It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, near Lake Burley Griffin and Parliament House.

It was built to house politicians when the Federal Parliament moved to Canberra from Melbourne in 1927.

It was followed shortly after (in 1926) by the Hotel Kurrajong, located on the other side of the central axis of the Parliamentary Triangle.

[4] When James Scullin became Prime Minister in 1929, he refused to live in The Lodge, the official residence of the Prime Minister, and he and his wife lived at the Hotel Canberra during parliamentary sessions, and at their home in Melbourne at other times.

[7] The Hyatt Hotel Canberra has been owned by Thailand-based conglomerate TCC Group, which purchased the building for AU $80 million in 2008.