About Spavulo, a boutique hotel in Brisbane
Spavulo began as a conversation between two friends who wanted a Brisbane hotel that felt less like a hotel and more like a well-run guesthouse in the city.
A long lease, a leaky roof, and a lot of stubbornness
The building on Ann Street had been a lot of things before we signed the lease in 2016. None of them were a hotel. The first walk-through took an hour and we spent most of it convincing ourselves it was a bad idea, then stayed until the light went orange through the east windows and stopped arguing.
Renovation ran fourteen months longer than the builder promised. We opened in the spring of 2018 with twenty-eight keys, one kitchen, and a rough plan that we described to anyone who asked as "do less, but do it properly." That plan hasn't really changed since.
What we've actually built
Not a timeline of press releases. These are the moments that changed how the hotel runs, in the order they happened.
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May 2018
Twenty-eight rooms opened on the top four floors. For the first three weeks we had no sign on the street because the council took its time.
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February 2020
The ground-floor kitchen was finished and we ran our first chef's table for twelve people. It sold out in two days and has basically run since.
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March 2022
We moved the whole building to a direct-booking model and cut the commission-heavy channels. Rates went up slightly, guest complaints about bait pricing went to zero.
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November 2023
Six rooms were combined into four Signature Suites on the fifth floor. It cost us revenue in the short term and paid for itself within a year.
Three things we keep coming back to
Small over big
Twenty-eight rooms means we can know the guests, train the team properly, and notice when something's off before it becomes a complaint on a review site.
Direct and honest
You book with us, you get the rate we quote. No resort fees, no minibar surcharges, no newsletter subscription you didn't ask for at check-in.
Food as the anchor
The kitchen is the loudest part of the hotel and we like it that way. It gives the building a rhythm, and it gives guests a reason to come back in the evening.
The team behind the front desk
A small group, most of them long-term, all of whom have opinions about coffee and can point you to a decent lunch inside three minutes.
Marcus Whitlock
Owner and general manager. Opened the hotel in 2018 and still does the Sunday night shift because he says it keeps him honest.
Lena Vasquez
Head chef. Runs the chef's table evenings and has a habit of changing the menu two days before service. It works.
Tobias Reid
Front of house. Has worked in hotels in three countries and knows more about Brisbane's restaurant scene than anyone else here.
Amara Lin
Housekeeping lead. Joined in 2019 and is the reason the rooms feel the same every time you come back.
Rooms across four floors, each one laid out differently because the old building wouldn't allow anything else.
Guests who book a second stay within eighteen months. We don't chase it with points programs.
Staff who've been here since the first week. Everyone else has joined since 2019.
What we actually offer now
We run two experiences properly rather than ten experiences badly. Both are bookable directly, and if you're unsure which one fits, ring the front desk and we'll tell you honestly, even if it means pointing you elsewhere.
Signature Suites
