Queer travel expert Jack Kenworthy turns 250+ city adventures into your guide for safe, vibrant, and inclusively fabulous global journeys.
Sure, it may not be home to the country’s world-famous Sydney Mardi Gras, and it may not be the first name off travelers’ lips when they think of the country, but it is undoubtedly true that Melbourne is the queer capital of Australia. Known worldwide as Australia’s arts and music center, this southern city is a multifaceted wonder that fits perfectly into its role as one of the most queer-friendly locations in the world.
Finding gay hotels in Melbourne to give you a place to enjoy your time here is about as simple and intriguing as it can get, and there are more than enough special locations and tourist attractions in the city to keep any traveler occupied for the entire span of their holiday.
Melbourne is well known worldwide as a top-tier travel destination, but the scale of its positive factors measures up even better when one compares it with the rest of Australia. Again – it may not have the sunny, beachside feel that many people expect from an Australian city, but it has culture and a warm, welcoming embrace that fits perfectly with queer travelers looking to enjoy time abroad.
South Yarra and Collingwood are both perfect neighborhoods for those looking to immerse themselves in Melbourne’s queer culture, and there’s also more than a good portion of gay bars and clubs located within the heart of the city. Rainbow flags fly, queer street art is plentiful, and open-hearted understanding is the norm.
There’s so much to see in Melbourne, and the city’s status as an artistic haven means that you needn’t limit yourself to the city’s nightlife to get a unique, powerful feeling of what Melbourne is like.
Even with this said, however, no city on this planet is entirely targeted towards or perfect for queer travelers, and as such, our usual disclaimer applies just as much to Melbourne as it does to any of the other cities we have covered. Obviously – and unfortunately – it’s uncommon for hotels in Melbourne to be marketed directly towards gay people or queer people.
We know that, and therefore we’d like to note that the hotels on this list follow the same logic. Most of them have been listed as accommodating, friendly, and unjudgmental to, for, and by queer people in general, as well as being highly rated in general. Nevertheless, as we said before, Melbourne is a very safe and welcoming city, and you are sure to feel equally at home here as adventurous while staying here!
So, if you’re prepared to discover a side of Australia that you didn’t know existed, and if you’re eager to get yourself started on immersing yourself in one of the unique cities to find a gay hotel in the entire world,, then buckle up and get ready for our curated list of the top eight gay hotels in Melbourne!
In this article we will cover...
Cosmopolitan Hotel Melbourne
Not only is the Cosmopolitan Hotel extremely affordable when one considers the price tag attached to many other Australian hotels, which are through the roof alongside the costs of food and transportation, but it also has an amazing location to offer, balancing proximity to Hobson’s Bay and the center of the city with a bit more breathing space for those guests that would rather have access to Melbourne rather than be stuck right in the middle of it.
The Cosmopolitan still maintains a manageable appearance and a three-star rating, so guests can be well assured of the attention to detail that it puts towards self-care!
It’s time we get more precise about Cosmopolitan’s location. The hotel sits right on the edge of the St. Kilda neighborhood, famous for its fancy residential areas and long coastal boardwalks, and has direct access to St. Kilda beach and all of the maritime opportunities that that space opens up for visitors and locals.
Suppose you’re looking to spend a little more time inside the hotel’s walls than outside of them amongst Melbourne’s finest. In that case, however, you’ll be glad to know that even though Cosmopolitan is a budget location, it still manages to provide for its guests in the form of its in-house event center and the kitchens it offers in some rooms.
The event center allows the hotel to be used for extensive personal gathering purposes such as birthdays, weddings, and business meetings if your purpose for going abroad is work rather than pleasure! There’s also an airport shuttle available for hire if you’re looking for even more convenience getting to and fro from the city’s national flight hub – a place responsible for connecting Melbourne to the rest of the country.
The Westin Melbourne
Finding itself upon the north shore of the Yarra River and not far away from where the Langham at the end of this list is located, The Westin Melbourne is both the first luxury and the first five-star hotel on this list, and what a place it is.
The individual rooms of the Westin are famous for their fashion sense, cleanliness, and a general air of indulgence, and this impression extends through just about every common and private space that the hotel offers. The in-house Allegro Restaurant is amazing, the views from this part of town are great, and the hotel has the perfect balance between the land and sea, leaving guests to decide where they want to spend each day of their holiday.
The Westin is highly praised for its amazing pool and seating areas for casual lounging, its dining experience for evenings when you’re not looking to go out and about through the city in search of something to eat, and also the breakfast experience of a morning in the form of an open buffet.
The Westin Melbourne is also one of the city’s only hotels to be explicitly marked as LGBTQ+ friendly, which is also a massive edge if you’re looking to be just that bit more sure about your safety and the reception that you’re going to get while staying overseas as a queer traveler or couple.
