We stayed in the Lawson Grove 2, third floor apartment for two months and enjoyed tremendously. Lawson Grove is a very special community and the coffee shop on the first floor is “the heart” of it. There you can have breakfast or lunch, read the morning papers , chat with friend or a neighbour, or simply get in early to get fresh hot loaf of bread, milk, eggs, morning papers etc. to make your own breakfast at home. It is one of the hidden secrets of Melbourne. And if you do not believe me, look in Stephens Crafti´s book “Melbourne Secrets: Cusine, Culture, Fashion, Interiors” (The Image Publishing Group Pty Ltd, 2015, page 212-213).
Bronwyn is more than a landlord, she is a friend! We bought two bikes on Gum Tree for 200 dollars and used them to bike all over Melbourne. It takes only 10-15 minutes along the beautiful bike-trail along the Yarra river, to the heart of the city. There are very nice bike trails from the South Bank, to the beach in St. Kilda and even further upstream and across the Yarra with the Punt Ferry and then the trail continues down to Willamsburg. And if that is too much, you can just hop on the train back home. You can do the same thing down from St. Kilda all the way to Brighton- and Sandringham- beaches and take the train back home to the South Yarra Station…... and so on.
The art deco apartment is wonderful, tastefully decorated with windows in three directions, and because of that abundant air flow and the Wi-Fi is good. The Botanic Gardens are within 15 minutes’ walk and 5 minutes´ bike ride. And they are not only one of the most impressive gardens in the world, - there is an outdoors cinema there throughout the summer every night except Monday nights.
We hope you will enjoy your stay as well as we did.