Ovolo Hotels Group poised to launch Australia's first micro hotel
Boutique hotel group Ovolo Hotels is poised to launch micro-hotel “Mojo Nomad” in Melbourne following its success in Hong Kong, marking another milestone in the evolution of the hotel scene in Australia.
Following the footsteps of many New York micro and “pod” hotels, the signature feature of the project will be its smaller but well-styled hotel rooms of between 14sq m to 18sq m.
The property will be the first in Australia, although other kinds of “tiny hotels” such as Sydney’s capsule hotel on George Street, has started to emerge on the Australian hotel scene.
It is understood Ovolo has acquired an inner city suburban site in Melbourne for the hotel, and is currently in talks to close the deal with a developer to build the property with roughly 150 micro rooms.
In a standard hotel arrangement, ownership will remain in the hands of a local developer, while Ovolo will operate the hotel.
Earlier this month, Ovolo opened its second micro hotel in the Asia Pacific region, Mojo Nomad Central on Queens Road Central in Hong Kong functioning as both a micro-hotel and co-working hub. Its first micro hotel was Mojo Nomad Aberdeen also in Hong Kong.
Like many trendy pod or micro hotels, the compact rooms do not compromise on style and focuses on communal spaces for hotel guests.
Each single micro room is equipped with multiple USB and traditional plug sockets, as well as handy international adaptors, while some of the shared rooms have televisions and blue tooth headphone capabilities.
Amenities include yoga space, gyms, bars and restaurants.
The appeal of micro hotels lies in its affordability especially for solo travellers and its prime location either in or close to the main city centres.
Micro or pod hotels are extremely popular in places like New York where hotel rates are very high. Popular brands there include The Pod Hotels, Yotel, CitizenM, and Arlo Hotel.
The central theme are small functional stylish rooms but top-end shared amenities with prices from around $100 a night.
Melbourne is set to be the epicentre of the micro hotel scene in Australia, with another development site earmarked for a pod hotel at 63-69 City Road, Southbank on the market.
Ovolo Hotels Group already runs several boutique and lifestyle hotels in Sydney including Ovolo Woolloomooloo in the eastern suburbs and Ovolo 1888 in Darling Harbour.
Founder Girish Jhunjhnuwala told the Australian Financial Review previously he was keen on expediting the expansion of the hotel brand and was open to buying a portfolio of hotels.
