1 Hotel Melbourne

1 Hotel Melbourne opened on June 19, 2025, marking SH Hotels & Resorts' first Australian property and the nature-forward 1 Hotels brand's debut in the Asia-Pacific region. The 277-room hotel occupies a restored 1895 heritage cargo shed on the Yarra River in Docklands, pairing an extensive adaptive-reuse project with the brand's familiar biophilic design language.

The place

The hotel sits in North Wharf, Docklands, along 220 meters of uninterrupted Yarra River frontage on the southwestern edge of Melbourne's central business district. The precinct has been steadily redeveloped from its industrial maritime past into a mixed residential and hospitality waterfront, and 1 Hotel Melbourne anchors that shift by building directly onto Goods Shed No. 5, a cargo shed built in 1895 for the Victorian port authority. The riverside setting gives the hotel a continuous outlook over the water and the adjoining Seafarers Rest Park, a 3,500-square-meter native-planted green space, while still keeping the CBD, Southern Cross Station and the Docklands precinct's bars and offices within easy walking distance.

The concept

1 Hotel Melbourne is operated by SH Hotels & Resorts, the company built around Barry Sternlicht's 1 Hotels brand and its wager that sustainability and comfort can reinforce rather than compete with each other. The project was developed with Riverlee, and its defining move is architectural: rather than build new, the team restored Goods Shed No. 5 and reincorporated more than 2,000 of its original elements — bluestone pavers, steel trusses, timber doors and window frames — into the finished hotel, alongside a restored 1942 Malcolm Moore crane kept as a sculptural marker of the site's maritime history. More than 4,500 square meters of reclaimed timber run through the property, including a reception desk built from repurposed elm salvaged during Melbourne's Metro Tunnel works and room numbers displayed on timber recovered from the site's original wharf piers. The hotel counts 277 guest rooms, including 36 suites with city or river views, alongside 114 separately branded 1 Homes residences within the same development. More than 2,000 indoor plants reinforce the brand's biophilic design signature throughout public spaces. The property is pursuing LEED Silver certification and has built in a 50kW solar array, a 50-kiloliter rainwater harvesting system, and operable windows in the majority of rooms — sustainability measures presented as structural rather than cosmetic. An on-site regeneration art program, curated with Hobart's DarkLab (a MONA subsidiary), extends that positioning into the hotel's cultural programming.

Dining & wellness

The signature restaurant, From Here by Mike, is led by Sydney chef Mike McEnearney and built around seasonal produce sourced from local farmers, fishers and artisans. Crane Bar & Lounge serves botanical cocktails with a DJ program, Upstairs operates as a speakeasy-style cocktail bar, and Neighbours Café covers coffee and plant-based grab-and-go food. Wellness facilities include the Bamford Wellness Spa, developed in partnership with Carole Bamford, an indoor pool, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi-style spa, plus the Field House Gym.