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.
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.
From rainforest walks and scenic drives to historic gold-rush towns and standout regional dining experiences, you can find it all in West Gippsland.
Hover over West Gippsland on Google Earth and you’ll see vast tracts of land spread out like green velveteen around the Toorongo Falls Reserve. It’s a landscape that feels almost impossibly lush for a region sitting little more than an hour from Melbourne.
Track southeast in late autumn and early winter and you’ll see pockets of the Mt Baw Baw Plateau dusted in snow. In addition to the forests of mountain ash veined with creeks and rivers, there are pastures and farmland cross-stitched together to form pretty patchworks.
But West Gippsland isn’t defined by scenery alone: in addition to its awe-inspiring nature, a Venn diagram of the region includes gold-rush history and great culinary experiences. Spend a long weekend here and it quickly becomes clear how often these three overlap.
Getting there
Spend the weekend eating and exploring in West Gippsland. (Credit: Messmates Dining)
Getting to West Gippsland involves as easy drive – it’s just over an hour out of Melbourne along the Monash Freeway.
Not driving? Catch the train from Melbourne on the Gippsland line, terminating at either Traralgon or Bairnsdale, and hop off at Warragul or Drouin.
Visit historic villages
Wander into Australia’s Gold Rush history at Walhalla. (Credit: Rob Blackburn)
The West Gippsland region is on the Traditional Lands of the Kulin and Kurnai nations, specifically linked to the Bunurong, Gunaikurnai and Wurundjeri Peoples, whose connection to Country stretches back thousands of years.
European settlement occurred in the 19th century as timber cutters, farmers and gold seekers pushed into the region’s dense forests. Small towns grew around sawmills and railway lines, and many of those gold rush settlements, timber towns and railway villages still shape the character of the region today.
The most evocative of these is Walhalla Historic Township , a remarkably preserved gold-rush township tucked deep in the mountains. In the late 1800s, it was one of Victoria’s richest goldfields. Today visitors can step inside that history at the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine, where underground tours reveal the scale of the mining operation that once powered the town’s prosperity. Nearby, the Walhalla Goldfields Railway retraces part of the original narrow-gauge line through the valley, offering a slow journey past forest and river scenery.
Further west, Noojee is a classic mountain village. It’s surrounded by dense forest and waterfalls and has become a natural base for exploring the Baw Baw region. Just outside town, Noojee Trestle Bridge stands as one of West Gippsland’s most striking relics of the rail era. The towering wooden structure is the tallest surviving trestle bridge in Victoria and today forms the centrepiece of an easy scenic walk with wide views across the valley.
Catch your own lunch at Alpine Trout Farm. (Credit: Nicky Cawood)
At Alpine Trout Farm near Noojee, visitors can fish for trout in mountain-fed ponds before enjoying the catch prepared fresh onsite. It’s a simple experience that reflects the area’s long connection to the surrounding waterways.
Back in Warragul , the region’s main service town, the story shifts from heritage to modern regional life. With galleries, restaurants and sweeping views across the rolling farmland of Gippsland, the town has become a lively hub linking the district’s past with its evolving food and cultural scene. Drive through the town and you’ll find heritage buildings, old pubs and weatherboard cottages that hint at the area’s early days as a frontier landscape.
In other towns the past survives in quieter ways – a historic hall here, a century-old bakery there.
Even simple roadside stops can feel cinematic in West Gippsland. The region also delivers plenty of opportunities to lace up your walking shoes.
One of the region’s most rewarding nature escapes lies just outside Noojee at Toorongo Falls Reserve . A network of walking tracks winds through the cool-temperate rainforest where towering mountain ash trees filter the light and the air smells of rich, damp earth. The 2.2-kilometre trail to the viewing platform overlooking Toorongo Falls is short, but spectacular, as the water cascades down over moss-covered rock faces into a cool, green gully in Little Toorongo River.
Further north, the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort offers year-round adventures. In winter, the mountain attracts skiers and snowboarders. The warmer months are just as compelling, with scenic drives to see alpine wildflowers, mountain bike trails and panoramic hiking routes that open across the plateau.
Cyclists and walkers looking for a more relaxed pace can follow the Rokeby Neerim Rail Trail , which traces a former railway line through farmland and small Gippsland villages. The mostly flat trail passes rolling paddocks, creeks and historic bridges, making it an easy way to drop it down a gear when exploring the countryside.
Taste the best eats of West Gippsland
Taste the best of the region at Hogget Kitchen.
For many travellers, the real drawcards of West Gippsland are the food and wine. The region sits in the heart of Victoria’s fertile dairy country, and that agricultural backdrop has helped shape a dining scene where seasonal produce and local provenance take centre stage.
Hogget Kitchen has helped put Warragul firmly on the radar for serious regional dining in West Gippsland. Here, head chef and owner Trevor Perkins runs the kitchen alongside well-known winemakers William (Bill) Downie and Pat Sullivan. Hogget Kitchen lives up to its promise of exceptional destination dining; what lands on the table depends largely on what nearby farms have harvested that week as well as a wine list from Wild Dog Winery and other Gippsland producers.
Warragul is also where you’ll find Messmates Dining where the kitchen team is led by Michelin-trained chefs. The Euro-leaning bistro and wine bar brings a polished edge to the local dining scene using produce sourced from across West Gippsland.
For something more casual, the century-old Noojee Hotel is the kind of hub that every traveller dreams of finding after a long drive. Expect generous pub classics served on the sunny deck in summer or beside the crackle of a log fire in winter. Nearby, rustic Toolshed Bar, Bistro & Cabins is the place to go for a wood-fired pizza topped with smoked local trout paired with Gippsland wine, making it a rewarding stop for lunch or an overnight stay.
Time your visit with the Truffle Festival
Food lovers visiting in winter should consider timing their trip to coincide with Noojee Truffle Festival , running from 10 July to 2 August 2026. The inaugural event celebrates the region’s emerging truffle industry with tastings, special menus and events built around one of winter’s most prized ingredients.
