Melbourne street art. Photo / 123rf
To shortcut your way into the local side of a city, simply hand over your itinerary to a hotel concierge, writes Ash Jurberg.
Barek points to a doorway in AC/DC Lane. “That’s an original Banksy. Worth about $80,000. It’s the only one left in Melbourne.”
I stare at it. I have lived in Melbourne my entire life, walk these laneways regularly, yet never noticed it. If I miss this as a local, visitors will too.
It takes a tattooed concierge named Stevie to show me what I’ve been missing.
The plan is simple: we book a few nights at the Hyatt Centric downtown and hand control of the itinerary to the hotel concierge.
I have never used a concierge, whose job it is to recommend experiences to guests. Partly because I assumed they take commissions and steer guests toward tourist traps and partly because, as someone who travels a lot, asking for help feels like an admission of ignorance. There’s also the potential awkwardness. Concierge recommendations are free, but what if I don’t like the suggestion? Will I have to pretend to enjoy it?
Admittedly, Stevie doesn’t fit the traditional concierge picture. With a shaved head and face tattoos, the ex-barber looks like he’d be more comfortable in a laneway cafe than behind a hotel desk. When I ask him about kickbacks, he laughs. “I don’t get any,” he says. “I just recommend places I actually go to.”
When I check in, I receive a list of Melbourne recommendations. Walking tours, restaurants, cafes, galleries. All endorsed by Stevie. “These are what I advise every guest to see,” he says.
His first suggestion surprises me: Melbourne Street Tours, the only street art tour in Australia run by actual street artists. I book it immediately.
The next morning, 11 other tourists and I wander laneways with Barek, the tour guide and a working street artist himself. He explains the culture, shares stories about artists he knows, and points out pieces he loves.
The Banksy story fascinates me. In the early 2000s, Banksy created multiple rat stencils around Melbourne. Most have been destroyed or stolen. Barek points to a doorway where construction workers wiped out three of them. Above where they once stood: “Dream big.”
When he isn’t running tours, Barek paints alongside the people he talks about. He isn’t reading from a guidebook but speaking about a community he knows personally and his stories inspire a new appreciation for street artists.
Back at the hotel, I discover Stevie doesn’t just recommend tours or experiences, but runs them too, operating a free walking tour for guests every Saturday. I want to test if this concierge can walk the walk. Literally.
As we head out, I tell him to pretend I’m not from Melbourne, to give us the overview he’d give a first-time visitor. In return, I get a recommendation I know is top-notch: CODA Coffee. “It’s where I get my coffee every day,” he said. I trust people who drink coffee every day.
We start at the Yarra River, where he tells the story of John Batman and the city’s founding in 1835. “Did you know one of the proposed names was Batmania?” he asks.
I don’t. And now I’m quietly furious we’re not living in Batmania. That would be so cool.
We walk through Southbank, up Swanston St, and into back alleys. Stevie doesn’t just recite facts. On Collins Street, I head toward a public restroom I’ve used after countless nights out. As I walk in, Stevie calls out, “That is the world’s first female public toilet.”
I stop.
“Opened in 1902,” he continues. Melbourne was one of the richest cities in the world. Public conveniences were for men only. This restroom was a significant step for women’s freedom, allowing them to move through the city independently. I look at the entrance differently.
Nearby, Stevie points to an unmarked theatre. “That’s where they screened The Story of the Kelly Gang in 1906. The first ever feature-length movie,” he says. The building looks like any other. No plaque. No sign. How many people miss this?
Inside the Royal Arcade, we hear chimes, and Stevie prompts us to look up, something I’ve never done the many times I’ve walked through. Two seven-foot carved pine figures flank the ornate clock, their mechanical arms striking the bells. “Gog and Magog,” he says. “They’ve stood here since 1892, modelled on London’s figures and mixing medieval and biblical imagery.”
Over the next few days, Stevie’s recommendations prove consistent. The walking tours. A secret rooftop bar I’d never found. Each one came from somewhere he actually goes, not somewhere that pays for placement.
The walking tours stick with me because they showed how someone truly knows a city. Not from reading about it but by walking through it daily.
This is something ChatGPT can’t replicate. I test an AI itinerary, and it suggests a closed restaurant and an attraction an hour away. A concierge knows what’s open and what is worth visiting. Their knowledge comes from walking the city daily, not from algorithms or outdated data.
If you are planning a Melbourne trip, here’s what I’d suggest: find a Stevie. Hotel concierges aren’t selling anything except knowledge you won’t find elsewhere. Even in a city you think you already know.
Melbourne Street Tours | melbournestreettours.com
Three-hour tours from AU$79 pp, including drinks and nibbles.
Hyatt Centric Melbourne | hyatt.com
From AU$200 per night.
The writer stayed at Hyatt Centric Melbourne courtesy of the hotel.