Nu By Yoo Hotel to overlook Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens

South Melbourne will become home to French designer Philippe Starck’s first Australian Yoo Hotel.

The Nu By Yoo Hotel will be part of a $170 million mixed-use development at 28 Albert Road, overlooking the Royal Botanic Gardens and Shrine of Remembrance.

The 88-room hotel that is set to open in 2025 will have a botanical theme.

The hotel will feature cascading greenery and suspended secret gardens over the hotel lobby.

The hotel will also have a ground-floor restaurant, bar, gymnasium and pool.

La Vie Hotels & Resorts is bringing the YOO brand to Australia.

“We feel the Australian market is ready for a new hotel brand and one that takes design and lifestyle to a new level,” said managing director Craig Bond.

The hotel will be one of the centrepieces of the mixed-use project, led by DCF Property Group and headed by Zhiwei Huang and local developer, M Property.

DCF is reported to have paid $20.7 million for the 1007sqm site in May 2018, which is currently going through the planning system and is expected to be permitted later this year.

YOO was co-founded in 1999 by Starck and property entrepreneur John Hitchcox, who is YOO Group Chairman.

The company has designed hotel, residential, and mixed-use projects in over 36 countries.

Hitchcox said Melbourne is the perfect city to launch YOO Hotels in Australia.

Irit Jackson, 10^th May 2022