Hotels for Australian Open 2027

The Australian Open — the first tennis Grand Slam of the year, the 'Happy Slam' — is played at Melbourne Park over the last two weeks of January, from 17 to 31 January 2027. Held in the heart of Melbourne beside the Yarra and the sporting precinct, the tournament turns Australia's cultural capital into a fortnight-long festival of tennis in the height of the southern summer.

Melbourne's excellent hotels, laneways, coffee and restaurants make it a superb host city, and the courts are a short tram ride or walk from the centre. Stay in the CBD or Southbank for the atmosphere and easy access, and book ahead for the busy Open fortnight.

First staged in 1905 as the Australasian Championships on the grass of a Melbourne cricket ground, the Australian Open was long the most remote and least-travelled of the four Grand Slams, shifting between cities — and even countries — before it found a permanent home. Everything changed in 1988, when it moved to the purpose-built Melbourne Park and swapped grass for hard courts, and the tournament reinvented itself as the 'Happy Slam' — a sun-soaked, festival-like fortnight of night sessions, roof-covered arenas and roaring, flag-waving fan groups in the height of the southern summer.

The modern era belongs to Novak Djokovic, whose ten titles are a men's record; among the women, Margaret Court's tally still stands apart, while champions from Serena Williams to Steffi Graf define the Open era.