The Coolest New Hotel in Melbourne Is a Rooftop Trailer Park
Melbourne is really good at taking lemons and turning them into hip, urbane, artisanal lemonade. The CBD’s once-deserted back alleys are now its famed laneways and the formerly industrial Southbank neighbourhood has become a thriving arts precinct. In the latest instance, Melbourne has seen a multi-storey car park – a place of concrete and exhaust fumes – and thought: high-end caravan park. A less imaginative city wouldn’t have seen the potential, but Melbourne did.
Photo: Andrew Curtis
Well, it wasn’t Melbourne per se, it was James Fry, whose vision of a “caravan hotel” called Notel took shape over two years. Fry and his father, Blair, are the owners of Fry’s Fast Park (the car park) and Fry had long toyed with the idea of turning the rooftop into something that would make the most of the CBD location.
He headed to the United States, where he sourced six vintage Airstream trailers, shipped them to Melbourne and, using a crane, installed them on top of the three-storey car park. Impressive, no?
Photo: Andrew Curtis
Photo: Andrew Curtis
Notel is now up and running, with each gleaming trailer fitted out with a queen-sized bed and an ensuite with a full-sized shower and fancy body products, plus a complimentary minibar stocked with local small-batch beers, Champagne and snacks. One of the trailers, known as the Airstream with Benefits, includes an open-air spa and a private deck overlooking the goings-on in Flinders Lane. The other five have decks that open onto a communal area complete with crimson astroturf.
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Photo: Andrew Curtis
Each one has an iPad Pro loaded with Netflix and a virtual concierge to help visitors book restaurants, find bars and generally navigate the city like a cultured local. Entry is via smartphone and guests will be able to find their trailer by its numberplate.
Notel | 388 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
