Ever heard of dual hotel integration? It’s essentially as it sounds – a two-hotels-in-one concept where the two brands have their own separate rooms and suites but share public spaces.

The unique concept is coming to Australia next year in the form of a joint-at-the-tower Novotel and ibis in Melbourne.

Opening on Little Lonsdale Street, the first-development-of-its-kind for Australia will span across 36 levels with ibis Melbourne Little Lonsdale taking up 270 guests rooms in the lower tier while Novotel guests will reside in the 213 suites in the higher levels.

Novotel 2

Between the top Novotel levels and the lower ibis floors, guests will find shared social spaces accessible to all guests including restaurants, bars, a gym and meeting and event spaces.

AccorHotels Pacific’s Chief Operating Officer, Simon McGrath, described the new hybrid property as a “significant” development for Melbourne as the first building offering two hospitality brands “scaled in a vertical integration”.

Novotel 3

“With development real estate in CBD locations becoming increasingly sparse and with construction costs soaring, it makes perfect sense to literally scale up and maximise the investment across a number of brands and price points.”

Simon McGrath, AccorHotels Pacific Chief Operating Officer

“The hotels will be able to share back of house facilities from kitchen to engineering, common areas and even staff in housekeeping and finance resulting in greater efficiencies, but importantly, each property will maintain its brand integrity, standards and product experience that our Novotel and ibis guests have come to expect.

Novotel and ibis Melbourne Little Lonsdale Street will expand AccorHotels’ presence in Melbourne CBD to over 25 hotels and 3,600 rooms.

What do you think of the dual hotel concept?