‘Australia’s worst motel’: The StayInn in Coburg North for sale for $3.7m
Opportunities to own a property dubbed “Australia’s worst” – like this motel once plagued by a notorious reputation for drugs and crime – don’t pop up every day, especially on a giant block in Melbourne’s crowded inner north.
This boarded-up former motel-cum-rooming house, once described as a “slum”, “junkie city”, and “disgusting” by guests, has a drained pool and 30 ready-to-renovate rooms.
The StayInn Motel at 844-846 Sydney Road, Coburg North, just nine kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, is for sale with price expectations of over $3.7 million.
While the StayInn initially operated as a three-star commercial motel for around 20 years, it later added crisis accommodation, offering rooms to people who had no other place to go, including those experiencing homelessness, ex-prisoners, drug addicts and refugees.
Negative reviews cited discarded syringes, cockroaches, bed bugs, graffiti and bullet-holed glass. One person even labelled it “the worst hotel on the planet”.
However, while the property had negative reviews as the worst-rated hotel on TripAdvisor, which inspired a short VICE documentary on SBS in 2018, it also attracted favourable ones for its community service.
“Just watched the vice doco – these people are a beacon of light in such dark times,” Katey-Rose Thomson wrote.
Another reviewer, Min, said, “Thank you for your work for the community and for humanity. This is more valuable than any five-star hotel. I am humbled by the work you’re doing and grateful for your contribution to our society.”
Investors with a cup-half-full outlook will have the last laugh as they gain a big 2289-square-metre block with double street frontage on Sydney Road, the longest continuous shopping strip in the southern hemisphere.
A block of this size in such a well-connected, rapidly evolving precinct surrounded by public transport, parkland and amenities has been described by agents as “incredibly scarce”.
The property, being marketed via an expressions-of-interest campaign by NSL Property Group, stopped operating as a motel about six years ago, and has since been vacant and boarded up.
NSL Property Group managing director Guy Naselli says the property is now ready for its next chapter.
“This site has come a long way from its past to become one of the most exciting development opportunities in Melbourne’s inner north,” he says.
“We’re getting groups from childcare and aged care looking at it. We’ve got a number of not-for-profits looking at it as short-term accommodation. And then you’ve got your traditional residential developers as well.
“Land parcels of this size and proximity to the CBD are exceptionally rare.”
The mixed-use zoned site has a previous council permit for mixed-use residential accommodation, and could potentially be extended via application.
“A lot of the heavy lifting has been done already,” Naselli says.
Originally operating as the Coburg Coach House Hotel in the 1990s, the property was rebranded as the StayInn Motel in the early 2000s with serviced apartments and a cafe.
It attracted budget-conscious travellers who mixed with those using crisis accommodation, and some bad elements – in 2017, a man was beaten and shot in the leg there during a dispute over money – before closing its doors in July 2019.
The property, under philanthropic management, reportedly offered “cash back” to clients for doing odd jobs around the place.
VICE filmmaker Andrew Kavanagh stayed at the motel for four months while creating his 47-minute documentary, released in November 2018.
His observations included seeing a discarded syringe tucked under a bed and a visitor sleeping for three days straight in a bed covered in his own waste.
Kavanagh reportedly “stumbled upon the StayInn by accident on TripAdvisor”, observing how guests had branded it Melbourne’s and Australia’s worst-reviewed hotel.
“The scariest motel experience me and my family have ever had,” a guest wrote. “Do not stay here. Ever,” another warned.
“We literally fled the premises in fear of our lives before we even stayed a night,” yet another wrote.
The property was listed for sale in 2021 with price expectations of more than $4.5 million, but failed to sell.
Coburg North is home to a mix of families and singles aged on average 20 to 39 years. A three-bedroom home there costs an average $969,000.
Excellent tram and bus links provide easy access to the city, Northland Shopping Centre, and Sydney Road Shopping Plaza.
It backs onto Merri Creek and is a short walk from Coburg Lake, Village Cinemas, Mercy College and Pentridge Village.
Sydney Road offers a melting pot of retail, dining, and cultural experiences, particularly in the Brunswick and Coburg sections.
The expressions-of-interest campaign closes at 3pm on Thursday, August 21.
