With a bold personality and richly layered design language by Flack Studio, plus a streetside coffee shop to boot, Hannah St Hotel is Melbourne’s hottest new hotel – and a microcosm of the city itself.
Urban boutique hotels today are working overtime as not only places to crash after a long day sightseeing, but as microcosms of the cities they inhabit, distilling local character across every touchpoint. Hannah St Hotel does exactly that.
The headline: its interiors are designed by Flack Studio, the multidisciplinary practice behind stylish spaces across Australia and beyond (think Bistro Livi in Murwillumbah and Ace Hotel Sydney), whose aesthetic is anchored by an intentional use of colour, material and mismatching that strikes a sweet spot between contemporary, creative and elegant.
Hannah St Hotel is something of a homecoming for the Melbourne-based firm helmed by David Flack, and it’s every bit the love letter to his home town you’d hope for.
The 188-room hotel is part of Collection by TFE Hotels, whose portfolio is made up of independently owned properties that hero design and strong connections to their local communities, including The Eve Hotel in Sydney and The Calile Hotel in Brisbane.
Where is Hannah St Hotel?
Hannah St Hotel is situated in the heart of Southbank.
Hannah St Hotel sits in Melbourne’s Southbank and forms part of the area’s ongoing cultural revitalisation. It’s positioned within a 15-minute neighbourhood at the crossroads of the CBD, the Yarra River, South Melbourne and the Arts Precinct.
The 10-level hotel occupies the new mixed-use Queensbridge Building, which cuts a distinctive wedge-shaped – or bullnose – footprint likened to New York City’s 1920s Flatiron Building.
Tucked under the Kingsway overpass, it initially feels a little like an urban jungle – but within minutes the concrete gives way to the Southbank Promenade. Soon I’m strolling along the Yarra, passing a hub of eateries, riverside bars, sketch artists and street performers on the sunny Saturday I’m here.
Within 15 minutes I reach Princes Bridge. A walk over the water takes me into Fed Square and the CBD, while heading south along St Kilda Road brings me to NGV International within a few minutes.
What is the style and character of Hannah St Hotel?
Step into Melbourne’s hottest design-led stay.
The accommodation blends creativity and personality.
Hannah St Hotel is big on personality, as flagged on arrival. Its main entrance, discreetly tucked beneath the overpass, is given a playful makeover in Barbie pink and polka dots. Guests are greeted by a three-metre sculpture, Mirror Sheila (2024) by Justene Williams – part of the hotel’s art program – as they step into the lobby.
Flack Studio draws on a diverse set of influences – from French Modernism and mid-century Italy to American Deco and the Industrial Revolution – to create a one-off design that embodies Melbourne’s richly layered spirit. It’s grit and glamour and vintage-style signage flickering neon. Tactile textiles, gestural shapes and bold colours offset against industrial finishes. Just as things tip towards nostalgia, a bolt of contemporary snaps you back to the present.
The vibe is welcoming and accessible. Playful and cool without trying too hard.
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What are the facilities like at Hannah St Hotel?
Unwind at the Parisian-style Terrace Lounge.
Designed to be a neighbourhood in its own right, Hannah St Hotel has everything you need without straying far. There’s a streetside hole-in-the-wall, Hannah St Coffee, for your caffeine fix, and Coupette Corner Bistro & Bar, which does triple duty for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Ample public spaces encourage lounging, imbibing and working (or all three), including the rail-inspired Carriage Lounge, chic lobby hang Bar Hannah, the top-level Terrace Lounge – influenced by the garden cafes of Paris and boasting a rooftop bar – and a dedicated co-working space.
Dive into the 20-metre lap pool.
There’s also a fully equipped gym, a 20-metre lap pool with vertigo-inducing city views through floor-to-ceiling windows, plus a steam room and sauna.
What are the rooms like at Hannah St Hotel?
The French and Italian-style interiors were designed by Flack Studio.
The Terrace Balcony Suite is equipped with a freestanding bath.
Hannah St Hotel’s 188 boutique rooms and suites are each carefully curated.
Ranging in size from 29 to 58 square metres – from bijou Local rooms and Balcony Terrace rooms through to the ultimate Hannah Suite – they feature custom furniture, Malin + Goetz amenities, minibars, pod coffee machines, smart TVs with Chromecast, Bluetooth Marshall speakers, bespoke robes and slippers, and skyline views.
My Lookout Corner Suite makes the most of those views, its unique angular shape bestowed by the building’s irregularity offering a sweeping panorama.
Generously proportioned, it has a king bed and a separate living area crowned by custom-made banquette seating that wraps around the room’s unusual footprint. Quality finishes are stitched into every surface, from blush-coloured carpets that squish underfoot to the concrete ceiling with exposed piping offset against the statement reading chair in Yves Klein blue.
