The Best Hotels in Brisbane, by Price Range (2026)

The hotel that put Brisbane on the international map: a low-rise building on the James Street retail and dining strip in Fortitude Valley, arranged around a thirty-metre pool that is among the most photographed in the country. It has ranked in the World's 50 Best Hotels and holds a Michelin Key, still rare in Australia. It is design-led and distinctly local; the trade-off is that it is a sociable, be-seen sort of place rather than a retreat.

The all-suite alternative to the Calile, on the West End edge of South Bank. Every room is a suite, with a marble bathroom and a private balcony; the heated rooftop pool is for guests only, and there is a piano bar below. It places regularly among Australia's best in guest-voted awards, and service is its strongest suit.

The design-led option on the water: a 312-room tower above the river at the western end of the CBD, with bold interiors, a good pool deck and a lively bar and restaurant scene. It is the most energetic of the chains here, and the least restful.

The best-sited design hotel in the city, beneath the Story Bridge in the Howard Smith Wharves precinct. Designed by SJB and hung with works by the Archibald winner Vincent Fantauzzo, it has an infinity pool and the Fiume rooftop bar above the river; its environmental credentials are structural rather than cosmetic.

The central choice within Marriott Bonvoy: a modern tower on Mary Street with a landscaped podium, a lap pool and a club lounge, a short walk from the river and the Botanic Gardens. Well run and dependable rather than exciting.

The city's newest branded hotel, opened in July 2025 in the former Hilton on Elizabeth Street — the only Australian hotel designed by the modernist Harry Seidler, its atrium intact and its lobby connected to the Queen Street Mall, with a lap pool and a new bar and restaurant, Latitude 27.