Public transport and locations likely to be popular with business travelers and tourists alike are all within easy reach, as is the entire rest of the city, thanks to Melbourne’s healthy tram and metro system. Overall, this hotel has earned every one of its five stars and a top spot on this list of gay accommodation locations.
Rydges St Kilda (Now Independent Collection)
The Rydges name is widespread throughout Australia and has become synonymous with affordable accommodation and middling luxury. But what about this location, nestled deep into St. Kilda and everything that that famous suburb offers to new, curious, and queer tourists?
Although it may only have four stars to its name instead of five, the Rydges St. Kilda – also known as the St. Kilda Beach Hotel – remains firm in its identity and worth as an exclusive location, packing a powerful punch in quality that some more expensive and better-known hotels don’t. Each room is a well-designed oasis of relaxation, and the views over the bay and the city that outlying suites are gifted with are almost unbeatable.
The Rydges’ bar and restaurant ensemble serves as the best social and culinary hub that a gay hotel could hope for and increase the hotel’s factor of convenience for travelers tenfold. The hotel also contains the Hub Café for breakfast and lunch options or just a snack on the go.
If you’d rather be outside, however, there is one last surprise left to unveil: the Rydges St. Kilda has direct beach access right up to the Catani Gardens. If being able to dip your toes into the ocean is high on your holiday to-do list, then look no further!
This hotel has changed management recently to become part of the Independent Collection, and with that shift in balance, the quality of the hotel’s service and accommodation spaces increased to an even higher point than they were originally. This is a wonderful note for the area’s development, the neighborhood’s quality, and the experience of both queer and non-queer guests staying at this location!
The Langham
We’ve reviewed other Langham hotels in lists like this before, but it is in Melbourne that the franchise sees true success and an ascension to being perhaps one of the best locations on this list. Located right on the pristine bank of the Yarra River and surrounded by some of the city’s best urban districts, the Langham is a luxury establishment with respectable prices, an excellent view, and a flawless sense of what makes good accommodation into great accommodation.
Suppose Langham’s five-star rating doesn’t tell you just how much energy and care this location puts into making sure that its guests have a wonderful time exploring the city. In that case, its amazing reputation and sterling reviews across all major platforms are sure to do the trick!
The Langham’s five-star rating is more than earned, and this fact is clear as day from the very first minute that prospective guests walk into the hotel’s impressive, luxurious lobby area.
The on-paper benefits of staying at The Langham Melbourne are just as impressive as its plusses in service and management – incorporating a spa facility for those looking for a truly tranquil relaxation experience, a pool for lounging and for spending calm time to recover from long days out on the street, and – most importantly of all – a fully inclusive dining experience that is high-tier enough to be separately rated from and equally highly renowned as the hotel itself.
There’s also a bar and lounge restaurant on the ground floor if you’re looking for a place to casually hang out at night! This hotel is also pet-friendly, like the Ovolo Laneways earlier on this list and is amazingly close to public transport, and as such, neither of those factors should be a problem while you’re enjoying your holiday!
The Jazz Corner Hotel
The Jazz Corner! This hotel’s name already inspires an image of energy and cultured fashion, but you needn’t take a liking to this location based on words alone – take a look at its cutting-edge design and sterling review ratings!
It’s not very often that an independent hotel like this one soars to such heights and such levels of complex and attentive quality, but one can hardly look a gift horse in the mouth while you’re busy enjoying the vast range of advantages that the Jazz Corner Hotel offers to queer travelers looking to experience the very best of what Melbourne has to offer in the least time possible, and with the least hiccups as possible as well.
The most important factor about the Jazz Corner is that its rooms are wonderful, to a level that is hardly rivaled by some of the five-star and much more expensive hotels on this list. The hotel is also loved for its exquisite in-house dining experience, and it maintains the perfect location in the heart of the CBD for travelers who dislike excessively long travel times.
There’s a fitness center much like the one in the Jasper Hotel later on this list, and also an acclaimed restaurant if you’re looking to put on some calories after burning them away.
On top of all those on-paper benefits, the Jazz Corner is the second hotel on this list to be officially marked as queer-friendly, which is a massive positive factor on its behalf that the locations around it haven’t yet grasped. Public transport is also no problem for guests of the Jazz Corner, but contrary to the hotel’s queer-friendly status, that same is true for the vast majority of the hotels on this list.
Mercure Melbourne Therry Street
Just as we said about the Rydges franchise earlier on this list, the Mercure name is another one of those franchises that are well known throughout the entirety of Australia, and – as was also the case with Rydges – is one well known for the strength of its reliability and adaptability. Even though it belongs to a brand mainly associated with convenience rather than luxury, Mercure Melbourne has still earned itself four stars and proudly displays that distinction through its service mentality.
