Christine and her family are awesome hosts, communication is really quick and nothing is any trouble. We spent Christmas in the apartment and the nice touches of decorations were appreciated - we made it homely.
The apartment is just as we expected in a lovely location one street from the hussle bustle of Acland Street. The deck out the back is lovely to have breakfast on and the two sitting areas (kitchen and lounge) are welcome when travelling as a family. The decking on the lower area was great for our children to run around on and play and skip and hang washing out.
The beach is a short walk with the St Kilda Baths. We spent a long time in this area and could have spent longer. Elwood beach is also walkable. The botanical gardens over the road are nice to nip to in the morning with a play area and nice green house.
The number 96 tram is at the end of the street and is so convenient to get into the city centre as it passes loads of good stuff for families (Albert park, Sealife centre, Melbourne Museum etc). It runs until midnight so good for Imax at the museum (Star Wars - top tip!). The whole of Melbourne is child friendly with loads to see and do, its lovely to come back to St Kilda after a day gadding about in the city. Our kids are 5 and 3 and we ran out of time to do everything.
Chadstone shopping mall is worth a visit if you like shopping - we needed to go to an Apple store so headed there - its huge and very modern with the Lego discovery centre to entertain the kids whilst the other parent shops. We used Uber to get there - which there always seemed to be loads of cars around St Kilda - so no more than 5 mins wait.
We hired a car for a few days and drove down the Mornington Peninsula (Sunny Boys at Mordiallic was great as its just been revamped), Philip Island to see the penguins and the Puffing Billy steam train were a hit. Christine provides a parking permit and there are loads of spaces so its very convenient.
Thanks for being brilliant Christine! Mike & Lara