City overview: 9,000 new rooms coming up for Melbourne [Infographic]
Melbourne’s hotel market is on the rise, according to the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database, with exciting projects in the works from Shangri-La Group, Marriott International and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.
There will be 41 new hotels with a total of 9,287 rooms opening in Melbourne over the next few years, our research shows. We learn more about the Australian city’s development pipeline and take a closer look at some intriguing hotels that are well worth adding to your watchlist.
A steady stream of openings
Melbourne can expect to welcome a steady flow of new hotel openings in the near future.
For the remainder of 2020, 11 launches with 2,115 keys are scheduled, of which five are already in the pre-opening phase. Another 11 properties with 2,288 rooms are underway for 2021, and 13 are slated to go live in 2022, bringing 3,538 additional keys. As of now, six more projects are in the works for 2023 and beyond, but more are likely to be added as time goes by.
Of the 41 planned openings, 24 are in the four-star category, and the remaining 17 are five-star projects.
Top three brands expanding in Melbourne
Our researchers report that Melbourne’s three fastest-growing hotel brands will each open two new hotels apiece.
Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts just edges ahead in terms of number of keys, though, with its schemes bringing 479 rooms into play. Meanwhile, Hotel Indigo’s properties will have 378 keys, and Adina Apartment & Hotels’ projects will introduce 312 more rooms.
Noteworthy hotel projects in Melbourne
The largest project in our database for the city is the 500-room Shangri-La Hotel Melbourne CBD, which will be part of the new Sapphire By The Gardens mixed-use project. This two-tower development will house 300 luxury apartments in its 60-storey eastern structure while the hotel will be in the 62-storey western structure, overlooking the Unesco World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building and the surrounding Carlton Gardens. Developers S P Setia and the construction company Multiplex are planning to open in Q2 2022.
Another head-turner is Mantra M-City; it will launch in late 2020 and offer guests 250 rooms, conference and meeting facilities, a restaurant and bar, and onsite parking. Adjacent to the hotel tower, a further 180 serviced studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will also be operated by Mantra Group. Located on the corner of Princess Highway and Blackburn Road, the development is the largest ever undertaken in the city and includes residential units, a hotel and serviced apartments as well as retail, entertainment and commercial facilities within the education and medical precincts of the Monash municipality.
Marriott Hotel Docklands Harbour Town, meanwhile, consists of two towers connected by a level of vertical greenery that is meant to provide some privacy. Launching in late 2020, the 200-room property will boast a 28-metre infinity-edge swimming pool with 200-degree views over the city on the 15th floor. This project is led by Melbourne-based Urban Develop and Capital Alliance Investment Group.
Finally, and scheduled for late 2023, Mandarin Oriental Melbourne promises to be a stunning new addition to the city’s luxury hotel inventory. As well as boasting 196 guest rooms, the group will also manage 148 Residences at Mandarin Oriental on the tower’s upper floors, which will provide some of the most luxurious private homes in the city. The property will feature an all-day dining restaurant and a bar complete with landscaped roof terrace, as well as meeting spaces, an executive club lounge and a wellness area incorporating a spa, fitness centre and indoor swimming pool.
Update 18.08.20: Since publishing this article, our researchers have spoken to a member of the Mandarin Oriental Melbourne development team who tells us that the project has been temporarily put on hold (rather than cancelled as certain media reports suggest) due to the pandemic, so we’ve updated the database accordingly.
