Pro-invest Group and IHG Hotels & Resorts announce they have signed a franchise agreement to open Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Flinders this year, as the premium boutique Hotel Indigo brand continues its global and Australasian expansion.

Set to open in mid-2023, the Flinders Lane hotel had been operated by IHG under its Holiday Inn brand for several decades. Following the recent acquisition of the property by Pro-invest, it will rebrand to Hotel Indigo - drawing on the brand’s distinct ability to embody the essence of the local neighbourhood across its design, dining and service offering.

The rebrand will see the property undergo an extensive AUD$20 million refurbishment and repositioning as a creatively curated retreat with 216 guest rooms, a street-side Spanish tapas restaurant and bar along with meeting facilities for up to 200 people. It is destined to become one of Melbourne’s leading boutique hotels, with guest experiences inspired by the Flinders Lane locale and the array of Melbourne’s acclaimed dining, shopping, art and cultural attractions on its doorstep.

Jan Smits, CEO, Asia Pacific, Pro-invest Group said: “We’re thrilled to be working with IHG Hotels & Resorts to bring the Hotel Indigo brand to Melbourne, a city that provides the perfect backdrop for this creatively unique boutique brand.

“Our $20m repositioning to create Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Flinders will bring a distinctly new destination to this vibrant CBD precinct. It will become the sixth hotel Pro-invest operates in the city when it opens mid-year; and joins Hotel Indigo Brisbane Central as our second property operating under this brand,” he adds.

Matt Tripolone, Managing Director - Australasia & Pacific at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “We are so pleased to see our partnership with Pro-invest go from strength to strength with the opening of Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Flinders. It continues the growth we’ve had together across the Holiday Inn Express, voco Hotels, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Hotel Indigo brands, and the huge momentum behind the Hotel Indigo brand in Australasia and globally.”

With 262 open or pipeline hotels globally, IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand is one of the world’s leading boutique premium brands. In Australasia, Hotel Indigo has opened in Adelaide and Brisbane, with pipeline hotels coming soon in Melbourne and Auckland. This is the second Hotel Indigo in the Pro-invest Group portfolio, joining Hotel Indigo Brisbane City Centre.

Pro-invest is IHG’s largest franchise partner across Australasia and has a partnership that has seen them open an extensive estate of Holiday Inn Express hotels across Australia and New Zealand, as well as recent openings under the Kimpton, voco and Hotel Indigo brands.

IHG is currently enjoying its largest ever period of growth in Australasia, with a significant number of recent and upcoming openings under its InterContinental, Kimpton, voco, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo brands, as well as huge city and regional growth for its Holiday Inn brand family.