This Content Is Only For Subscribers
Drifter is about to become a feature in three more cities- Wellington, Auckland and Melbourne expanding its network across late 2026 and 2027 as its Trans-Tasman growth picks up steam.
Drifter Wellington opens in the fourth quarter of 2026 inside the city’s former Post Office in Te Aro, bringing 282 beds across 51 rooms, including 15 private rooms and two custom Drifter Dream Pod rooms. Drifter Auckland follows in the second quarter of 2027 at 37 Wellesley Street West, with 383 beds across 80 all-ensuite rooms. Together with Drifter leading property in Christchurch, which opened in June 2024, Wellington and Auckland will place Drifter across our three major cities. Across the ditch, Melbourne will get Drifter’s largest and most ambitious property yet in the third quarter of 2027, transforming an existing 118-room CBD building.
It’s the next stage for a brand that has built a portfolio of 11 properties and around 3,500 beds across Australia and New Zealand in under four years – and one that’s chosen its next cities deliberately rather than chasing the places where visitor numbers are currently growing fastest.
“Auckland’s the main way people land in the country, so it made sense to connect there first,” says Drifter co-founder and co-chief executive officer Hugh Stephenson. “Wellington’s a bit different, the building and the city gave us a shot at opening somewhere with the same mix of art, food, music and travel that Drifter’s built around. Queenstown’s actually high on our list too, it’s just not this round. We will plant a flag in Rotorua in due course too, and all the other amazing natural wonders around ANZ.”
Christchurch has given Drifter a strong indication on who its guests are, with international travellers making up 80 to 85 per cent of occupancy there. Hugh expects that mix to look different city by city.
“Auckland might end up even more international than Christchurch, it’s where most people land first. Wellington will probably look pretty similar to Christchurch. But we’re building in more for business and domestic travellers at both, so that mix will shift and diversify over time.”
None of it is a leap of faith, either. Christchurch has already handed Drifter the numbers it needed to back opening two more properties, and Wellington is already showing early signs of demand.
“Christchurch’s given us real numbers, occupancy and rate that back opening two more. Wellington’s already taking bookings and the early interest is strong.” he says.
With new flight routes opening into both cities, it would be easy to assume timing was built around improving connectivity, but Hugh says “It didn’t factor in at all originally. New routes have come along since and they help, but they’re not why we’re opening. Drifter is building the largest network of premium hybrid hotels across ANZ, and it’s important we’re in all the key cities, each in our own unique way.”
Christchurch has also proven there’s an appetite for choice, with private rooms already generating 46 per cent of the property’s room revenue. Hugh expects that pattern, rather than the exact split, to carry through to the new sites.
“That’ll move around site to site depending on demand. What’s stayed steady in Christchurch is people wanting both private and shared, and we’re expecting the same in Wellington and Auckland.”
Staffing two more properties in a sector that’s struggled to find workers might normally be a concern, but Hugh says Drifter’s positioning has helped shield it from the worst of it.
“Staffing has been hard for everyone, though we feel fairly insulated from it. Drifter Christchurch just won Best Hostel at WYSTC, and having a product like that means we attract people who aren’t just looking for a job. Between that and our network and some of what we offer our team, we’ve got a genuinely different proposition. That said, ANZ definitely needs more people in hospitality, the robots aren’t going to do it.”
