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Where to Stay in Melbourne – Best Melbourne Boutique Hotels and Stylish Pubs. Hotel Urban, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Where to Stay in Melbourne – Best Melbourne Boutique Hotels and Stylish Pubs

The best Melbourne boutique hotels and pubs include everything from stylish art hotels themed around great Australian painters to renovated heritage pubs with chic contemporary rooms and buzzy bars and restaurants downstairs.

Where to stay in Melbourne depends on how you’re planning to spend your time, whether you’re going to base yourself in the heart of the city, the inner-city or by the beach. But wherever you stay, make sure it’s one of these stylish boutique hotels. Melbourne.

While we like a big luxury hotel occasionally, our preference for a stay of a couple of nights will always be a boutique hotel because of its individuality of style, its intimacy, the personal service, and the location, which tend to lean toward interesting inner-city suburbs and beachside spots like St. Kilda, rather than the city centre.

Where to stay in Melbourne should be based on what you’re planning to do. If museums, galleries and shopping are high on your agenda, then we love The Lyall in South Yarra or any of the Art Series hotels, our favourite of which is The Olsen.

Keen to be by the beach with good restaurants, cafes and bars on your doorstep? Then The Prince in St. Kilda is for you. Want easy access to the city as well as Melbourne’s interesting inner-city suburbs? Then check into the Middle Park. Here are our picks of the very best Melbourne boutique hotels.

Where to Stay in Melbourne – Best Melbourne Boutique Hotels and Stylish Pubs

The best Melbourne boutique hotels…

Art Series Hotel Olsen

We love the concept of the Art Series hotels. What’s not to love about a hotel that dedicates itself to a renowned Australian artist (in this case the legendary John Olsen), hangs their work on its walls, fills its rooms with beautiful coffee table books and biographies of the artist, offers art tours, and has the artist in to the hotel for functions. Olsen himself turned up for a party to open the hotel’s new restaurant during our one-night stay.

One of the best Melbourne boutique hotels, the Olsen is located in the same South Yarra neighbourhood as The Lyall, below. It has to be said that even if you’re not a fan of South Yarra (there are lots of fashion boutiques, cafés and bars, but only a handful of great restaurants), this is still a terrific area to stay because of its superb tram connections that will take you to St Kilda, Richmond, the city, and all the way to Brunswick East (and the wonderful Rumi).

One of our favourite spots in the area is Prahran Market (do the market tour) and the superb Market Lane cafe (get along to a coffee cupping), which are a ten-minute mosey away.

However, appreciate that the Art Series are big boutique hotels. While it’s stylish, spacious, and the facilities and amenities are fantastic, there are 229 rooms. Nevertheless, The Olsen still feels intimate and is certainly boutique in style.

Book Art Series The Olsen online with our booking partner Booking.com.

The Prince

One of the city’s original boutique hotels, The Prince still remains one of the best Melbourne boutique hotels. The Price has been around for as long as we’ve been going to Melbourne. In fact, we were guests here when our feature film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival way back in the early 1990s (eek!).

We’ve stayed here a few times since during our stays in Melbourne and we like this property a lot. The hotel is stylish, the location is superb, there’s a famed restaurant, Circa (recently renovated and with a new menu; see this review), and the rooms are spacious and comfortable. And they boast beautiful spa products.

The only thing we don’t like about the rooms – apart from the fact they are looking a little tired and need a bit of a spruce up (which is imminent) – is that their small mini-bars don’t allow you to store your own goodies. And what delicious stuff there is to bring home to try with Acland Street, St Kilda’s delicious delicatessens and pastry shops just a short stroll away. St Kilda Pier and The Esplanade are also minutes away.

The hotel was recently taken over by the Melbourne Pub Group, the restaurant and bar have been renovated and changed their focus, plus they have plans to renovate the rooms. We can’t wait to return in a year or so to see what they’ve done with the place.

Book The Prince online with our booking partner Booking.com.

Middle Park Hotel

The Middle Park Hotel is definitely another of the best Melbourne boutique hotels as far as we’re concerned, even if it’s not strictly a traditional boutique hotel. It’s a pub. And it’s a very atmospheric pub at that, with a terrific public bar serving up delicious counter meals and a bistro that is the place to be in Melbourne for Sunday lunch. Arrive early and order the roast special!

It’s part of a growing trend in Australia to transform pub rooms, which traditionally were cheap and old-fashioned, into chic new accommodation, and it’s a trend we’re loving. Yet the rooms upstairs feel as if they belong in a smart boutique hotel room rather than a pub.

This hotel is also owned by the Melbourne Pub Group, and probably exemplifies what they do best: great affordable and accessible food, stylish and casual surrounds, and warm, friendly staff. All that makes for a great stay – and again, we found the staff here super-helpful and lovely.

Sometimes pub rooms aren’t the best to recommend unless you’re doing an outback Aussie road trip, but in this case, we’d highly recommend these – they’re fitted out well, super-comfortable, and with a tram station across the road, a superb location halfway between the CBD and St Kilda, Port Melbourne close by, and South Melbourne Market just one tram stop away, this is a brilliant place to base yourself for a Melbourne stay.

