If you want to travel Melbourne in style, you have a choice between various types of luxury accommodation. Among the many 5 star hotels around the CBD, the Crown Towers with their oversized guest rooms and spectacular views have set the benchmark for Melbourne’s luxury accommodation, but you do pay a price for this.

One refreshing alternative is the new Crown Metropol in the Docklands. It, at a lower price, provides many personal touches, stylish accommodation and also great views. It tends to attract the younger and hip travelers with money to spare.

However, for a truly intimate time in Melbourne, there are stylish boutique hotels like the Adelphi. This is in Flinders lane, the heart of Melbourne’s culture. You won’t get a view there, but classy minimalist 5 star design in a hip area. It will give you the most authentic and personal Melbourne experience.

A beauty spa in any of these hotels is a must if you want to travel Melbourne in luxury. High tea, which used to be a small meal served to the ladies of leisure in the afternoon, has become the thing to do in Melbourne. It is available at the Hopetown Tearooms in the Block Arcade, Hotel Windsor, the Sofitel and the Langham. It is a fancy afternoon tea with tasteful delights served on traditional three tiered silver stands.

Going shopping in Melbourne is as close as you can get to Paris in the Southern Hemisphere. Its Paris end, the east end of Collins Street, boosts international greats from Gucci, to Armani, Prada and many more. For something more individual, there are many designer fashion shops in the lanes around Little Collins Street, Flinders Lane and Howey Place, as well as in the Block and Royal Arcades between Collins and Burke Streets.

Chapel Street, South Yarra, is another Melbourne shopping icon. It tends to be the place where the rich and famous are seen. There are inspiring designer fashion and gift wear boutiques, as well as great places to eat.

If you want to travel Melbourne in total luxury, you can get around in a chauffeured limousine or chauffeured convertible Chevrolet. Sit back and relax in comfort without having to be hassled by traffic or crowds. Or really top it off and spoil yourself with a helicopter joy flight.

Helicopter flights are available as transfers to the Spring Carnival, scenic flights around Melbourne, the Bay and the great Ocean Road, or as part of a day playing Golf in the Hinterland, or a Yarra Valley wine tour. You can even get to the snow by helicopter.

Then there is Venice on the Yarra, a romantic Gondola cruise – with real Venice designed gondolas. You are greeted with champagne, sit back in opulent velvet seats and plush cushions, and snug up while you watch the city glide by.

To get out of the city there are the wineries on the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley, or a weekend away in Dalesford. Dalesford stands for good food, bath houses, spas, massages and luxury accommodation by the lake, which all add up to a great weekend away.

It takes time to get to know Melbourne. Grandeur and style is only one of the many faces of this rich multifaceted city. Its many expressions give you the opportunity to travel Melbourne in luxury.