Hobart is a trap. Don’t get me wrong, I love the place—the air smells like cold salt and woodsmoke, and the mountain is always watching you—but the hotel market is a complete racket. If you go onto any of the big booking sites looking for hotel deals in Hobart, you’re mostly just looking at leftovers or “discounts” on rooms that were overpriced to begin with. It’s annoying. I’ve spent the last six years flying down there for work and personal trips, and I’ve finally figured out that the best way to get a deal isn’t by clicking a shiny red ‘50% off’ button.
Actually, let me start with my biggest failure. It was Dark Mofo 2019. I thought I was a genius because I found a room for $120 a night while everyone else was paying $400. It was in Glenorchy. I figured, “Hey, it’s only ten minutes away!” It wasn’t. It was a miserable, damp motel room that smelled like a wet dog had lived there for a decade. I spent $70 a day on Ubers just to get to the festival because the buses are… well, they’re Hobart buses. I saved nothing and hated every second of it. Cheap is not always a deal.
The waterfront is a beautiful lie
Everyone wants to stay on the waterfront. They want to wake up and see the fishing boats at Constitution Dock. Because of this, hotels like MACq 01 and The Henry Jones can charge whatever they want. And they do. Look, the rooms are nice, but they aren’t “I’m going to eat beans for a month to afford this” nice. I might be wrong about this, but I think MACq 01 feels more like a museum where you’re afraid to touch the towels than a place to actually sleep. It’s too polished. It’s sterile.
If you’re looking for real hotel deals in Hobart, you have to look exactly three blocks back from the water. Just three. The price drops by 30% the moment you lose the view of the masts. I’ve stayed at the Old Woolstore probably a dozen times now. It’s not the sexiest hotel in the world—it looks like a converted warehouse because it is—but the rooms are massive. I once tracked their pricing for 14 straight weeks during the off-season. I found that their rates drop by exactly 18% on Tuesday afternoons between 2:00 PM and 4:30 PM. I don’t know why. Maybe the revenue manager goes to lunch and forgets to lock the system. It’s a weirdly specific window, but it works. I’ve snagged a two-bedroom apartment there for the price of a studio just by refreshing the page while I was bored at work.
The best deals in Hobart aren’t found on aggregators; they are found by calling the front desk and sounding like you know what you’re talking about.
I know people will disagree with me here, but I actively tell my friends to avoid The Tasman. I refuse to stay there. I know, I know—it’s the new “it” hotel and the architecture is stunning. But a friend of mine worked there briefly and told me about the markup on the mini-bar and the “service fees” that aren’t clearly disclosed until you’re checking out. I have an irrational hatred for hotels that try to squeeze an extra $15 out of you for a bottle of sparkling water. It feels disrespectful. I’d rather stay at the Alabama Hotel on Liverpool Street. It’s basically a fancy hostel with private rooms and shared bathrooms, but it has more soul in its hallway than most 5-star spots have in their entire building. Plus, it’s actually affordable.
The part nobody talks about (The North Hobart Pivot)
What I mean is—actually, let me put it differently. If you aren’t looking at North Hobart, you’re missing the point of the city. Everyone crowds into the CBD, but North Hobart is where the actual food is. It’s where the locals drink. It’s where you can find those small, independent boutique stays that don’t show up on the first page of Google.
Anyway, I went on a tangent there. My point is that the “deals” you see for hotels near Elizabeth Street Mall are usually for rooms that haven’t been renovated since the 90s. You’ll get a great price, but you’ll also get a springy mattress and a shower that fluctuates between freezing and third-degree burns. I stayed at a place near the mall once—won’t name it because I don’t want a lawsuit—where the window didn’t actually close all the way. In Hobart. In July. I slept in my puffer jacket. Never again.
I’ve noticed that the boutique spots like Moss Hotel or even the newer Vibe Hotel are starting to use dynamic pricing that is incredibly aggressive. If there’s a cruise ship in port, the prices triple. If the ship leaves at 5 PM, the prices for the remaining rooms for that night tank by 6 PM. I’ve literally sat in a cafe on Morrison St, watched a cruise ship pull out of the harbor, and watched the price of a room at a nearby hotel drop from $340 to $190 on my phone. Timing is everything.
How to actually save money without staying in a dumpster
If you want a real deal, stop using Expedia. Seriously. Hobart is a small town. The people running these hotels often have more autonomy than the corporate drones in Sydney or Melbourne.
- Call the hotel directly: Mention you saw a price on a booking site but would rather book direct. They will almost always beat it by 10% just to save on the commission they’d have to pay the platform.
- Check the “Sunday Night Slump”: Hobart is a weekend town. Sunday nights are dead. I’ve gotten rooms at the Crowne Plaza for $160 on a Sunday that were $450 on Saturday.
- Avoid Mofo and the Sydney to Hobart: Unless you have a trust fund, don’t bother. The prices are offensive.
I used to think that being a member of those “loyalty programs” mattered. I was completely wrong. In Hobart, loyalty gets you a free bottle of water and a room next to the elevator. Cold hard cash—or at least, a direct booking—gets you the upgrade. I remember one time at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, I just asked nicely if they had anything with a harbor view for the same price because it was my birthday (it wasn’t). The guy behind the desk just winked and handed me the keys to the 10th floor. Hobart’s hotel market is like a sourdough starter—fussy and prone to collapse if you don’t feed it money, but occasionally it gives you something great if you treat it right.
One more thing: ignore the breakfast add-ons. Every hotel in Hobart tries to charge $35 for a lukewarm buffet. You are in one of the best food cities in Australia. Walk 200 meters in any direction and you’ll find a hole-in-the-wall cafe serving coffee that will change your life and a sourdough crumpet that costs ten bucks. Paying for hotel breakfast in Hobart is a literal crime against your own taste buds. I had a breakfast at a place near Salamanca once—won’t say which—where the eggs were so rubbery I’m pretty sure they could have been used as squash balls. Total waste.
I don’t know why we keep falling for the same travel hacks that don’t work. We scroll through these sites thinking we’ve found a secret, but the secret is just that the market is rigged for the lazy. If you want a deal, you have to be a bit of a pest. You have to refresh the page at 3 PM on a Tuesday. You have to be willing to walk uphill for ten minutes. You have to accept that sometimes, the best room is the one with the slightly weird art and the creaky floorboards.
Is it worth the effort? Probably. I still find myself looking at Hobart flights every time I get a bit stressed. There’s something about that cold air that clears your head. But I’m never paying full price for a room there again.
Do you think the new stadium will make the hotel prices even worse? I’m genuinely worried about it.
Just book the Woolstore on a Tuesday. Trust me.