Australia's best value cool hotels: The funky hotels with bars, food, communal work spaces – minus the price tag

Planning a wallet-friendly escape, it pays to learn a few key brands: Marriott, the world's biggest hotel chain, has more than 30 brands, but the ones to watch in Australia include two newcomers, Courtyard by Marriott and AC by Marriott, both four-star rated properties. The hotel group has opened three properties in the Melbourne city centre alone in the last eight months, including the Courtyard by Marriott Flagstaff Gardens, from $205, room only. See courtyardmelbourneflagstaffgardens.com marriot.com

Mercure – which its parent Accor describes as "the fastest-growing global midscale brand in Australia" – now has 53 properties across the country following a recent acquisitions rampage, and some Novotels also fall into the four-star category. The new Doncaster Mercure, in Melbourne's north-east, is billed as the next generation of 'upper-midscale' hotels, from $179, and a new four-star Novotel Devonport, beside the Spirit of Tasmania terminal in northern Tasmania, will open by year's end, from $299/opening special, all.com

Meanwhile, Singaporean group Ascott, which has serviced apartments, co-living and hotel brands that include Quest, Citadines and Vertu, has brought its newest brand, lyf (short for "live your freedom"), to Australia. Its first outpost is the 105-room lyf Collingwood, and Ascott has ambitions to sign 150 lyf properties across the globe by 2023. From $139.50. See discoverasr.com

Keep an eye on Travelodge, owned by TFE Hotels. Its mid-scale brands include Adina and Vibe. Travelodge's "refreshingly simple" ethos offers more of what you need, without paying for what you don't want. It just refurbished its central Travelodge Hobart, adding a new, purpose-built yoga room, from $152, and opened a new Travelodge Hurstville, a hop-skip to the Royal National Park, 20 minutes to the city and five minutes to the airport. Rates from $135 a night. See travelodge.com.au

IHG, best known for its luxury InterContinental brand, serves up more affordable stays through its Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn Express & Suites offerings, with new openings on the Sunshine Coast and in the centre of Melbourne, with Parramatta and the Ballarat goldfields in the pipeline. Up a step, its buttercup-yellow branded voco, is the top of IHG's "upscale" offerings (not to be confused with the top-tier luxury brands), offering good value mid-week in its new Melbourne and Brisbane properties. From $258, see www.ihg.com

For those who prefer to self-cater, apart-hotel specialists Veriu Group is the largest, privately, wholly Australian-owned hotel group and owner of the Punthill brand, which is on a massive expansion drive of its self-catering properties. See veriu.com.au punthill.com.au

And Dorsett Hotels' art-oriented four-star brand opened its first Australian property on the Gold Coast on Boxing Day, 2021. The brand launches in Melbourne in conjunction with the highly anticipated Ritz-Carlton. See www.dorsett.com

FIND YOUR TRIBE

Straight-laced lobbies, formal dining rooms, a concierge desk – three concepts blown out of the water by the new crop of hotels. Think roaming concierges, blended lobbies-cum-cafes and co-working spaces hosting happy hours.

"Guests don't just want a room and a shower. They're looking to connect with like-minded people," says Shermaine Chong, the residence manager of lyf Collingwood. That means art-led spaces with networking and co-working lounges and communal kitchens with SMEG appliances and a guest laundry with pinball machines, as well as rooms that sleep up to four adults. "They want fun, creative spaces and the opportunity to explore. They want to bond and network organically."

