Perth’s hotel shortage seemed like such a long, long time ago.

Feature by Max Veenhuyzen

Today, travellers and staycationers alike are spoiled for choice when it comes to places to stay in the West Australian capital. While the CBD is already home to a number of impressive new beds-for-the-night such as Como The Treasury and The Westin – the city’s latest crop adds even more diversity to the mix, from luxurious and high-end to serious bang for the buck.

Ritz-Carlton

The Ritz-Carlton isn’t just Perth’s biggest hotel opening of 2019: it’s one of the year’s most important arrivals anywhere in Australia. Since word got out that the international luxury-hotel chain was opening its first Australian property in Perth, all eyes have been on Elizabeth Quay as the Ritz-Carlton’s distinctive shimmering towers have slowly taken shape.

Western Australia is a key motif, from the 10,000 pieces of Kimberley sandstone that adorn both the interior and exterior of the property, to the intense focus on the state’s produce and wine in the hotel’s signature restaurant, Hearth. The Ritz-Carlton is home to 205 rooms as well as a hotel-in-a-hotel, the exclusive Ritz-Carlton Club, complete with its own concierge and alfresco area featuring panoramic views of the river.

_{Infinity pool at the Ritz-Carlton Perth, Elizabeth Quay}

_{Songbird Bar and Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Perth, Elizabeth Quay}

Quay Perth

Located directly opposite Elizabeth Quay, the boutique 80-room Quay Perth coolly mixes business and pleasure. Level Nine at Quay Perth, the hotel’s fully equipped co-working space that occupies all of the ninth floor, is pitched at both locals and travellers and features sweeping views of both the Swan River and Elizabeth Quay.

After hours, in-house guests and visitors can head to HQ, the hotel’s rooftop bar that makes the most of those vistas. Come for the theatrical cocktails (Old Fashioneds presented under a plume of smoke, say), stay for punchy Asian-inspired small plates including sticky pork baos and Szechuan-spiced chicken skin.

_{Esplanade Studio, Quay Perth}

_{HQ Bar and Kitchen, Quay Perth}

The Adnate

Matt Adnate, street artist and the namesake for this new 250-room hotel on Perth’s cosmopolitan Hay Street, clearly brought his A-Game for the unveiling of the city’s first Art Series accommodation.

While The Adnate features plenty of artistic flourishes throughout – giclée prints aplenty, original canvases in the lobby – it’s the hotel’s 25-storey mega mural that elicits the most comments. A celebration of the city’s history from Nyoongar (the traditional owners of the land) to now, the eye-catching artwork is a serious statement of intent. The outdoor heated pool – and attached bar and restaurant – makes relaxation easy.

_{The Adnate, Perth}

_{Matt Adnate at The Adnate, Perth}

Ibis Styles East Perth

Starring 252 rooms spread across 18 floors, the Ibis Styles East Perth is, by room number, the world’s largest modular-construction hotel. (Modular construction, a Lego-like building method that consists of assembling prefabricated components rather than building a property from scratch, is growing in popularity around the world).

Designed with value-minded business and family travellers in mind, the hotel features bunk bed accommodation and co-working space and is located a short stroll away from the WACA and the business district.

_{Ibis Styles, East Perth}

Published October 2019