Come Q3 2025, Melbourne’s storied Bourke Street Mall is about to get its groove back, thanks to not one but two new headline acts in hospitality. Enter stage left: Hotel Indigo Melbourne Little Collins and Holiday Inn Melbourne Bourke Street Mall—a dazzling double-bill set to inject soul and swagger back into the city’s heart.
Like any good Melbourne laneway, this unveiling comes with layers—layers of history, design, architecture, and a touch of retail therapy for good measure. Behind heritage façades once home to a bootery, a music house, and a particularly eccentric bookseller with a penchant for monkeys (more on that later), rises a modern hospitality precinct built for the city that always knew how to layer its lattes and its laneways.
A Tale of Two Hotels – United by Purpose, Divided by Personality
Developed by Steadfast Capital and brought to life by acclaimed design studio Buchan and Australia’s construction virtuosos at Hickory, this ambitious project has been quietly brewing for eight years. The result? A sleek, 10-storey hospitality complex rising proudly above the historic facades of Diamond House, Public Benefit Bootery, Allan’s Music and the York Building—buildings that saw Melbourne dance, read and shop through the decades.
But this is no cookie-cutter development. Holiday Inn is on one side of the laneway, beloved by families and business travellers worldwide. On the other hand, Hotel Indigo, the newer boutique kid on the IHG block, is making its Melbourne debut with the flair and confidence of someone already fitting in. Think: comfort and charisma, each doing their bit to revive the Mall’s energy and economy.
“This isn’t just about opening hotels,” says Scott Hamilton, General Manager of both properties. “It’s about reimagining how hotels activate the city. We’re blending history with modernity, storytelling with staycations—and yes, there are monkeys.”
Hotel Indigo: Where Art Deco Meets Laneway Cool
If Hotel Indigo Melbourne Little Collins had a scent, it would be freshly brewed espresso with a hint of blue spray paint. The 179-room boutique haven is steeped in laneway lore. From the signature Mondrian blue hues (a cheeky nod to Melbourne’s blue street signs) to Lisa King’s monumental three-storey ‘cabinet of curiosities’ artwork, the place feels more like an art installation than accommodation.
Hotel Indigo Melbourne Little Collins Reception
Guests ascend via a spiral staircase worthy of a Gatsby party and sleep in rooms adorned with bespoke map-like murals, complete with glowing diamond markers that wink at the hotel’s location like a local in the know. There’s terrazzo made from recycled Skyy Vodka bottles and design nods to the eccentric bookstore owner who famously kept a live menagerie on site—including a monkey or two.
Chef Darryl Hand helms the dining side with a ‘Modern Melbourne’ menu: approachable, inspired, and elegant enough to impress the in-laws. And for those with rockstar ambitions, the Suite offers a kitchen, lounge and private terrace—a little slice of Fitzroy in the CBD.
A grassy courtyard, aglow with golden lightwells linking to Melbourne Walk’s retail below, makes for a perfectly unpretentious event space. For weddings, brand launches, or just a good old-fashioned knees-up, this one has it all covered.
Holiday Inn Melbourne Bourke Street Mall: Where Families Feel Fancy
A few steps away but stylistically miles apart, the 273-room Holiday Inn Melbourne Bourke Street Mall delivers what it always has: effortless comfort, unfussy charm, and a welcome as warm as a tram conductor’s grin.
Holiday Inn Melbourne Bourke St Mall – Hotel Room
With blonde timber finishes and pops of green (the plants, not the trams), rooms are inspired by the city’s skyline and public monuments. They offer a clean, Scandinavian-inflected design that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are double-double rooms for families, and the lobby welcomes guests with a giant ‘hello’ and a vertical garden that makes even grumpy teens crack a smile.
The on-site restaurant is bright, casual, and ready to feed the masses—burgers, steaks, pizzas, and hot breakfasts that only taste right at hotels. Children under 12 eat for free, which is music to the ears of holidaying parents already doing their best not to shout, “Don’t touch that!” every 30 seconds.
But the real jewel in this particular crown? A 220-square-metre private event terrace offers views from the historic Myer Building, the majestic GPO clock tower, and the broader Melbourne skyline. It’s a venue that practically begs for celebration—or at least a long, late lunch.
A Retail Renaissance Down Below
The two hotels don’t just float above the city—they’re grounded by it. Literally. Beneath them sits the new Melbourne Walk precinct, an ambitious retail revival featuring the largest JD Sport in the Southern Hemisphere, and Pop Mart, the cult art toy brand with Labubu characters so popular they sell out faster than you can say “limited edition”.
Surrounded by boutique shops, coffee haunts, and local eateries, the precinct is poised to bring genuine energy back to a stretch of the city many feared had lost its fizz.
“It’s not just a hotel stay,” Hamilton says with a knowing grin. “It’s a full sensory plunge into Melbourne culture.”
The Big Picture: Heritage with a Pulse
With both hotels perched above Bourke Street’s historic bustle, a blueprint for modern urban hospitality emerges. IHG’s dual-brand approach isn’t just savvy—it’s symbolic. Here, we see a city returning to itself, reconnecting with its bones and boldly sketching in its next chapter.
Hamilton sums it up best:
“This is more than just two hotels. It’s a new chapter for Melbourne’s city centre—one that reflects where the city is heading and celebrates where it’s come from.”
And like any good Melbourne story, this one comes with hidden laneways, coffee in hand, and a knowing wink at the past.