The established brands are getting on board too, with design-led hotels to suit generations of new travellers and also experienced travellers' COVID-altered expectations. On Melbourne's far south-western fringe, the Holiday Inn Werribee is the first Australian hotel in the HI family to show off the brand's new Open Lobby concept, which blends front desk, bar, restaurant, lounge and business centre into one space. From $200, room only. Emulating the way we live in our own homes, the concept will be rolled out over openings in other new builds including in Wagga Wagga, Geelong and Dandenong, as the brand celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

Rival brand Travelodge's new 124-room Travelodge Hurstville in south Sydney is the first of its ilk to showcase a new direction in design by Chada design studio, whose credits include the stratospherically fabulous heights of the Emirates One & Only Wolgan Valley and Tasmania's Saffire Freycinet. On a more humble scale, Chada brings high ceilings and more natural light, a neutral palette and a rooftop cocktail bar to the Hurstville property, from $135. The Travelodge Resort Darwin has also just enjoyed a significant refurbishment, with new beds, smart TVs and a fresh white and beech palette for its 136 hotel rooms and 32 townhouses. From $199 in October. See travelodge.com.au

Art is top of mind of the Hong Kong-owned Dorsett group, with president and executive director Winnie Chiu a passionate art collector. At its first Australian hotel, the Dorsett Gold Coast in the Gold Coast's Star casino precinct, it commissioned 13 locally made, large-scale abstract sculptures — one for each floor in the hotel. From $200. See dorsetthotels.com

"The art pieces for the Dorsett hotel are being designed to remind guests where they are staying and feel the local spirit of the Gold Coast," says Shayle Flesser, fine artist and director of the Emma Street Studio, which supplied the 13 pieces.

MAKE A MEAL OF IT

The new wave of Australian hotels have an all-or-nothing approach to food. Some properties trade on the fact they're surrounded by some of the country's best restaurants, and opt for the most basic menus for grab & go breakfasts or late-night in-room bites. Others skip the need to maintain costly room service, instead collaborating with food-delivery apps, so ordering Thai or a pizza drop-off at the hotel's front desk is no longer a guilty pleasure, but a smart move for those wanting a night in and a budget meal.

Others use food to embed their sense of place, featuring local produce or, in the case of the Spanish-inspired AC by Marriott Melbourne Southbank, their place of origin. The hotel's executive chef Ryan Flaherty trained in Spain and serves a small, good-quality menu of classic hotel favourites in the hotel restaurant, which overlooks the city skyline. The drinks list also reflects the location, such as G&Ts featuring Patient Wolf gin, distilled just around the corner from the hotel. From $220, see achotelmelbournesouthbank.com

With 183 rooms and the title of best Mid-Range Accommodation Hotel of the year from the 2022 Victorian Accommodation Awards tucked under its belt, the Mercure Doncaster models the brand's new look, with a signature cocktail and an on-trend modern Mexican restaurant on site.

And don't forget those menus for pups – with dog ownership soaring during lockdown, it makes sense we want to take our best friends on hols with us. Lyf Collingwood and the AC by Marriott Melbourne both have designated hound-friendly rooms, with menus, beds and maps of walking routes to boot.

CLOSE TO HOME

While new builds in the city centres are rare, hotel developers are looking at how we travel, and the suburbs and regional Australia are proving fertile ground.

"People want to travel closer to home and explore their own country, which has seen a boom in regional accommodation … compared to international travel, which has become way more expensive, with continuing concerns over health protocols globally," says Zed Sanjana, chief executive of the Veriu Group.

His group has 10 properties opening in the next three years, including the newly unveiled Punthill Norwest in Sydney's north-west from $239, and Veriu hotels at Queen Victoria Market and Collingwood around year's end. It's also expanding into regional NSW and Victoria, in Maitland in the Hunter Valley and its first regional Victorian property, the 80-room Punthill Geelong, will open in 2024.

Roadtripping, a red-hot trend while Australia's international borders were closed, has also been picked up by location scouts seeking profitable locations for new properties.

"Accor had a vision to grow and used a lot of domestic booking data such as ours to place their three and four-star hotels such as Novotels and Mercures in wine regions and along roadtrip routes, for multi-destination trips which people continue to take instead of flying," says wotif's Daniel Finch.

Take a look at low-profile Nightcap Hotels' new Victorian opening, The Sands by Nightcap Plus in Carrum Downs, poised to capture traffic to the Mornington Peninsula, from $149, nightcaphotels.com.au. The Sebel Ringwood, which opened between lockdowns in 2021, also sets visitors up for a day in the Yarra Valley, from $215, thesebel.com

"And the new Holiday Inn & Suites Sydney Bondi Junction is in a brilliant location, with great local facilities – a product that's more affordable and approachable for those who want to have a trip but pull down its pricing," Finch adds.

