About The Hotel

The First Australian Member of the MGallery Collection...

The Grand Hotel & Apartments Melbourne is the first hotel in Australia to be inducted as a member of Accor Hotel’s new boutique label – the MGallery Collection.

This small, exclusive collection of highly distinctive and upscale hotels are chosen for exceptional personality in one or more areas of Vision, Design, History and Location.  The Grand Hotel & Apartments Melbourne was selected due to an eminent and celebrated history, spanning 120 years. The heritage-listed building is impressive in function, magnitude and design, and effortlessly blends its unique historic charm with the modern conveniences of a deluxe boutique hotel.

A Grand Location

Protected by the Heritage Council of Victoria, the existing location of the hotel as the city’s first race-track can be traced back as far as 1833. The historic site was key witness to the wonder of a growing metropolis now called Melbourne, and people have always been overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude and design of the building you see today.

From its first spectacular structural incarnation as home to the Victorian Rail Commission from 1891 to its opening mid-1998 as one of Melbourne’s most luxurious heritage listed hotels, the celebrated story is certainly Grand. With its original ‘offices’ built to accommodate between 400 and 500 staff, it is guests who now benefit from the spacious suites, 20-foot high ceilings and spacious, open corridors.

Today, the Grand Hotel & Apartments Melbourne blends its unique historic charm and personality with the modern conveniences and technology of a 21st century luxury hotel. We invite you to explore the history for yourself…

The 1800's

The land on which the hotel now stands was originally known as “She Oak Hill”, the colony’s first race track. However in 1833, the hill with its 20 acre paddock became home to one of Port Phillip's best known residents, John Batman. After his passing (1839), in 1841 the government took control of the land and cottage, establishing an ‘office’ from which Superintendent Charles Latrobe and Police Magistrate William Lonsdale would administer the colony of Port Phillip until 1846.

The Building

In 1886 as owners of the land and due to the proximity to Spencer Street and Flinders Street Stations, the Victorian Railway Commissioners looked to develop the site for their new offices. Engineer of the then existing railway lines, William Henry Greene, was commissioned to prepare plans for construction.

His initial design was outlined as follows:

"The building is to be brick faced with stucco. The style of architecture is to be Italian and as our engraving shows, the structure will have substantial and imposing appearance. The building will be constructed in the form of the letter E with three entrances. It will have a frontage to Spencer Street of some 420 feet."

The scale of the building, even in the 1880's, was something remarkable. The corridors of the ground and first floors were to be some 12 feet (3.6 metres) wide and the rooms throughout the building were to be lofty.

Costing more than the total of the two lavish station buildings nearby, the building’s original estimated cost was 100,000 pounds - a considerable amount for the time. Indeed the eventual cost of the building, including the furnishings and fittings, was to far exceed its budget. Between 1887 and 1891 a total of 160,000 pounds was provided through parliamentary loan acts.

1888 – Construction commences

1889 – The building is described in the Australasian Sketcher (24 January):

"… over the front will be placed the Royal and Australasian Arms. The new offices will be four storeys in height … and the building will have an average height from the footpath level to the top of the parapet of 90 feet. There will be three principal entrances from Spencer Street to the ground floor and six entrances to the basement at the back of the building.

The structure will be divided by a corridor twelve feet wide upon each floor and it will contain rooms which will accommodate staff numbering between 400 and 500. The whole of the work will be of a fireproof character and every attention will be paid to lighting and ventilation.

The basement floor (now Level 1) will be 13 feet in height, the ground floor (Level 2) 20 feet, the first floor (Level 3) 18 feet and the second floor (Level 4) 18 feet. The basement will be occupied by the Traffic Managers offices, printers and strong rooms. Provision will be made for the remainder of the staff on the ground floor (Level 2), upon which telegraph engineers apartments, a room for contractors and a waiting room will also be placed. On the first floor (Level 3) will be accommodation for the railway commissioners, the secretary and the engineers and the upper story (Level 4) will be set aside for draftsmen.”

The 1900's

Extra Floors

Despite the daunting size of the building, by the turn of the century the army of clerical workers involved in growing and running the largest government department had outgrown their new offices. In 1912, a third floor (Level 5) was added to the building, along with the central portion of today’s level 6 and the two domed towers.

1958 - Still expanding to house the growing workforce, the fourth floor (level 6) is completed to the centre of the west side.

1968 – All original passenger car lifts are replaced.

1985 - The Ministry of Transport and the V-Line administration move from the Spencer Street building into Transport House, a new office tower located at 589 Collins Street. Soon afterwards, the old administration building is earmarked for sale as part of the State Government's rationalisation for sale of its stock of surplus public buildings.

1988 – The building is sold to developers to convert into a luxury hotel. Their plans did not proceed.

Welcome to the Grand Hotel & Apartments Melbourne

Mid 1990's – The building is resold and converted into a most unique development. The architect's brief; to maintain the feel and style of this majestic building.

1997- Mezzanine floors are added into all converted offices on Level 6 to provide a feeling of loft-style living, the wrap around terrace style balconies providing guest with views over Melbourne city, the Yarra river and west over the Docklands development.

The internal stencil style paintwork and fretwork throughout the building captures the Victorian style iron lacework of the buildings’ surrounding fence. The central staircase on Level 2 of the residential section is faithfully restored to its original splendor. All of the Level 5 ceilings feature concave corrugated iron ceilings; this is the original insulation placed between the floors when this addition was built in 1927.

1998 - The Grand Hotel & Apartments opens its doors once again, this time featuring 117 self-contained apartment suites and The Grand Central Apartments, a three level residential complex.

Into the 21st Century

Whilst maintaining the grace and ambience of this elegant heritage hotel, contemporising the hotel’s fixtures, fittings, furnishings and technology is a major priority, to ensure every modern convenience is also available to our discerning guests.

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