Book Middle Park Hotel online with our booking partner Booking.com.

Jasper Hotel

This contemporary boutique hotel is an excellent choice of accommodation for foodies as it’s located adjacent to Melbourne’s superb Queen Victoria Market, and the mini-bar in the rooms has enough space for those planning to bring back a tray of oysters and bottle of sparkling white.

Book a room with a terrace balcony and you can sit outside in the warmer months and take in the buzz of the busy street below. A short stroll from a couple of Melbourne’s city-based universities, Elizabeth Street is lined with affordable Asian eateries, including several excellent Malaysian eateries that are filled with Asian students day and night.

The funky shops on Flinders Lane are an easy amble away, and The Junk Company, one of our favourite vintage shops in Melbourne is a few minutes walk from the hotel. The free City Circle tram also cruises by a couple of blocks from here, making getting around the city a cinch.

Rooms are spacious and has iPod docking stations, Wi-Fi and flat screen televisions, and the front desk staff are friendly. The hotel is also home to the Jasper Gallery, which shows rotating exhibitions of emerging artists.

Book Jasper Hotel online with our booking partner Booking.com.

The Lyall Hotel

The Lyall is easily one of the best Melbourne boutique hotels and it’s as popular with locals as it is visitors to the city. The lobby bar at this luxury hotel in South Yarra was just buzzing the day we arrived.

What we were to discover was that many of those people sipping cocktails or sitting on glasses of wine were locals. One local real estate agent apparently shows up almost every day with his laptop and uses the place as a second office. What’s not to love about a hotel that the locals treat like home?

The Lyall was another place we’d been trying to test out for years but never made it, so we were pleased our stars aligned this trip. Firstly, it has to be said that the staff here are the best in Melbourne. No argument. Nothing is too much trouble and they take pride in doing anything anytime for guests, from organising a helicopter ride or Yarra Valley wine tour to booking a massage.

The latter of course being a breeze to do with a superb spa on site, but you know what we mean. The spa is first-rate. Light and white, they use Sodashi products and offer a long list of treatments, including body polishes and wraps, hydrotherapy, and ‘rituals’ such as the Time Zone Recovery.

This is a family-owned hotel and the lovely owners Rowina and Peter Thomas are frequently around, when they’re not travelling themselves – and the fact that they’re keen travellers shows. This is an all-suites hotel, but in fact the suites are like compact apartments, with an abundance of space, super-comfortable furnishings and bedding, and a kitchen fitted out with all kinds of appliances and utensils.

They also offer complimentary Internet – something that we found in many boutique hotels, but rarely in the big luxury sleeps.

Book The Lyall Hotel And Spa online with our booking partner Booking.com.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Comments

  1. Chris says

    July 11, 2012 at 1:52 am

    I love the atmosphere and friendliness of a boutique hotel, especially if it’s a small family-run one. Plus I’ve always found that the places with the best, most unique decor are small places, hidden away where most tourists don’t find them!

  2. Lara Dunston says

    July 11, 2012 at 11:11 am

    So do we, Chris. And so true about many of them being a secret – I’d never heard of the Hatton Hotel before, for instance, but I’m so glad we discovered it. It’s a true hidden gem. Thanks for dropping by!

  3. Hannah says

    July 26, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    I agree with you on Hotel Urban – great spot, not stuck up and super comfy beds. The staff were super friendly and pointed me in the right direction for anything I needed – breakfast, lunch, wine and even a bar of chocolate! Hub the cafe does a great breakfast – try the home made crumpets – they were great. A lovely write up.

  4. Lara Dunston says

    September 29, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    Great to get your feedback, thanks! Great tips on the breakfast – will keep the crumpets in mind if we ever get back :)

  5. joon says

    June 20, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    I am planning a honeymoon in melbourne and wondering whether to stay at a boutique hotel or at a city centre hotel as the other post insists. Which one is usually less expensive? Or which one is more appropriate for honeymooners? Thanks!

  6. Lara Dunston says

    June 22, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    Thanks and glad you agree, Hannah. Pleased to hear you enjoyed the hotel. I think their cafe has been renovated and relaunched since we were there. Good to hear they do a great breakfast.

  7. Lara Dunston says

    May 14, 2014 at 11:22 am

    Hi Joon – unfortunately I’ve seen your question way too late for your honeymoon. I’m so sorry. I would have recommended a boutique hotel such as The Lyall if romance is the priority. However, if it’s your first time in Melbourne, a city centre stay is best. There, you won’t find a hotel more romantic than the Windsor, especially if you book a heritage room. However, the Metropole is also sexy.

  8. Bec Walsh says

    June 11, 2015 at 11:50 am

    A really useful article. I agree boutique hotels are a much more personable stay and have so much more character. I will definitely check these out for when I’m next in Melbourne. I also like Royce Hotel on St Kilda Road – It’s located right next to the Royal Botanical Gardens which is nice if you want a city stay without being in the thick of it.

  9. Lara Dunston says

    June 12, 2015 at 5:26 pm

    Hi Bec – pleased you agree! We’re returning to Melbourne soon, so thanks for the tip. We’ll check it out. And thanks for dropping by!

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About Grantourismo

Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

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It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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