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Finding a car park in Melbourne's CBD can feel like an extreme sport, but a new addition to Collins Street is aimed at making the ordeal a little easier – and a whole lot more glamorous. This week, Collins Street became home to Australia's first precinct-wide valet parking service, giving anyone visiting the area access to all-day valet parking. Yep, you can now hand over your keys and let someone else take on the challenge of city parking.
Unlike traditional valet services, which are usually reserved for hotel guests or restaurant diners, this one is open to everyone. Wondering how it works? Pull up to the designated valet bays outside Novotel Melbourne on Collins (270 Collins Street), hand over your keys and your car will be securely parked off-site before being returned to the same spot when you're ready to head home. The service operates seven days a week and costs a flat $80 per day.
The Collins Street Precinct Group says the trial is all about making Melbourne's top-tier shopping and dining strip easier to visit. Rather than endlessly circling city blocks, racing back to top up a parking meter or trekking across the CBD after dark, you can park once and spend more time exploring everything the area has to offer.
If the trial proves successful, the valet service could eventually expand along Collins Street, with multiple drop-off and pick-up points stretching from the Paris End all the way to Docklands.
The initiative forms part of the Collins Street Precinct Group's five-year strategy to improve access to the precinct and has been supported through the City of Melbourne's Voluntary Co-investment Pilot, which encourages partnerships between businesses and the council to attract more visitors into the CBD.
According to Collins Street Precinct Group president Luke Harris, the goal is to make the precinct “safer, more accessible and easier to experience” by removing one of the biggest pain points of driving into the city.
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