Although the vast majority of the hotels on this list are also known for having excellent service, in the Mercure’s case, it still deserves to be said that the customer care in this gay hotel is truly amazing and leaves very little up to question when it comes to the safety queer travelers.
Although this hotel lags behind the others on this list because it only has a single restaurant to its name rather than an ensemble or a separate bar area, it makes up for this by offering a breakfast bar for a bite in the morning and perhaps something quick to keep your energy up during the day.
The Mercure also has parking available, which is quite rare for a hotel located in the center of the city, regardless of location and rating in stars or popularity.
To shorten things up, if you’re looking for a comfortable bed to sleep in and a hotel serviced by amazing staff that is more likely to leave you amazed and over-satisfied with your accommodation experience than to give you a speck of grief for traveling as a queer individual or couple, then strike high and reach for the true gem of home-away-from-home vibes that is the Mercure Melbourne Therry Street.
Jasper Boutique Hotel
If you’re looking for a central business district hotel that embodies the essence of being in the midst of it all, the Jasper Hotel is the place for you. Some of the other hotels on this list try to balance the calmer surrounding suburbs of Melbourne with the hustle and bustle of its middle, but that is a fight that the Jasper Hotel flips on its head and dives right into – embracing everything that there is to see and experience in the very heart of the city and loving it all the while.
Bearing four proud stars and a quite positive service record, the Jasper Hotel is a traveler’s portal to everything and everywhere in Melbourne – especially central spots such as the Queen Victoria Market building, which is one of the most renowned sights in the entire city, and the Royal Exhibition Building.
While the Jasper Hotel may not be an excellent choice if you’d like to enjoy a more relaxed angle on the city, it certainly makes up for that slight niche appeal with the fact that it has excellent connections to the city’s public transport and walkable streets, and both of these factors are purely thanks to its busy location.
Another few positive factors that the Jasper has on paper include its relatively low room rates for a hotel of its luxury and size, its included in-house fitness center for workout buffs, and – on top of all of that – a bar for relaxing in if the hustle and bustle of the city have you a bit worn out.
There are wheelchair-accessible rooms on offer if you have special mobility requirements, as well as a laundry and room service pager to make your holiday even easier. The rooms are wide, well-lit, and excellently maintained – plusses all around!
Ovolo Laneways
The Ovolo Laneways is a little more pricey than some of the bigger chain numbers on this list, but that fact stems largely from the Ovolo’s status as an independent location and its stunning attention to service and detail. And did we mention advantage upon advantage when saving money in other ways, such as with the hotel’s free breakfast, its connections to public transport, and its offered airport shuttle service?
This hotel is the true Swiss Army Knife of accommodation as a gay hotel in Melbourne, and its guests can expect it to function as such – solving each need and catering to each taste. Some of the hotel’s strongest points include its direct proximity to the city’s center and Melbourne’s nightlife, which is perfect for those looking to mingle with Victoria’s queer heart and other friendly international travelers.
Although the Ovolo may look a little simple and functional on the outside, if you’re not looking for a paragon of five-star, all-needs catered luxury, this is the perfect place for you. The Ovolo offers a perfect balance between reliability and comfort, allowing guests to feel safe and at home while they work out how they want to spend their time in Melbourne to the highest degree.
Being pet-friendly is one of the Ovolo Laneways’ biggest calls to fame, and as such, it goes without saying that this is a headline place for you if you’re traveling with a four-legged companion.
One thing to note is that the hotel is smoke-free, which may be a little limiting if you’re in the habit. Aside from that, however, just about everything is possible at the Ovolo Laneways, and just about everyone is welcome to enjoy their Melbourne holiday experience to the same degree!
Gay Hotel Map Of Melbourne
Feeling a bit lost while planning your journey to Melbourne? No worries, darling! Our detailed LGBTQ+ tailored map is here to guide you. We’ve pinpointed all the vibrant gay-friendly bars, exhilarating clubs, extravagant parties, cozy hotels, relaxing saunas, and soothing massage parlors to ensure you find the perfect spot.
And these aren’t just any spots; we’re talking about the creme de la creme of locations in the heart of the city’s vibrant gay scene. Think panoramic views, easy access to nightlife, and all the amenities to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
But hold on to your feather boas! These hot spots are fabulous; they vanish quicker than a drag queen’s five o’clock shadow. Don’t delay; book now to secure the best deals and locations. Remember, the early bird catches the best deals in Melbourne! So, pack your rainbow flag, and get ready to experience the ultimate gay-friendly holiday in Melbourne.
