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Melbourne · Venue

Esplanade Hotel (The Espy)

A sprawling St Kilda pub-and-venue complex where basement gigs, a historic bandroom and bay-facing drinking spaces occupy the same 1878 building.

Upcoming shows
30
Address
11 The Esplanade, 3182 St Kilda
Phone
(03) 9534 0211
Next show
Thu, 1 Oct 2026
Official siteDirections
Esplanade Hotel (The Espy) in Melbourne

About Esplanade Hotel (The Espy)

Esplanade Hotel, universally called The Espy, is an around-1,700-capacity, multi-room St Kilda venue facing Port Phillip. Its distinction is scale with a past: the 1878 resort hotel now carries live music through three performance spaces, with the Gershwin Room connecting the building’s ballroom history to its bandroom present. A show here lands inside a working bayside pub, where a basement stage, public bar and upper-level rooms create several versions of a night out under one roof.

A hotel shaped by a planning fight

The present hotel opened on 7 January 1878, built for businessman and politician James Orkney. Its first life was grandly residential: 50 rooms, sitting rooms, a billiard room and a separate bar for non-residents. The building entered a different cultural chapter by the 1970s, when alternative rock became part of its identity.

Its most consequential late-century episode played out through planning hearings. In June 1998, Becton Corporation sought permission for a tower of up to 38 storeys on the site; public opposition mobilised during that year, and Port Phillip councillors considered the proposal on 15 December 1998. The hotel later closed in 2015 for restoration and reopened on 23 November 2018 after a Sand Hill Road-led revival, restoring public access across a much larger share of the building.

How the room works now

The Espy’s program suits a wide range of bills: indie and rock sit alongside pop, electronic, folk, country, R&B and jazz, with room for emerging local artists as well as touring names. Expect a venue complex instead of a single-purpose hall. The Gershwin Room provides the dedicated bandroom setting; elsewhere, the basement stage offers a more enclosed option, while the garden terrace has a retractable glass roof and views toward St Kilda Pier. Bars across the building make arrival and post-set hangs part of the format.

Sources

  1. Espy Story — Hotel Esplanade
  2. Esplanade Hotel — eMelbourne: The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online
  3. Espy Hotel Campaign 1997–2003 — St Kilda Historical Society
  4. It’s confirmed: the Espy is reopening this weekend — Time Out Melbourne
  5. The Espy’s slick new interior revealed ahead of opening — realestate.com.au

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