Parking, Access and Getting to 39 Tope St South Melbourne

Miss Kitty is at 39 Tope St, South Melbourne VIC 3205, one block east of Clarendon Street and about 1.5 km from Flinders Street Station. Drive in and park on the street at the door, or take a tram to Clarendon or Sturt Street and walk two minutes.

Where 39 Tope St actually sits

Tope Street is a short street in the quiet part of South Melbourne, running between Clarendon Street and Sturt Street behind the Arts Precinct. There is no strip of bars outside, no queue on the footpath and nobody standing around watching who goes in. For a lot of guests that is the whole reason they come here instead of somewhere on a main road.

To place it on your map: South Melbourne Market is about 800 metres west and Crown and the Southbank hotels are across the river. The CBD is close enough that plenty of people arrive straight from the office.

Driving here

Put 39 Tope St, South Melbourne into Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze. The address resolves properly on all three, so you never have to type a business name into your phone.

Peak hour is the only thing that moves those numbers. Between 4.30pm and 6.30pm the Kings Way and Montague Street approaches back up, and coming in along Clarendon Street from the south is usually faster.

Parking

There is street parking on Tope Street and the cross streets either side of it, which means most people park within a minute of the entrance and walk in without crossing a car park or a main road. Read the sign on the pole before you walk away. Restrictions in this part of South Melbourne are not uniform: some bays are metered through the day, others are one or two hour limits, and the evening changeover time is printed on the sign rather than being the same everywhere.

• Booked half an hour? Almost any bay will do — just check you are not in a permit-only zone.
• Staying an hour or more? Find an unmetered or longer-limit bay first. It is cheaper than the fine.
• Street full? Sturt Street and Coventry Street are one block away and it is a two-minute walk back.
• After about 7pm on a weeknight the area empties out and parking stops being an issue at all.

By tram

Three tram routes stop within a short walk of Tope Street.

• Kings Way — route 58. The York Street stop is about 100 metres from the door.
• Clarendon Street, to the west — route 12. Get off at the York Street stop and walk about 350 metres east.
• Sturt Street, one block east — route 1, running down past the Malthouse.
• From Flinders Street Station either option is roughly 10 to 15 minutes door to door.

South Melbourne is outside the Free Tram Zone, so touch on. It is a short enough ride that a lot of city guests do the trip on foot on the way back instead.

Rideshare and taxis

Uber, DiDi and taxis all set down at the door — enter the street address, not a business name, and the driver has no idea where you are headed. If you would rather not be dropped out front, set the destination to the corner of Coventry and Clarendon and walk the last 200 metres. Plenty of guests do exactly that.

Arriving

Doors are open 11am to 2am, seven days. You can walk in or call ahead on 0468 387 665 — the same number takes SMS, and there is no landline, so that is the only number you need. Reception speaks Mandarin and English.

1. Park, or get dropped off, and come to the door at 39 Tope St.
2. Reception takes you somewhere private before anything else happens. Nobody is discussed in a hallway.
3. You are told who is available right now and what the rates are — they start at $160 for 30 minutes.
4. Take your time deciding. If nobody suits, you are free to leave and nobody makes it awkward.

If you are standing on the kerb and not sure you have the right building, call the number and someone will talk you in. That happens most nights and nobody minds.

When to come

Late morning and early afternoon are the quietest part of the day: easy parking, no wait, whole roster to choose from. Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest, and that is the one time a call ahead saves you a trip. The roster turns over daily, so if someone caught your eye on the Today’s Girls page, check she is on before you drive over.

Getting here — FAQ