Collection by TFE Hotels is building momentum across Australia and New Zealand, with its independent, branded hotels earning major global and local recognition for design, service, and sense of place.
Three Collection by TFE Hotels properties have retained One MICHELIN Key for a second consecutive year, earning recognition across three distinct hotel brands in Australia and New Zealand.
The Calile in Brisbane, The Hotel Britomart in Auckland, and The EVE Hotel in Sydney each received the rating. Melbourne’s Hannah St Hotel, which opened late last year, earned its first listing in the MICHELIN Guide’s hotel selection.
The Calile has an established record at The World’s 50 Best Hotels awards. It was named Best Hotel in Oceania for two consecutive years and placed at No. 83 on the 2026 extended list. It is the only hotel in Oceania to have appeared on the awards lists every year since its inception.
Hannah St Hotel has also been named Premium Luxury Lifestyle Hotel of the Year at the Victorian Accommodation Awards and Best New Hotel by Gourmet Traveller.
The results highlight Collection by TFE Hotels, in which each hotel has its own distinct brand, design, and relationship with its city. TFE Hotels operates the independently owned hotels, working with owners to develop hotels that stand on their individual identities.
With the opening of the independently owned brand, The Calile, in October 2018, TFE Hotels and owners Calile Malouf Investments (CMI) set new benchmarks in Brisbane hospitality. Its restaurants and public spaces have made it a destination for Brisbane residents and travellers alike.
The Hotel Britomart followed in Auckland with owner Cooper and Company, bringing a hotel into the regenerated waterfront neighbourhood. The more recent additions, TOGA Group’s The EVE in Sydney and Time & Place’s Hannah St Hotel in Melbourne, have taken the Collection into two major gateway cities.
“We firmly believe in the opportunity for strong, independently branded luxury boutique hotels in Australia and New Zealand,” said TFE Hotels’ Global Marketing Officer Katia Giurtalis.
Giurtalis explained that the hotels’ independent ownership and community connections gave guests a stronger sense of the places they were visiting.
At The Hotel Britomart, New Zealand suppliers are part of the building and the stay. Wisewool made bespoke mattresses from engineered strong wool for the guest-room window seats, creating a place to sit above the neighbourhood’s laneways and towards the harbour. The partnership gives a locally developed material a practical role that guests can experience for themselves.
The Auckland hotel is also inviting visitors into The Libraries for its Aotearoa High Tea on selected Sundays. Usually used by hotel guests and for private gatherings, the heritage spaces contain New Zealand art and design alongside kauri tables. Executive Chef Andrew Lautenbach’s menu draws on seasonal produce and some of his favourite childhood treats.
In Sydney, The EVE has made dining a prominent part of its offer at Wunderlich Lane. Two venues from the team behind The Apollo, Cho Cho San and Olympus are scheduled to open in November.
Tenjo will be a 100-seat rooftop izakaya, with Head Chef Fredy Lim leading a menu of sushi, yakitori, tempura and claypot rice. Its retractable glass roof will let the space shift between an enclosed dining room and an open rooftop setting.
On the ground floor, Baptiste is planned as an 80-seat French bistro serving from breakfast until late, seven days a week. Rôtisserie chicken and steak frites sit among the main dishes, while an oyster station, pavement seating and two daily happy hours give the restaurant several ways to welcome local diners as well as hotel guests.
“We didn't want to open a restaurant that read as brand new, but a bistro that felt like it had been on the corner for years,” said owner and operator Jonathan Barthelmess. That neighbourhood ambition sits comfortably with The EVE’s position between Redfern and Surry Hills.
Hannah St Hotel has also worked with Melbourne businesses to shape its guest offer including Flack Studio who designed the interiors and fine art photographer Jo Duck whose irreverent photos adorn the guest walls, while Melbourne-born MECCA brand has recently partnered on a sleep kit which is available to purchase from every guest-room minibar.
Starting in October, selected suites will include the brand’s pillow mist as part of turndown. The hotel also has a 20-metre lap pool, gym and Work Club with podcast studio and meeting rooms, extending the range of spaces guests can use during their stay.
At The Calile, the connection with Brisbane continues through dining and its Calile Culture programme. This October, Hellenika will host a ticketed lunch and conversation with restaurateur Simon Gloftis and food writer Jill Dupleix to mark the release of Gloftis’ book. It is another occasion that brings people into the hotel for more than an overnight stay.
But it’s not just aesthetics that drive the success of these brands.
“The guest experience at these hotels consistently exceeds expectations, whether through destination dining, bespoke experiences or intuitive service,” said John Sutcliffe, TFE Hotels’ Director of Development.
“The MICHELIN recognition is a strong endorsement of what these hotels have achieved. Each has earned recognition while retaining a character shaped by its own city, people and partnerships.”
