Hotel review: Canberra's Midnight Hotel

Canberra’s Midnight Hotel is one of the most sophisticated in the nation’s capital.

Midnight Hotel Canberra is a pioneering boutique hotel befitting of the national capital. It features incredible design touches, innovations and unexpected additions that are emblematic of a hotel that is confident enough to do its own thing.

First impressions

Midnight Hotel is a hip, design-forward addition to the capital’s hotel scene. It’s also sophisticated enough to attract a seriously global crowd for a long time to come.

Edgy artworks await on each of the eight levels of Midnight Hotel in the heart of the rapidly developing Braddon district. The 199-room modernist hotel feels more Brooklyn than Braddon. It’s part of a $200 million residential and commercial development that wraps around a central atrium and owes its striking good looks to Fender Katsaladis (of MONA and Ovolo Nishi fame).

Katsaladis designed the hotel with a Russian babushka doll in mind with a striking façade that hides the four buildings that make up the hotel, residential apartments and businesses nestled within.

Travel to Canberra for the weekend.

The location

The property is part of the stylish Midnight residential and retail precinct located in the culture-rich, inner-city suburb of Braddon.

Braddon was a grungy wasteland of car yards a few decades ago. Today, it’s a mecca of creativity with great bars and restaurants worthy of its hotspot status. The Uncovering Braddon series was commissioned to encapsulate a transitional moment in the metamorphosis of the hip ‘hood that has made Canberra the capital of cool.

Canberra’s Midnight Hotel is tucked in the inner-city suburb of Braddon.

What marks a stay at the Midnight Hotel has a lot to do with its location. The large-scale works by Melbourne graffiti artist, Tom Adair, reflect the cool of that location. The artworks depict pixelated street scenes from around Braddon, painstakingly painted with an airbrush and overlayed with electric jolts of neon light. It’s these little extras that really set Midnight Hotel apart.

The hotel was built to complement Canberra’s newly operational light rail, which is a convenient way to zip about the city. It’s a great launching pad to experience the emerging creative hub of Braddon.

Canberra’s Midnight Hotel has a striking front facade.

Style of the rooms

Rooms continue the arty theme. Find bespoke artwork created by acclaimed New York-born, Australian-based artist Thomas Bucich in each room.

The resulting Relic series is inspired by the small souvenirs we collect as children. A feather. A shell. A wildflower. Small fragments of bone or wood. In the artist’s own words, it’s also about ‘the creation and destruction of nature and the human spirit’.

The midnight classic evokes dark elegance.

Each unique piece is rendered in reclaimed Australian wood and bark, and then encased in copper or nickel. Bucich’s works have become emblematic of the property’s sincere approach to championing local artists and designers. The art is available for commission through the Midnight Store.

If the brief to the designers was to capture the midnight hour, then they’ve nailed it. The interiors are clearly inspired by the inkiness of the night with sleek dark tones contrasting with white and grey accents.

There’s a Thomas Bucick artwork featured inside a guest room.

The ambience of the rooms

That ‘after-dark’ ambience and black and white palette extends to the rooms which include copper and steel fixtures, rich, dark woods and marble. The mostly dark décor means it feels more midnight than midday even at high noon.

It may come as no surprise that the Midnight Hotel, a property all about sensory experiences, would come up with an aroma to match its unique identity. And there is nothing more luxurious than stepping into a hotel and recognising a scent that is instantly evocative of time and place.

The bedroom exudes a sophisticated charm.

With that in mind, the founder of Australian candle company HUTWOODS, Becky Hutley, worked with the hotel to create a signature soy candle fragrance. The result is HUTWOODS x Midnight Hotel, which combines the familiar scent of peppermint with woody tones of cedar wood and clove leaf.

The unique fragrance complements the stunning environment at Midnight Hotel. Full-size candles and travel tins in the signature scent are available to take home with you from the Midnight Store.

The room looks out over the large central garden atrium which features lovely, landscaped gardens.

Stay cosy for the night.

The amenities

King-sized beds, mini bar treats, and room service are all good reasons to book a hotel stay.  But if we are being completely honest, it’s the bathroom amenities (and the ability to take them with you when you leave) that a lot of guests get excited about. So how did Midnight Hotel go about making this guilty pleasure that much better?

Have a tipple at the autograph lounge.

It started with a conversation with Australian natural skincare specialists Hunter Lab, helmed by husband-and-wife team Elliot and Susie Waldron. The pair then went to work to develop hotel-size servings of its delicious-smelling, naturally beneficial and environmentally sustainable product range. A range of Hunter Lab’s full-sized, full-of-goodness products are also available for purchase on the Midnight Store.

Each of the 199 guest rooms at Midnight Hotel comes complete with a Google Chromecast entertainment system with a Smart TV so you can re-binge The White Lotus. There’s also high-speed wi-fi and whiz-bang espresso machine and mini bar restocked every day with complementary beverages.

Besides the rooms, it’s no surprise that guests of Canberra’s Midnight Hotel are enticed to return, again and again, to the stylish property. It has a restaurant, a bar, a sauna, a meeting and events space and a 20-metre-long indoor lap pool.

Swim a few laps at the indoor pool.

Food and drink

The Midnight Bar is the place to be if you’re a politician dreaming up a power play. But it’s not just a happy place for political bigwigs. In fact, it’s got to be a candidate for the hub of the hotel, where guests of the stylish boutique hotel are drawn together for a nightcap.

Wait until the sun has set over the Brindabellas before escorting your hot date to the spacious, elegant bar that has lots of luxurious touches. There’s also the guests-only Autograph Lounge.

Pull up a chair at Midnight Bar.

Restaurant Braddon Merchant has more of a European feel with a seasonally driven menu and a drinks list so impressive that it has won Wine List of ACT. The local and international wines have been chosen by a group of sommeliers and wine experts to elevate the dining experience.

If you want a change of scene, the hotel is close to some of the best places to dine in Canberra.

Dine local and international dishes at Braddon Merchant. (Image: Pew Pew Studio)

The feel-good factor

It becomes apparent very quickly upon entering Canberra’s Midnight Hotel that it is definitely a ‘jump in with both feet’ kinda place. And the hotel has gone one step further to help others with the creation of its own signature Midnight Hotel socks. Having partnered up with the feel-good social enterprise, Social Sock Club, each pair is stamped with the hotel’s M logo.

There are colour choices in black, white and a punch of pink, or black and a punchy purple. Your feet will look fabulous with every pair of socks you buy (direct from the Midnight Hotel team during your stay or online at the Midnight Store). But the real extra here is that Social Sock Club will donate a second pair to the Canberra arm of GIVIT, a national online charity connecting those who have with those who need.

Canberra’s Midnight Hotel is an idyllic place to stay in the capital of cool.

The verdict

This hotel epitomises all that is cool about the nation’s capital. If a road trip to Canberra is in your future, this is the only place you need to stay.

Score: 5/5
The price of a room: From $240 a night.
We’d change: The fact that we don’t live here.
We rated: The fact the minibar is included in the price of the room and replenished on the daily.
Address: 21 National Circuit, Barton.

See midnighthotel.com.au for more details.