A minibar is stocked with artisanal snacks and local wines, beer and soft drinks.
Space is used efficiently throughout the distinctive layout, including a wardrobe and stowage area tucked into the gallery-style hallway that leads to a generous bathroom – rendered in grey and blue with terrazzo flooring, complete with separate shower and toilet.
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What are the dining options at Hannah St Hotel?
The rail-inspired Carriage Lounge is the perfect spot for drinks.
Melbourne hospitality stalwarts The Mulberry Group, led by Nathan Toleman, oversee Hannah St Hotel’s food and beverage offering across five distinct venues designed to take guests and locals alike from morning coffee through to late-night cocktails.
There’s Bar Hannah and the adjoining Carriage Lounge for drinks and snacks, ground-level Hannah St Coffee, and the rooftop Terrace Lounge for lingering over cocktails – soon to be joined by chef residency program Propeller.
Coupette Corner Bistro & Bar is the star of the show: a ground-level eatery that moves from breakfast to lunch and dinner as the day progresses. The menu is overseen by executive chef Andrew Beddoes and offers a playful take on the European bistro, with a distinctly Melbourne skew.
Breakfast is bright and buzzy – order anything from pastries and almond oat cups to avocado toast with goat’s cheese topped with radish and herbs, a blue swimmer crab omelette or French toast laced with blueberries, maple syrup and burnt orange curd.
Lunch brings a tight menu of bistro staples, while dinner dials the mood to elegant and pushes the food offering further: think steak frites, lamb rump and market fish with beurre blanc. The wine list spans local to Euro.
Is Hannah St Hotel accessible for guests with disabilities?
Hannah St Hotel offers several room types designed to meet specific accessibility needs. All public areas, including the pool, are wheelchair accessible.
Is Hannah St Hotel family-friendly?
Hannah St Hotel nods to the city’s energy and urban pulse.
Guests under 18 are welcome when accompanied by an adult. Rooms accommodate up to two guests, with interconnecting rooms, baby cots and rollaway beds available on request.
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Imogen Eveson is Australian Traveller’s Print Editor. She was named Editor of the Year at the 2024 Mumbrella Publish Awards and in 2023, was awarded the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) Australia’s Media Award. Before joining Australian Traveller Media as sub-editor in 2017, Imogen wrote for publications including Broadsheet, Russh and SilverKris. She launched her career in London, where she graduated with a BA Hons degree in fashion communication from world-renowned arts and design college Central Saint Martins. She is the author/designer of The Wapping Project on Paper, published by Black Dog Publishing in 2014. Growing up in Glastonbury, home to the largest music and performing arts festival in the world, instilled in Imogen a passion for cultural cross-pollination that finds perfect expression today in shaping Australia’s leading travel titles. Imogen regularly appears as a guest on radio travel segments, including ABC National Nightlife, and is invited to attend global travel expos such as IMM, ILTM, Further East and We Are Africa.
Wind through fern tunnels, stop for a wine in a tram bar, or chase giant murals across the wheatbelt. These drives and rides prove Victoria’s best stories are found off the straight and narrow.
There’s something unmistakably Australian about a road trip: car packed, playlist on, landscapes shifting. Travelling down the highway toward Healesville, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, the mountains rise, flanking me on both sides. I feel its embrace, a silent invitation to explore what lies beyond.
Moss-covered embankments rise on either side, and towering mountain ash trees form a green tunnel overhead. Road signs warn of wombats and cyclists but with giant ferns lining the roadside, the landscape feels prehistoric, as if a dinosaur might suddenly emerge. This, the Black Spur, is one of my favourite road trips.
The Black Spur
Through the forested canopy of The Black Spur drive that winds from Healesville to Narbethong. (Image: Neisha Breen)
The Black Spur is short compared to other Victorian road trips, just 30 kilometres, stretching from Healesville to Narbethong. But what it lacks in distance, it makes up for in scenery. Just outside Healesville, Maroondah Dam offers bushwalks and scenic views. However, if pressed for time, Selover’s Lookout is an easy roadside stop offering uninterrupted views of the dam.
In Narbethong, close to the Marysville’s snowfield, is the Black Spur Inn, a charming double-storey brick hotel that’s been welcoming travellers since 1863. Here, diners cosy up by the roaring fire or gaze through the floor-to-ceiling windows, imagining horse-drawn coaches carrying hopeful gold seekers to the eastern goldfields.
Victoria’s Silo Art Trail
The Silo Art Trail in the Wimmera Mallee region. (Image: Visit Victoria/Anne Morely)
Location: Various towns across the Wimmera Mallee region Duration: More than 200 kilometres / 4–5 hours but best over a minimum of three days
What began as a way to draw travellers back into town bypassed by highways – places such as Nullawil, Sea Lake and Patchewollock – has grown into a celebrated outdoor art movement. The Silo Art Trail now includes 23 silos, each transformed with large-scale mural portraits sharing local stories, celebrating community heroes, Indigenous history, farming life, or regional identity.
