Melbourne’s hotel sector has delivered a November performance for the record books, powered by a relentless calendar of blockbuster sporting and entertainment events that kept rooms full and rates climbing.
Preliminary data from property analytics heavyweight CoStar shows the city’s average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) soared to all-time highs for the month. At the same time, occupancy reached its strongest level since late 2019. In plain terms, Melbourne’s hotels have rarely been this busy or this profitable.
For November 2025, year-on-year growth was unequivocally strong:
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Occupancy: 82.6 per cent, up 4.9 per cent
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ADR: AUD243.47, up 3.6 per cent
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RevPAR: AUD201.05, up a robust 8.6 per cent
The surge was no accident. Saturday 1 November, fuelled by the opening of the Melbourne Cup Carnival and the afterglow of the first Oasis Live 25 Tour concert, pushed the city’s ADR to AUD347.80 and RevPAR to AUD311.23, the only evening in November to break the AUD300 RevPAR barrier.
Another standout arrived on 22 November, when hotel rates again breached AUD300 as the opening night of Giro della Donna 2025 coincided with the high-octane Boost Mobile AUSX Open Supercross.
Occupancy peaked at 94.7 per cent on 12 November, the opening night of AC/DC’s Power Up Tour, with the previous night a near-equal 92.2 per cent. For hoteliers, the amps were well and truly turned up.
And the momentum is carrying into summer.
“December is also looking promising, with forward occupancy on the books for December at 62 per cent in comparison to the same time last year of 53 per cent,” said Matthew Burke, Regional Director at STR.
“The pending Boxing Day Ashes Test from 26 December is the standout, with occupancy averaging 74 per cent between 24 and 29 December.”
From cricket to concerts and couture cycling, Melbourne’s event engine is again proving its economic muscle, delivering not only packed stadiums, but packed hotels and record-setting returns across the city’s hospitality sector.
For further market intelligence, visit CoStar Group, a global leader in property data and analytics.
by Yves Thomas – (c) 2025
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About the Writer
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omething quietly magnetic about Yves Thomas is the poised calm of someone who’s seen the world from both sides of the reception desk. A graduate of Bangkok University International, Yves earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Tourism and Hospitality Management and stepped straight into the beating heart of Thailand’s travel industry.
She worked with some of the country’s finest destination management companies, mastering the art of making other people’s holidays unforgettable.
In time, the call of the open road grew louder than boardroom meetings. Yves packed her bags, swapped conference calls for compass points, and set off to rediscover the joy of travel on her own terms. Somewhere between Chiang Mai and Copenhagen, she began to write small reflections that soon became her travel blog, a journal full of warmth and insight.
Now calling Hua Hin home, Yves has joined Global Travel Media to share those reflections with a broader audience not as a publicist, but as a storyteller with a traveller’s soul and a professional’s eye for detail.
