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If you live in Australia or will be visiting in the near future lastminute.com.au have a great hotel deal for you. As was featured on the Getaway show this website is offering up to 75% off 4 and 5 star hotels.

The catch is that you don’t know exactly what hotel you are going to be staying at until you have made your booking. That is the concept behind the Secret Hotel deals.

For exactly how it works visit this page at lastminute.com.au

I have been over to the website and checked out some of the hotel deals on offer. It seems that the Gold Coast is very popular. The secret 5 star deluxe hotel is booked out until Thursday 26 April at a cost of $365. If you are happy with a 4.5 star 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of Surfers Paradise you can grab one for $170.

In Sydney you can get yourself a 5 star deluxe hotel with a view of Sydney Harbour for $270 or you may want a 5 star Meriton apartment from $99. That sounds like a bargain to me.

Lastminute.com.au are advertising a secret 5 star deal in Melbourne from $130. If you have romance and seduction on your mind you may be interested in a special offer that caters for you starting at $370.

If you like something different you should try the secret hotels offer.

If this is not your cup of tea and you are looking for good hotel deals I suggest you checkout the hotels combined website. This site provides a great free tool that allows you to search through multiple hotel booking systems with just one search. This is a great time saver as you do not have to jump from website to website looking for the lowest hotel price.

If anyone does try the secret hotel deal I would love to hear from you.

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In my previous posts I have written about things to do and places to go in and around Melbourne. This post I will cover getting from the airport and some of the accommodation options for your stay in Melbourne.

If you are flying into Melbourne on your cheap flight you can catch a bus, take a taxi, hire a car or go in style by taking a limo from Tullamarine airport into the city. The airport is 25 kms from the city. Depending on traffic it takes from 25 mins up to 45 mins to go to the city. Expect to pay around $40 Australian dollars for a taxi fare to the city. Skybus offers a shuttle bus service to the city from the airport and back. The adult one way ticket cost is $15 or $24 return. There are family options. See the Skybus website for more information. Five car rental companies are located on-site at Melbourne airport. They are Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty. Some limo companies you could try are AB Crown, Royal Melbourne Limos and Limo Scene.
In Melbourne there are plenty of accommodation options. You can stay in the city or in the Albert Park area or if you like the beach you could try St. Kilda or Brighton. There are also other options not far from the city in Parkville. No matter what style of accommodation you are looking for there should be something for you. Whether it is a serviced apartment, luxury city hotel, multi-bed hostel, bush camp or rural bed and breakfast you will find it in Melbourne.

If you are looking for luxury you could look no further than the sumptuous Crown Towers. Here you have access to the Crown Entertainment Complex with cinemas, shopping, indoor theme park and the world renowned Crown Casino. For the budget traveller there is the Victoria Hotel on Little Collins street. This is a favourite of mine having stayed there on many occasions. It is ideally located in the heart of the city and within walking distance from many Melbourne attractions.
The great thing about Melbourne is the tram service. You can get around easily on the tram network that criss crosses the city so no matter where you stay you have public transport nearby.

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In my previous post I covered some of the things you may consider when visiting Melbourne. In this post I will cover some of the days tours you could undertake while visiting Melbourne.

You can either hire a car or find a local travel company that runs tours to attractions easily accessed from Melbourne.

Phillip Island Nature Park 

Phillip Island Nature Park where you can go and see the fairy penguins. Phillip Island is a 90 minute drive east of Melbourne. Sunset is the time to experience the penguin parade. The park has recently added three exciting ways to view the penguins. The have the Penguins plus viewing platform, the Penguin Sky Box and the Ultimate Penguin Experience where an experienced ranger provides commentary while you view the penguins with night vision technology.

The Goldfields Region

This region is an easy drive north west of Melbourne. Here you will step back in time to discover a rich history. The discovery of gold in Victoria’s central region of 150 ago first triggered a gold rush. You can visit Sovereign Hill, a former gold mining site to get a taste of life in the 1850 and 1860s. Sovereign Hill is an outdoor museum that faithfully recreates the gold rush era. You will think you have used a time machine. The region also has many outstanding galleries and gardens where you can relax and take time out from a busy schedule.

More to follow.