Travelodge Hotels versus Hipster Hotels

Editor By Editor
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Value favourite Travelodge Hotels promises to be “refreshingly simple" so how does it stack up against its natural enemy, the hipster hotel.

1. Convenient locations

Travelodge Hotels: 17 locations in Australia (and New Zealand) in places you actually need a hotel, like in Melbourne’s Southbank, which is walking distance to Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex, and downtown Sydney, close to Museum Station and the cafe-rich inner city suburbs of Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Paddington.

 

Hipster hotel: In a laneway, off another laneway, in the coolest part of town which is nowhere near where you actually want to go.

2. A breakfast that genuinely breaks the fast

Travelodge Hotels: A hearty breakfast with plenty of options, hot and cold, such as bacon, sausages, roma tomatoes, eggs; plus a range of fruit, cereal, yoghurt and pastries. In true buffet style, it’s all you can eat. Options range from $8 to $22.

 

Hipster hotel: Kale smoothie served in a mason jar, foraged kimchi breakfast tacos and a decaf cold brew coffee – served from a food truck somewhere vaguely nearby.

3. Cook your own?

Travelodge Hotels: You don’t need to eat out every single night. Travelodge Hotels’ kitchenette has everything you need – a microwave, kettle, mini-fridge, even a kitchen sink – without going too MasterChef on you.

 

Hipster hotel: You want a kitchen in your room? Where would we put the post-modern sculptures?

4. Check out the checkout time

Travelodge Hotels: Sleep in! Check out time is 11am.

 

Hipster hotel: We are early adopters so we choose to throw you out at 10am.

5. Extras, extras

Travelodge Hotels: Keepin’ it simple and uncluttered with complimentary tea, coffee and useful utensils in the kitchenette and Travelodge-Hotels-exclusive shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotions in the bathroom. For anything else, reception will do their level best for you.

 

Hipster hotel: High-end soap, single-origin boutique teas, the fluffiest robes and slippers money can buy plus a mini-bar stocked with exorbitantly priced liqueurs. Why does the room cost so much again?

6. Shower off, not show off

Travelodge Hotels: A shower that just leaves you feeling refreshed (and wet).

 

Hipster hotel: Six body-massage jets that flood the bathroom floor and taps that you need a manual to use.

7. Wi-Fi

Travelodge Hotels: Free Wi-Fi for the length of your stay with reasonably priced packages for the serious data-eating internet addicts.

 

Hipster hotel: $20 a day sounds about right, whether you use a little or a lot. Probably cheaper to use your mobile data!

8. Sleepy deals

Travelodge Hotels: Book your stay on Tuesday and receive bonus goodies such as 2-for-1 breakfast, unlimited free Wi-Fi or late check-out.

 

Hipster hotel: How can we pay for the thread count if we give you a discount?

9. The Bed

Travelodge Hotels: Makes its own beds (literally), designed to support, with non-allergenic pillows and duvets.

 

Hipster hotel: Sometimes you just don’t need to sleep on a mattress filled with a curious mix of pure cotton, wool, mohair and horsetail hair.

10. Simple touches

Travelodge Hotels: Artworks that reflect the local area plus some nifty designed new pillows and other small touches that make the rooms down-to-earth and refreshingly comfortable.

 

Hipster hotel: There is no such thing as simple.

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Two Aussie hotels make World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 list

    Eleanor EdströmBy Eleanor Edström
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    The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 is hot off the press – and Australia has scored big, with two local stays making the cut.

    The world doesn’t want for excellent hotels. Boundary-pushing design is rife, and impeccable service is now the benchmark, with new stays cropping up globally faster than we present our passports at check-in. Safe to say it makes earning a place on the annual World’s 50 Best Hotels list – the world’s foremost gauge for hotel excellence – all the more prestigious.  

    The rankings for 2025 have just been announced at an awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London, where travel industry leaders and enthusiasts convened to celebrate groundbreaking hospitality feats. The list features 22 destinations across six continents, along with several special award categories. Here are the highlights.  

    rosewood hong kong views
    Look out over dazzling Victoria Harbour. (Supplied: Rosewood Hong Kong)

    The results

    Climbing two places from no.3 in 2024, Rosewood Hong Kong took home this year’s crowning title of the world’s best hotel. Rising 270 metres above Victoria Harbour, the coveted 413-key address is a shining beacon of art, design and swoon-worthy water views. It has attracted Hong Kong’s elite and a continuous stream of well-heeled travellers since its grand opening in 2019.  

    Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River
    Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River took out second place. (Image: Supplied)

    Asia continued its winning streak with 19 other hotels noted on the list – the highest number of any continent. These included Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River and Capella Bangkok in second and third place respectively. Bali’s Desa Potato Head (no.18) was also presented the Eco Hotel Award after a rigorous audit by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Close on Asia’s heels was Europe with 17 top 50 rankings and North America with six.  

    The Aussie hotels that made the list

    capella sydney lobby
    Capella Sydney was named the 12th best hotel in the world. (Image: Supplied)

    Capella Sydney was named The Best Hotel in Oceania 2025, scoring a strong 12th place in the overall rankings. Housed in an Edwardian sandstone building once home to the Department of Education, the heritage-listed icon exudes contemporary opulence with its grand architectural bones and curated local artwork. Expect personalised touches, intriguing objets d’art and intimate elegance across 192 rooms and suites.  

    bedroom at Calile Hotel Brisbane
    Pastel hues bring a playful energy to The Calile Hotel. (Image: Supplied)

    Meanwhile, The Calile Hotel,  located in Brisbane’s hip hood of Fortitude Valley, was accoladed no.34 in the global rankings. This marks the third consecutive year it has been featured on the list, with the hotel awarded no.12 in 2023 and no.25 in 2024. It’s not hard to see why. The hotel leans hard into a modernist Miami-meets-Palm-Springs energy with 175 guest rooms and suites dressed in pastel palettes. But the pièce de résistance is the breathtaking botanical pool deck, where guests can kick back beneath cute-as-a-button sage umbrellas.  

    The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 list

    1. Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong 
    2. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok 
    3.  Capella Bangkok, Bangkok 
    4. Passalacqua, Lake Como 
    5. Raffles Singapore, Singapore 
    6. Atlantis The Royal, Dubai 
    7. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Bangkok 
    8. Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá 
    9. Four Seasons Firenze, Florence 
    10. Upper House Hong Kong, Hong Kong 
    11. Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro 
    12. Capella Sydney, Sydney 
    13. Royal Mansour, Marrakech 
    14. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing 
    15. Bulgari Tokyo, Tokyo 
    16. Claridge’s, London 
    17. Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens 
    18. Desa Potato Head, Bali 
    19. Le Bristol, Paris 
    20. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai 
    21. Cheval Blanc Paris, Paris 
    22. Bulgari Roma, Rome 
    23. Hôtel de Crillon, Paris 
    24. Rosewood São Paulo, São Paulo 
    25. Aman Tokyo, Tokyo 
    26. Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole 
    27. Hôtel du Couvent, Nice 
    28. Soneva Fushi, Maldives 
    29. The Connaught, London 
    30. La Mamounia, Marrakech 
    31. Raffles London at The OWO, London 
    32. The Emory, London 
    33. Maroma, Riviera Maya 
    34. The Calile, Brisbane 
    35. The Lana, Dubai 
    36. Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco 
    37.  Janu Tokyo, Tokyo 
    38. The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai  
    39. One&Only Mandarina, Riviera Nayarit 
    40. Singita – Kruger National Park, Kruger National Park 
    41. Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Hong Kong 
    42. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles 
    43. The Mark, New York 
    44. Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Los Cabos 
    45. The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, Tokyo 
    46.  Hotel The Mitsui, Kyoto 
    47. Estelle Manor, Witney 
    48. Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Rovinj 
    49. Hotel Sacher Vienna, Vienna 
    50. Mandapa, Bali 

    How the 50 Best voting works

    The World’s 50 Best Hotels is an annual ranking of the top hotel venues across the globe as voted for by a panel of more than 800 global industry experts. To ensure the panel provides a fair representation, the Academy Chairs are split across 13 geographical regions, with each chair selected as a travel and hotel expert in their region. The 13 Academy Chairs each select a voting panel from their region comprising a balance of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators and consumer travel connoisseurs.