Central Sky Lounge Apartment Hotel

We stayed three nights at the Central Sky Lounge Apartment Hotel. It is located near Queen Victoria Market and it is an easy walk to the city center. There is also easy access to trams (both on Elizabeth Str and Swanston Str). The are surrounding Queen Victoria market is a bit dodgy at night so the location is right on the edge of that so perhaps not the place to walk alone at night.
The rooms are not very large but still sufficient. Our room had a comfortable queen size bed, flat screen TV, fridge, iron, hair dryer, a/​c and kettle. Everything worked fine except for the a/​c that kept having a will of its own, making it cooler and cooler. The walls (or perhaps mostly the door) are pretty thin so we could hear everything from the hall, people talking, screaming etc. I am however a heavy sleeper so was not really a problem.
The bathroom was a bit narrow but still worked ok. The shower gel and shampoo provided have a slightly ‘cheap’ feel to them so I would recommend using your own. Housekeeping were a bit sloppy, they did clean but made annoying mistakes (such as leaving all the lights in the room on, one day turning the a/​c to 15 degrees, the next turning it of and pulling the blinds away resulting in hot room, removing towels and forgetting to give us new ones).
The overall impression is that they could do so much more if they just put in the little extra effort to make the experience more enjoyable.

I lived here for a few months, so I can’t speak to some of the guest experiences, but my apartment was set among the hotel rooms and had the exact same layout and amenities.
I’ve only been inside the studio-​type rooms, and although some aspects vary, they’re pretty similar in terms of layout, and quite spacious. Love the huge kitchen (although something larger than a bar fridge would be nice), especially the ultra quiet dishwasher. Even the bathroom is substantial. In fact, each studio is about the size of a small one bedroom, only open-​plan and practical. Ours was south facing and had a fantastic unobstructed view to Melbourne Central and a good chunk of the city skyline (and fireworks!), even being on a low floor.
Free WiFi in some of the common areas. It’s not unusual to see guests parked in the hallways with laptops and iPads as you won’t get good reception inside the rooms.
Sad to say room service only attend to guests’ rooms, but seeing them work every day showed me how efficient, friendly, and courteous they are on a regular basis. I could pretty much set my clock to their cleaning schedule. The front desk staff are fantastic and I never saw anyone make a scene in front of them, so I guess no major complaints.
The location itself is fantastic, right next to Queen Victoria Market and a very short walk to Melbourne Central and the free City Circle tram. The street is very well lit and, due to several hostels and a 24 hour McDonald’s in the vicinity, well populated at all times and very safe.
In all, one of the best places I’ve called home.