Situated in Melbourne CBD’s East End, the Next Hotel is the chain’s latest flagship project. Part of the city’s new 80 Collins complex, the boutique destination provides a destination for travellers to stay, work and connect with local experiences.

Close to Chinatown, and within Melbourne’s ‘Paris End’ designer fashion district, the location inspired the interior where bespoke ceramic lights, Chinese-inspired custom rugs and richly coloured joinery elements complement brightly contrasting colour palettes and rich textural fabrics.

The 255-room hotel, spread over 20 floors, features multiple food and beverage offerings and a co-working style club for solo and collaborative work.

The ground floor consists of a concierge with a seven-seat café where guests are directed to the hotel reception and lobby above. Jade green marble and opulent gold inform the colour palette while the lounge design features artworks, eclectic furniture and custom rugs.

This level also contains the Club Lounge with a co-working space as well as self-serve food and beverage offering. The level 2 Club employs steel framing and wired glass to create the ambience of a maker’s workshop and blue glazed tiles and white stone with highly figured black marks reference the colours and patterning of cracked antique china.

The third floor provides a dedicated hospitality space which includes a unique destination bar experience alongside a formal dining space.

The hotel was designed to a 5 Star (Australian Leadership) equivalent level of performance in line with Green Star framework and interiors include the use of low VOC products, CoC certified timbers and finishes to assist with acoustic and visual comfort. Locally manufactured furniture, fixtures and art were specified where possible to support local craftspeople and reduce carbon miles.

Furniture: Stylecraft, Schiavello, Living Edge, Mark Tuckey, Jardan, Restoration, Custom Hotel. Lighting: Artemdide, Spence & Lyda, Living Edge, Cult, Gravity Floor Lamp by Gubi from Cult. Finishes: Halcyon Lake, Whitecliffe Imports, Designer Rugs, Godfrey Hirst, Artedomus, George Fethers, Elton Group, Alternative Surfaces, Colour Choice, Porter’s Paints, Dulux. Fittings & Fixtures: Parisi, Vertilux, Kvadrat Maharam, DAAC, Zepel Fabrics.

Photography: Sharyn Cairns