We book Aura ( through Booking.com that is) because we were tempted with its Flinders Street address, but it is a bit let down that we have to walk 3 to 4 blocks away to at least reach Elizabeth Street and walk further couple of blocks to reach Federation Square. If you have ample time to explore
Melbourne , perhaps it would a good choice but if you have young children with you, it would a task trying to convince them, 'owh, it's just a block more to go!' Plus, there's not much of choice for places to eat nearby which means you have to AGAIN walk a few blocks to find more choices. City Circle is not much of help here in the sense that it'll only start at 10am and mostly it is pack with people. The best thing to do in Melbourne is always by foot, therefore THAT would be the main reason am not recommending Aura to others especially family with young children, but it sure works if you don't mind so much all the walking eventhough I would rather do my walk more into Melbourne CBD.
Also, we were not 'impressed AT ALL' with the fact that the cleaners messed-up with our stuff (the apartment were not ready when we arrived, so instead of keeping it at another place, we thought that it'll be good to have all of our bags and stuff kept at one corner of the apartment). Our groceries bag went missing along with a carton of eggs,lettuce, a bottle of pepper and a water tumbler!! It bewildered us more that the fact that a loaf of bread and cheese pack from same bag were taken out and placed on the counter, which means 'somebody has rummaged our stuff''. The management did compensate us a little amount to the value of those missing items but the 'hurt' is there and the thing is WHY the cleaner need to 'clear JUST SELECTIVE some of it away'?
Don't expect any reception/registration counter, because there ain't any to begin with, so you have to get connected with the numbers that were link to your booking. Finding the place would be a tricky one for somebody who aren't familiar with Melbourne as it is located at the tip-end of Melbourne CBD and it's entrance is not directly fronting Flinders Street.
Aura the Apartment
We made the bookings 3 months ahead and we got ourselves a 2 room apartment at AUD950 for the whole 3 nights stay. The apartment is just a good size and the layout is very comfortably spacious for a family of 5, with view overlooking the Federation Square direction. Kitchenette facilities are great, complete with all the basic utensils, stove, microwave, washing machine etc all as advertise. The bathroom however is way too small, clean but really small, with no space to place your toiletries, and very tight space for the shower.
