Christmas Party Venues in Melbourne CBD

What to Know Before Booking Christmas Party Venues

Planning a city work Christmas starts with the shape of the party: a long lunch, a seated dinner with speeches, or drinks that roll into dancing. The CBD's options run from heritage pubs on the corners of Swanston, Flinders and Bourke Streets to the 1929 Plaza Ballroom under the Regent Theatre, with rooftops and laneway bars in between. Sorting city venues by team size:

Under 20: The Cells at the Royal Melbourne Hotel includes a former cell set up as a private dining room for 10, and Saint & Rogue's Stair Nook seats 14.
Around 50 to 120: the Garden State Hotel's Observatory takes 120 standing or 50 seated, and the Loft at Saint & Rogue seats 85 under a 140-year-old cathedral ceiling.
A whole pub floor: Young & Jackson's first floor holds 180 standing or 90 seated, facing Flinders Street Station.
Several hundred: the Royal Melbourne Hotel scales up to 1,200 across five areas, and the Garden State Hotel can be hired whole for 840.
A whole-company gala: Plaza Ballroom takes corporate functions from 200 up to 1,200 guests, with Christmas pricing on enquiry.

Per-head packages start from $25 per person for canapés at Young & Jackson and from $35 per person at the Royal Melbourne Hotel. The Elephant & Wheelbarrow prices by spend instead – its top floor starts from $2,000 minimum spend on Monday to Thursday, and spends there go up from mid-November to the end of December.

Saint & Rogue trades Monday to Friday from midday, suiting a weekday Christmas lunch, with plated menus, a shared feast for 24 or more and an afternoon tea for 12 or more; final numbers are due five business days out.
The Garden State Hotel serves an Italian feasting menu of three or four courses for groups of 20 or more, and its Tippy-Tay restaurant seats 90.
The Waterside Hotel's Level 1 seats 120 with projectors and wireless microphones for the speeches and presentations; banquet menus are from $88 per person with no hire fee, just a food and beverage minimum set by date and format.
Alto Event Space seats 150 in the GPO building and clears the same room for dancing afterwards, from $121 per person for four hours, with a licence to 1am.

Drinks, dancing and a late finish

The Royal Melbourne Hotel's glass-roofed Atrium has DJ and PA gear, staging and party lighting, and its heated Courtyard has retractable awnings for 120 or more standing.
Rooftop teams can book a zone at Good Heavens from $37 per person, a section of Rooftop @ State of Grace from $40 per person, or one of four sections for up to 50 at The Rooftop @ Imperial Hotel, where grazing tables start at $31 per person for 50 or more.
Morris House can be taken whole for 730, lines up comedians from its basement club, and caters morning tea and sandwich platters for daytime work events.
Half of Beneath Driver Lane can be booked for 60 for work drinks; it runs whisky or martini masterclasses and is licensed until 3am.

Venues for Christmas Parties: Your Questions Answered

Which city venue suits a weekday Christmas lunch?

Saint & Rogue opens Monday to Friday from midday and offers plated menus, shared feasts and afternoon teas. Morris House also caters daytime corporate events.

Can one CBD venue fit 500 or more staff?

Plaza Ballroom (200 to 1,200), the Royal Melbourne Hotel (up to 1,200), the Garden State Hotel (840) and Morris House (730) can all take a group that size.

Do prices rise in the Christmas season?

The Elephant & Wheelbarrow's spends climb between mid-November and the end of December; The Waterside Hotel ties its minimum to the date; Plaza Ballroom prices each Christmas function on enquiry.

Where can the team keep going after dinner?

Beneath Driver Lane holds a licence to 3am, Alto Event Space's licence runs to 1am on any night of the week, and the Royal Melbourne Hotel's Heritage Room has its own dance floor for 50 to 250.