BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

Our flight from the Ayers Rock airport (by way of Alice Springs) landed in Melbourne mid-afternoon.  While we certainly expected the weather to be cooler than Uluru and the desert, I was a little surprised at how much cooler it was.  Knowing Melbourne was further south than Sydney I had expected to need a jacket but with the wind blowing, long sleeves felt good too after the sun went down.

We didn't have to wait long at all for our shuttle driver to arrive at baggage claim and after walking next door to the international terminal to collect more passengers we all hauled our luggage out to the curb for the trip to our various hotels.

It was on our drive from the airport that I saw the native wildlife for this trip (besides the ibises in Sydney). We were speeding along a multi-lane highway when I looked at a large grassy field on our left and first thought cows were grazing there.  But the ones atop the ridge looked odd for cows and when I looked closer I realized they were kangaroos (or maybe wallabies).  Unfortunately we zoomed by too quickly to get a snapshot.

We arrived at the Park Hyatt and were warmly greeted by the bellman who took charge of our large bags.  The front desk staff were uniformly young, attractive and quite helpful.  They confirmed we'd booked a club room and pointed out the restaurant to us where we were entitled to breakfast during our stay.

Entrance to the Park Hyatt Melbourne

While a club room's standard bedding is a king bed - and we'd added a roll-away - we'd asked if it was possible for the king to be made up as twins, knowing that many hotels can do this.  What we hadn't realized is that the nightstands are affixed to the wall, so while the staff met our request, the bedding configuration was a bit odd.

Normally a king bed, they made them up separately for us. We did
move the beds back to side-by side

Amused, we pushed the two twins back side-by-side.  That freed up floor space as well.  Our room also had a small sofa and an armchair around the coffee table facing the entertainment center.

Park Hyatt Melbourne Club Room Living Area

Off to one side was the roll-away bed.

The roll-away. We eventually moved the desk against
the outside wall to free up space in the middle of the room.

The bathroom was absolutely fantastic.  It stretched from the hallway entrance behind the wall you see in the photo above behind the roll-away, all the way to a second door beside the main bed.

The end of the room near the front door had shelving and a closet, with the toilet in a separate room with a pocket door. Stepping further down near the bed area were dual sinks on one side and the soaking tub and separate shower on the other side.  The glass dividers and shelving made the room feel even larger.  The wash basins were raised up a bit which was nice, since it meant we didn't have to bend over as far to wash our faces or brush our teeth.  And the two-tiered shelving was cool as there was more storage than there would appear at first glance.

Dual, elevated sinks. Wonderful!

The toiletries were the standard for Park Hyatts - Bergamote 22.

Park Hyatt Melbourne toiletries

Park Hyatt Melbourne soaking tub

Since we'd booked a club room, breakfast was included down in the Radii Restaurant.  We could have paid extra for the hot portion of the buffet but there was plenty of cereal, fruit, yogurt, cheese, cold cuts, etc. to keep us going for the day and our coffee, tea and juice were included too.

The Park Hyatt is a short walk away from the trolley lines and the bus lines.  The Grand Hyatt is a bit more in the center of things but was only a few blocks away.  But this was a special occasion and since the Park Hyatt is the number two hotel in the whole country (behind only the Park Hyatt Sydney), it seemed only right to stay there.

Next up, what's there to do in Melbourne?