United Places Botanic Gardens

Think of it as a luxury boutique hotel for the apartment-sharing era. Behind the understated name of United Places is a first-time hotelier and an all-star team of architects, designers, artists and other creatives, and the result is one of the most highly accomplished debuts we’ve ever seen. The setting, on the southern edge of the Royal Botanical Gardens, is the best of two worlds: all around is the hip neighborhood of South Yarra, while straight ahead is a pastoral scene that’s unusual for the heart of this city. And the suites themselves — just 12 of them — are as stylish and as luxe as can be.

The style, as you can see, is highly refined and ultra-contemporary, and the luxury of the suites, with their 4K Netflix-enabled televisions and Le Labo bath products in their rain showers, is matched by friendly and professional service. There’s a restaurant, Matilda, which specializes in wood-fired offerings, and is a hit with locals as well as guests. United Places is a slice of a particularly desirable life in Melbourne — if you don’t need grand-hotel trappings like a vast and imposing lobby or a bevy of spa offerings, then it’s hard to do much better than this.