Hotel Review: Shadow Play by Peppers, Southbank

When it comes to the age-old Sydney v Melbourne rivalry, I’ve always had my feet firmly fixed in Sydney’s camp. Being born and raised in Australia’s best city (sorry, Melburnians!) means that my loyalty has never wavered… until now.

What I’ve found is that where you lay your head at night can actually deeply impact the experience you have when you travel, because let me tell you – I’ve been to Melbourne at least 10 times, and I’ve never been quite so taken with it until my stay at Shadow Play by Peppers.

It probably sounds cheesy – okay, I know it does. But it’s true. Opened for the first time in April 2019, the hotel I’m branding Melbourne’s newest ‘edgy luxe’ hotel is still very much establishing itself – but you wouldn’t know it. It’s operating as though it’s as established and mysterious as one of the city’s famous hidden laneways. Okay, enough fan-girling; let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Details

Shadow Play by Peppers, Southbank
308-320 City Rd, Southbank VIC

The rooms

You’d be forgiven for thinking Shadow Play by Peppers was more of a serviced apartment than a hotel in layout if it wasn’t for the major giveaway: the beds were made every day! We had a kitchen, but not just the standard sink, kettle and mini fridge – oh no. This one had a full-sized fringe, around 10 cupboards, microwave, coffee machine, as well as incredible lounge room and hallway – with more storage. It was better than my own apartment; I could have stayed for six months.

The beds were also super comfortable, and my request for a cot for my five-month-old was met with a smile and a timely assembly. The curved windows showed an impressive view of the bustling city streets below, and while the bathrooms were also modern and roomy – the real winner was the addition of a winter garden. The enclosed balcony space was the perfect area for a pre-dinner vino, minus the winter Melbourne chill.

Shadow Play room — The apartment style rooms make for optimum luxe living

Comfort and design – what more could you want?

The restaurant

Edwin. Woah. If you’re on the hunt for proper Victorian cuisine (and I get it, Melbourne isn’t short of a good spot to eat), then you can’t go past Edwin Wine Bar & Cellar. Like the hotel it belongs to, it’s still establishing itself, but it won’t need to for long. The menu featured only the best Victorian produce, minus the oysters – they were from Tassie – but don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.

After going through the menu with our waiter, we settled on oysters drizzled with champagne melon and prosecco, burrata, zucchini flowers, kingfish dressed in passionfruit, charred cauliflower and slow-cooked melt-in-your-mouth lamb. It could well have been the most impressive meal I’ve devoured in at least a year – maybe even two.

The sommelier also presented us with an exclusive Victorian-focused wine list, and we sipped on what I can only describe as the finest riesling I’ve ever tasted. Then came the red… also ‘wow’! But I have to admit, by this point things were a little fuzzy. Smooth and delicious – but fuzzy.

The amenities

You might think Melbourne is no place for an outdoor pool, especially in winter. But it is at Shadow Play. Level nine features an outdoor lap pool heated to a comfortable swimming temperature, even in Melbourne’s infamous ‘four seasons in a day’. As long as you’re game enough to make the few steps from the pool to the sauna, it’s well worth going in for a dip. For those who aren’t, the state-of-the-art gym or sauna and steam room might be more your speed. They were certainly mine.

Level nine features an outdoor lap pool heated to a comfortable swimming temperature

The location and the staff

During our stay we visited The Crown, which was only a short seven-minute walk away. We even crossed the Yarra and headed into Bourke Street Mall. No need for public transport, everything you need is within a 20-minute walk; easy peasy.

If you didn’t take up the delicious buffet breakfast at Shadow Play, ST ALi South Melbourne is a five-minute stroll away. I know this, because as soon as I arrived at Shadow Play to check in, I was handed a list of staff picks in and out of the area, covering restaurants, shopping and cafes. It was the kind of welcome surprise that’s about 10,000 times more useful than a mint on your pillow.

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.