MEDINA
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Medina hotels are an old standby for the Australian Traveller team. Their point of difference has always been size. Rather than a staying in a hotel room you are staying in an apartment like hotel room. All rooms have plenty of space, a discreet bedroom and living room, and usually a completely functional kitchen.
The properties will also have basic hotel type amenities, like the business centre, buffet breakfast and some very limited room service. Don’t expect to be able to order a club sandwich at 2am. Instead, expect to find that a café or restaurant nearby has a room service arrangement and their menu will most likely be in your in room binder.
But that’s not what you pay for. You pay so you can have one or two bedrooms for about the same price as a mid range hotel room. It’s fantastic for long stay accommodation or travelling with a family.
Some Medina properties are showing their age (at around 15 years old), and are in need of a refurb. Some are eye wateringly spectacular. There’s not a huge amount of rhyme nor reason, but this has been our experiences so far of Medina hotels in Australia. In total there are 21 Medina Properties in Australia, but we can only comment on the properties we have experienced.
Sydney – Medina Grand Harbourside
An old favourite and somewhere we send our friends. And that’s saying something. Located in the middle of the CBD, with some apartments having harbour views. They are our go to choice for anyone looking for a recommendation for a family or longer stay in the CBD. Given it’s harbourside location and great views, this place is a realtive bargain in Sydney terms.
Sydney – Medina Grand.
This is one of the older Medina properties, and it is starting to show its age. The location is handy if you are on a long stay and need to be in the southern part of the CBD, but that’s about it.
Sydney – Adina Sydney Crown Street
This Medina has been rebranded as “Adina”. It’s something to do with the company that owns Medina launching international versions of their Medina brand. In Germany (Their first market) it was called Adina. But don’t be fooled. It’s a Medina with a different logo. This particular hotel is great and has a huge amount of the “young and funky” bands, actors and creative types stay when on tour in Sydney. It’s in a great location in that it’s in the heart of the fashionable shopping district of Surry Hills. Making it close to the city and all that Sydney’s more exclusive eastern suburbs has to offer. Not being in the CBD makes it a little cheaper than it’s CBD Medina bretheren. If you can get a room here for around $190 a night you are doing well and have gotten yourself a bargain.
Not forgetting that downstairs is one of Sydney’s best dining strips with Bill Graingers Café, Bills, Mark Bests’ Marque Restaurnt (just book a reservation when you book accommodation – the waiting liost is appprox 2 months) and Kylie Kwong’s Billy Kwongs.
Melbourne – Medina Grand Melbourne
We just can’t give this one full marks. It feels like an abandoned office building converted into apartments. The apartments are large which is a plus, but the whole hotel doesn’t feel cohesive. Maybe it’s the corridors or lack of a view or the office block feeling to the design, it just doesn’t grab us.
Melbourne – Medina Executive Flinders Street
This Medina feel brighter and more airy than the Medina Grand Melbourne. The location is great for leisure travellers. It’s a short walk to the MCG, the Rod Laver Arena and Federation square. It’s a good property. Prices here are around $170 a night and that makes it very very good value. This is our Melbourne recommendation for anyone looking for plenty of space at a reasonable price.
Melbourne – Medina Executive St Kilda
At around $150 a night this is one of the biggest bargains in Melbourne. Like Dr Who’s Tardis you enter through an impossibly small reception area into a series of apartments that are charmingly laid out as cubes. The rooms are designed with an almost Japanese feel, with sliding partitions to separate the bedroom and living areas. But for a great base in St Kilda, it takes some beating. And if you can get it for less than $150 a night? Sleep well. You have gotten one of Melbourne’s biggest accommodation bargains.
