Street and the value end of the grid

Within the CBD picks, rates run from A$43 to A$126, and the spread comes from what you book rather than from which street you are on.

• **Yehs Hotel Melbourne CBD**, 600 Little Bourke St: four stars, 8.2 from 500+ reviews, from A$81. The lowest four-star rate in the CBD, and guests write about the location and how easily they get around from it. Book it as a base, not a destination.
• A pool and an apartment layout put **Pegasus Apart'Hotel** at 206 A'Beckett St on a different footing: 8.8 from 600+ reviews, from A$126, level with Space Hotel for the best score of the three and the only one where the pool is what guests tag. That is A$45 above the cheapest four-star, and it buys space and a kitchen as well as the water.
• **Space Hotel** at 380 Russell St is the A$43 end: three stars, 8.8 from 500+ reviews, with a shared kitchen the reviews keep returning to. What it is not is a four-star room, so check the room type before you assume the centre has become cheap.

St Kilda Road hotels: gardens, the Shrine and a quiet four-star row

St Kilda Road starts at the river and runs south past the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and the three hotels on the road are all four stars.

• **View Melbourne** at 562 St Kilda Rd: 8.8 from 100+ reviews, from A$104. The cheapest room on the road and the highest score of the three; guests tag the location and the rooms, and the Botanic Gardens sit at that end of the road.
• **Oaks Melbourne St Kilda Road Hotel** at 568 St Kilda Rd: 8.4 from 80+ reviews, from A$117. Six street numbers from View Melbourne, so the A$13 between them buys the same position and a different operator, not a different part of town.
• **The Kinson**, 452 St Kilda Rd: 8.4 from 100+ reviews, from A$140. The dearest of the three, the closest to the river end, and the one guests describe as having large rooms. On a week-long stay the extra floor space is what you pay for.

The trade on this road is easy to see. You get the gardens, the Shrine and a tram that runs straight up into the CBD, and you give up stepping out of the lobby into a lane full of restaurants. Breakfast and dinner take planning, not a stroll.

Melbourne hotels by room type: shared kitchen, plain room or apartment

The format you book moves the price more than the area does, and these four are not interchangeable.

The first two rows are A$38 apart, and the difference is less about quality than about what comes with the room: a shared kitchen at A$43 against a private room in a full hotel at A$81.

The boulevard row and the apartment row are the pair worth weighing against each other. A$126 buys kitchen space and a pool in the CBD, A$104 buys the same four-star standard with the gardens outside, and the A$22 between them is what a kitchen costs on this trip. The kitchen only pays off if you cook, and on a two-night stop it rarely does.

Melbourne hotels by budget: what A$50, A$100 and A$150 a night buy

Under A$50 there is one option among the six: Space Hotel at A$43, three stars with a shared kitchen, rated 8.8. It is the cheapest way to stay inside the grid, and the reviews suggest the kitchen is part of why the score holds up.

Around A$100 the choice widens. Yehs Hotel Melbourne CBD at A$81 and View Melbourne at A$104 are both four stars at 8.2 or better, one in the grid and one on the boulevard, and A$23 separates them. A ceiling of A$100 keeps you in the CBD; A$110 buys either.

At A$150 the room matters more than the area. Pegasus Apart'Hotel at A$126 adds a pool and a kitchen; The Kinson at A$140 adds floor space on St Kilda Road. Both sit under the ceiling, so the decision is whether the extra money goes to facilities or to size.

※ Room rates and booking conditions change with dates and room types. Confirm with the hotel before booking.