Melbourne is set to welcome Australia’s first dual-branded hotel, with the Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn brands announcing that they will open on a prominent site on the Bourke Street Mall.
Intercontinental Hotels Group announced this week that the $200 million mixed-use hotel development will be made up of the two separate brands.
With Hotel Indigo providing 181 rooms and Holiday Inn offering 272 rooms under their name, the hotel will feature a combined 453 rooms accompanied by food and beverage outlets, a gym, meeting spaces and a separate and distinguishable guest lobby and room experience for each brand.
IHG senior director of Australasian Development Abhijay Sandilya said the overall development will enjoy shared back-of-house services and facilities that create common-sense efficiencies.
“With such a large property and sought-after location, dual branding makes perfect sense,” Sandilya said.
Related reading: Paul Little’s Plans for a 30-Storey Melbourne Hotel
The dual-branded hotel will front onto Bourke Street Mall on one side and Little Collins St on the other.
IHG has also recently announced that it will bring the Holiday Inn brand to Melbourne’s north, with a 150-room hotel to open at 737 Sydney Road, Coburg – designed by architects Hachem.
Related reading: IHG’s Hotel Indigo Arrives in Sydney
In other hotel news, local investment company PE Capital also announced its intention to launch a new hotel – a $50 million Hyatt Place hotel that will rise eight-storeys and offer 200 rooms.
The City of Greater Dandenong Mayor Youhorn Chea said the investment was a boon for the area.
“The development is a demonstration of the confidence high-end operators and investors have in the strength of the local area and economy, which attracts shoppers and visitors to its sensational regional cuisine and Asian offerings,” he said.
The Hyatt Place hotel is expected to reach completion by August 2020 while IHG’s jointly-branded hotel is expected to finish by 2022, with plans lodged and now subject to development approval by the Melbourne authorities.
Melbourne has been ranked the World’s Most Liveable City for seven years in a row, with a strong tourism outlook that has underscored the development of more than 9000 new hotel rooms by 2025.