The Nullawil silo, for example, is a portrait of a local farmer in a chequered flannelette shirt alongside his loyal kelpie, painted by artist Sam Bates (AKA Smug). And the silos at Albacutya in the Grampians, painted by artist Kitt Bennett, depict her joyful memories of growing up in the countryside. Many of the murals sit right in the heart of small towns, such as Rochester and St Arnaud, making them perfect spots to pause for a country pub meal or something sweet from a local bakery.
Location: Gippsland Duration: Approximately 220 kilometres / 4 hours
The Gippsland Lakes are a much-loved holiday spot in Victoria, but road-tripping further east reveals much more. Begin in Metung and time your visit with the monthly farmers’ market, or simply linger over lunch on the lawn of the Metung Hotel. Twenty minutes away is Lakes Entrance, where you can watch the fishing boats return with their catch.
Continue to Marlo, where the Snowy River spills into the sea, and Cape Conran for its many beaches and walks. If needing to stretch your legs, Croajingolong National Park is home to the historic Point Hicks Lighthouse and the Wilderness Coast Walk. Birdwatching and rainforest trails near Bemm River are worth a pit stop before arriving in Mallacoota, where the forest meets the sea.
Great Ocean Road
The 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. (Image: Tourism Australia/Two Palms/Harry Pope)
Location: South-west Victoria, from Torquay to Allansford Duration: Approximately 250 kilometres / 4–5 hours but best over a minimum of three days
Victoria’s most famous road trip delivers it all: world-class surf breaks, rainforest walks, clifftop lookouts and wildlife encounters. The journey begins in Torquay, the state’s surf capital, then hugs the coast past Anglesea and Lorne to Apollo Bay, before curving inland through the lush rainforest of the Otways. Stop at Cape Otway Lightstation or take to the treetops at Otway Fly.
Between Cape Otway and Port Campbell lies the most photographed stretch – seven of the Twelve Apostles still standing, alongside the golden cliffs of Loch Ard Gorge. Further west, Warrnambool is a winter whale-watching hotspot, before the road winds to Port Fairy, a charming fishing village of whalers’ cottages, walking trails and offshore seal colonies further along the coast.
Location: Bellarine Peninsula Duration: Approximately 80 kilometres / 2–3 hours
The Bellarine Taste Trail is a feast for the senses, winding through coastal towns, past boutique wineries and artisan producers. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style trail – simply grab a map and build your own delicious journey.
You might wander historic, seafront Queenscliff, sip wine in a converted tram bar at Terindah Estate, sample a locally distilled whisky at The Whiskery in Drydale or pick up a jar of honey at Wattle Grove in Wallington. Seafood lovers can head to Portarlington, famous for its mussels. Eat them fresh at local restaurants or head out on the water with Portarlington Mussel Tours.
O’Keefe Rail Trail – Bendigo to Heathcote
Pink Cliffs Reserve in Heathcote can be seen on the O’Keefe Rail Trail. (Image: Visit Victoria/Emily Godfrey)
Location: Central Victoria Duration: Approximately 50 kilometres / 4 hours cycling
Travellers first journeyed between Heathcote and Bendigo in 1888, when the railway line was built to link the towns. Trains stopped running in 1956, but today the route has a new life as the O’Keefe Rail Trail. The path is mostly level for easy riding, and along the way you’ll cycle past bushland, waterways and reserves. There are plenty of places to picnic, birdwatch, and if you’re lucky, spot a platypus.
The trail is well supported with water stations, bike repair points, shelters, and signage. Axedale makes a great halfway stop, with the pretty Campaspe River Reserve for a rest and local cafes for refuelling. Begin in Heathcote, known for its wineries and cafes, or in Bendigo, which is easily reached by train from Melbourne/Naarm. Shorter sections, such as Heathcote to Axedale, are also popular.
Goldfields Track – Ballarat to Bendigo
Location: Central Victoria Duration: Approximately 210 kilometres / 2–3 days cycling
The Goldfields Track traces a route once so rich in gold it made Melbourne one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Starting at Mt Buninyong, south of Ballarat, the trail leads mountain cyclists and walkers north through Creswick, Daylesford and Castlemaine before finishing in Bendigo. Along the way, you’ll encounter granite outcrops, eucalypt forests, rolling farmland and remnants of the region’s mining past.
As it passes through the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung people, the track shares gold rush history and Indigenous stories brought to life by interpretive signs. Walk or ride the full trail or choose from one of its three distinct sections. With cosy stays, cafes and pubs, it’s easy to mix wilderness with comfort.
