We had a comfortable stay here. Marred only by another resident deciding to have noisy get-togethers that started around 11pm-1am and finished between 3-4am on two of the six nights we stayed here. Cleary someone doesn't value the house rules. Disappointing as we had chosen to stay here primarily because all reviews raved about how quiet it was!
Excellent proximity to Acland St, Luna Park and the Palais Theatre.
The flat was clean and tidy and comfortable. A little dark but we were out most of the day so didn't worry us. We had a few little issues (all minor), we advised the host (who was very helpful) and these should be rectified for future guests.
Couple of tips:
TRANSPORT:
Skybus runs a direct route from the airport to St Kilda. A return ticket for a family of 4 cost us $74. Stop #2 (Carlisle St) is the closest stop to the flat - only 250m from the front door. Allow up to 75 mins for the trip but we travelled outside peak hours and the trip only took about 45-50 mins.
Get your Myki Explorer card packs ($15 for adult & $7.50 for kids) from the airport Skybus office. They come preloaded with enough credit for 1 full day's travel. Top them up easily at the 7-Eleven in Acland St. We used GooleMaps to workout the best trams / trains / busses to get to where we needed to be - it was easy and fool proof ;-)
FOOD:
Nearby Radio Mexico is EXCELLENT and they have half price classic margaritas every Monday night (good margaritas too). Get the roast chicken (comes in a soup) strip the chicken off, add the rice to bowl and OMG - yum.
We had 2 good cheap lunches at Pink Flake in Acland St - great fish, chips and salad for just $10 lunchtime special & next door Saint Killed a Burger do a great cheap burger lunch too.
OTHER:
The Palais Theatre is gorgeous, great seats (good viewing from pretty much every seat) and wonderful acoustics. If there's a show there that interests you - go. The wine was a bit crap to be honest so maybe have before & after show drinks instead.
Go see the penguins at the St Kilda Pier - but for god's sake - no flash photos, no torches (red lens or red cellophane over the light is OK), be quiet and move slowly - they often come up from behind and have to walk over the footpath to get home. They're super cute. Best time to see them is just AFTER sunset.