Laneways by Ovolo

Chrissy Amphlett's school uniform hangs on the corner of Laneways by Ovolo, painted on a red wall, coat hanger and all, with her two dogs at its feet. The lane beside it was given her name after her death: it runs behind the Princess Theatre, where she played Judy Garland in The Boy From Oz, and the old Palace, where the Divinyls played. The hotel is a 1980s block at the top of Little Bourke Street, and Luchetti Krelle's 2023 refit took the decade at its word, borrowing from Memphis, the Italian design collective of the time. Three yellow half-moons stand out from a front of grey render, over the doors and the window between them. Upstairs the walls do the decorating: an arch of terracotta paint behind a bed, a stripe of ochre at the ceiling, mushroom lamps on round white bedside towers. A suite's sitting room has a blue corner sofa on a navy and white herringbone rug, and rust curtains across a window that runs floor to ceiling.

Recommended for a theatre weekend, for anyone who would rather spend on dinner than on the room. Her Majesty's Theatre is 200 metres away on foot, Fitzroy Gardens 250 and Chinatown 400, with the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building 700 metres off. Booked direct, the rate includes breakfast and the first round at the hotel's daily Apero Hour. Amphlett House, the pub beside the front door, cooks pub classics from Victorian produce under Ian Curley, and later the Honesty Bar in the lobby keeps bottled cocktails, wine and Champagne and leaves the sums to the guest. Two couples sharing should take the Memphis Terrace Suite, with two bedrooms and a terrace of its own. Dogs are welcome, and two are already on the wall outside.