My husband and I stayed here for eight nights over the New Year period while our daughter was in a nearby hospital having surgery. At this expensive time of year, we found Birches great value for money, especially as their rates became cheaper the longer you stayed, and they offered free parking for us due to our referral from the hospital. The bed was quite good, but thank goodness their were only two of us staying, because the sofa beds would have been hell to sleep on. It was quite hot during our stay and in order to keep the room to a bearable temperature, we found that we needed to put the airconditioner on round the clock. The thing I was most bemused by was the tip jar left (not the Australian way -employers job to pay people properly) for the cleaner, who did not come over the weekend or on any of the public holidays (which meant for four out of our 8 nights) and on the morning when I came home from the hospital for a sleep, she did not come to the room afterwards, despite me seeing her on my way back and requesting that the room be done. I can recommend these apartments for those looking for an economical and convenient (close to MCG, shopping, hospitals, trams etc) place to stay. It was in a fairly quiet location, and despite a few quibbles, was a good choice for our needs.

Great location, big rooms, parking on site. As a family, we liked the big park with a fab playground one block away .. a lovely surprise in the middle of Melbourne.

All communication beforehand was friendly and informative. Tanya greeted us like family. We stayed in the townhouse and *loved* it!! Truly a home away from home. We loathe heading home with a suitcase of dirty clothes, so really appreciated the full laundry facilities. The kitchen had everything you could possibly want or need. Location was perfect for our needs because we were relying on public transport - trams on the main road and train station about 5 minutes walk. The photos of the townhouse do not do it justice.

We arrived and were greeted by very helpful and friendly staff. They had our room ready and gave us plenty of helpful advice regarding the area including but not limited to the shops, transport, and dinning.

The rooms are neat and tidy, the cleaner must work very hard, they do ask you if you would like to tip the cleaning staff, but it is totally optional and a very well written note will tell you this. We did because they were just so efficient and fast not like the usual hotel when you return to your room and have to wait for the cleaning staff, here they wait for you to leave and they are done before you return. Given that pets are allowed I don't know how they do it, our room was smell and fur free. Further the rooms are well decorated and homely, the couches are new and comfortable to sleep on as they fold out to be extra beds. The tv has foxtel channels and there is also a dvd player, you can hire dvd's from the front desk (very handy).

The front garden was really nice and there is a little area you can sit down a relax in the back. The car park sizes are reasonable unless you own a Hummer.

The tram stops approximately 1 minute (walk) from the apartments and doesn't take long to drop you off in the centre of Melbourne. The staff can call you a taxi or you can call and they were always very quick at attending the apartment.

Thank you for making our stay fantastic, I will definitely stay here again!!