Next year, Ascott brings the Citadines Apart'hotel brand to Australia, opening a 252-room property in North Sydney, but it's in the suburbs and regions where it will continue to grow its Quest apart-hotels, with four opening in 2022 and another six in 2023 in suburbs up and down the east coast, from Brisbane to Blacktown in Sydney and south to Geelong.

And as we resume our jetsetting habits, the area around airports are another source of rich new hotel pickings. Gold Coast Airport now has its first hotel with the opening of the Rydges Gold Coast Airport in late 2020, from $220, while the new 15-room Aerotel Sydney opened in Sydney's international terminal (T1) in July. From $82/three hours, or $215/overnight. See myaerotel.com Also the Holiday Inn Sydney Airport has just whipped the curtains back on a $15 million refurbishment. From $229. See holidayinn-sydneyairport.com

BELLS & WHISTLES

Electric car charging stations, guest laundries, snappy Wi-Fi and black-out blinds: what do you need in a hotel stay?

"The new-build three and 4four-stars really feel like five-stars; with the technology they use, they're spacious, and they've got comfortable linens and pillow options," says Finch.

Smart keys and smarter tvs, kitchenettes and 24-hour receptions are the hallmark of many of these properties, dubbed "select-service" brands, as opposed to the more upmarket "full-service" properties. Expect the trimmings – such as dental kits and robes – supplied on demand, rather than as a matter of course.

Trimming the price tag doesn't always trim the facilities. Changes such as abandoning single-use toiletries in favour of more environmentally-friendly refillable bottles is a win-win for everyone. Cheaper for the hotel, better for the environment.

Holiday Inns traditionally have full-service restaurants and more facilities designed to keep you onsite, while its three-star Holiday Inn Express hotels, including the new Holiday Inn Express Melbourne Little Collins, pare back all the froth, while keeping the essentials, such as its grab-and-go free breakfasts, laundries and pillow choice. From $233 a night.

The group's Green Engage system runs across all IHG brands, where guests can earn loyalty points if they skip the occasional room service – thus saving energy and water. IHG's Australian hotels also partner with OzHarvest for food rescue, and Soap Aid, which cleans and remolds all those half-used bars of soap to be sent to disadvantaged communities in Australia and abroad, saving soap from landfill, and people from disease. So, with a smaller price tag, and environmentally sound choices, you're bound to sleep easy.

FIVE STAND-OUT WALLET-FRIENDLY HOTELS

1 VOCO MELBOURNE CENTRAL

A stylish new-build hotel tucked away within Melbourne's beating heart, big-city views, windows that actually open, a heated plunge pool and a strong sustainability focus including bedding made from recycled plastics, and bamboo bikes. From $251, see vocohotels.com

2 THE BENSON, CAIRNS

For lovers of Americana, the locally-owned, 101-room hotel channels a Miami-Florida beach vibe with a stylish art deco slant, with live music and a rooftop bar following a major refurb. The four-star, city-centre hotel is five minutes from the esplanade. From $220, see thebensonhotel.com.au

3 HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES, SUNSHINE COAST

Opened in Maroochydore in May, the newest HIE includes suites designed for longer stays, with kitchenettes and separate living rooms great for travelling families or couples. From $239, see ihg.com/holidayinnexpress

4 AC BY MARRIOTT MELBOURNE SOUTHBANK

A Spanish flavour, urbane room design and expansive views over the Melbourne CBD skyline, all set a short tram ride from Flinders St Station. From $220, see achotelmelbournesouthbank.com

5 THE DORSETT GOLD COAST

Playing four-star fiddle to the five-star The Darling hotel in the glitzy Star casino complex, Dorsett is steps from the beach. The hotel, decorated by a local artist, offers 313 rooms, some with balconies, a poolside bar and spa. From $200. See dorsetthotels.com