Overview
Melbourne's winter gets a particularly bad rap, but it doesn't have to be all gloom, doom and nights spent hibernating on the couch. Between new, free illuminated festivals and after-dark celebrations of fire, mid-week food festivals and bars with fireplaces, there are plenty of ways to embrace the chilly season in style. Adding to Melbourne's cosy winter calendar is this collection of bookable private igloos, popping up once again at bars and pubs across town until the end of winter.
Making their home at three Australian Venue Co haunts across the cooler months, the Winter Igloo Gardens feature a series of translucent domes, with each pod decked out like a dreamy winter wonderland. With space for up to eight diners (depending on igloo sizing), they're kitted out with snuggly furnishings and twinkling fairy lights, offering a cosy private space for a romantic winter date or that group catch-up over dinner and drinks.
Menus and packages vary between the three Igloo Gardens, though whichever you choose, all food and drink orders can be pre-paid at the time of booking, so you can avoid pesky trips to the bar and stay happily ensconced in your private winter cocoon.
So where can you find these winter oases, you ask? A batch of igloos has already landed in Footscray at the Station Hotel, where they're available to book for two hours at a time for groups of two to six. Here, you can settle in over a $80 three-course feed — think, wagyu tartare with truffle and black garlic mayo, and a porterhouse with lashings of bearnaise — matched with a welcome drink on arrival and sticky date pudding for dessert.
Over in the CBD, Wharf Hotel is joining the igloo party, with its pods for two to eight guests boasting views across the river. This one's ideal for snackers and grazers — you can order a loaded grazing board platter, one main and team it with the likes of mulled wine or a couple of espresso martinis, for $79 per person.
Finally, for the first time ever, a garden of winter igloos will land in Sunbury, in a date-friendly, snow-coated courtyard at the Ball Court Hotel. Serving a three-course, shared-style menu, $39 will get you a range of entrees including beef sliders, mac and cheese croquettes and calamari. Mains include loaded fries and a pizza of choice, with petit fours to finish.
Find the Winter Igloo Gardens at the Station Hotel in Footscray, the Wharf Hotel in the CBD, and the Ball Court Hotel in Sunbury. For further details and to book, see individual venue websites.