Hotel of the Week: Fraser Suites, Perth

At the height of Australia’s mining boom last year, Perth earned itself a reputation that it didn’t really need: It was the City With No Beds.

A shortage of hotel rooms sent rates spiraling and vacancies tumbling. Mid-week, corporate travellers counted themselves very lucky if they secured last minute CBD rooms.

The average price of a night in a Perth hotel broke through the A$200 barrier and was the nation’s highest, above even Sydney (A$196), according to Deloitte’s half-yearly tourism and hotel market outlook.

Hotels were rebadged and refurbished, a couple of smaller operations sprung up and the state government offered a carrot or two to persuade potential hotel investors that Perth was the place to be.

The mining boom has been easing, freeing up some rooms for corporate travellers, although the declining Aussie dollar should tempt the leisure market to take up the slack.

Crucially, upmarket new supply arrived in the shape of Fraser Suites, a Singaporean global brand (Frasers Hospitality) that is beginning to make its presence felt in Australia. There are Sydney and Melbourne (Fraser Place) properties with plans to establish all-suite hotels in other key Australian cities.

Fraser Suites Perth features 236 five-star apartments located on Adelaide Terrace overlooking the Swan River. There is a sauna, swimming pool and a 24-hour gymnasium located within the complex.

There are also three inter-connecting meeting rooms which can be combined into a single function space.

Guest rooms range from studios to one- and two-bedroom apartments with washer and dryer facilities along with the standard fridge, microwave oven, iPod docking, dishwasher and kitchen. Pleasingly, wi-fi Internet access is free. Also free is the ride into Perth’s commercial heart. Regular-schedule and CAT buses which stop outside Fraser Suites take passengers on a short ride along Adelaide and St Georges Terraces without charge.

Fraser Suites has planted its 19 stories at the east end of town, bordering the Swan River and adjacent to the WACA cricket ground, where the Third Test between Australia and England will be played from December 13-17 this year.

The new Aussie Rules stadium for Perth is also breaking ground across the river, where it will rub shoulders with the Crown Perth hotel and casino resort complex.

Fraser Suites may be on the outer eastern limit of the city’s CBD, but it is well placed to become an integral part of Perth’s fast-developing, buzzy East Side.

While most of Perth’s five stars hotels have been around for a long time, the appeal of a new build is not be to underestimated. There is a pleasing attractiveness about the public areas – including the lobby bar – that should attract regular Perth visitors – and locals – to try something new and different.

The restaurant has a small but impressive menu that delivers on its promise of quality dining.

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but rarely does that apply to a hotel where both the public-view front of house operation, and the back-of-house set-up are vital to the overall smooth running of a property.

Fraser Suites Perth scores highly on both counts. Arrival and departure were handled efficiently, with executive staff on hand to ensure that any teething troubles of a fairly new property could be quickly sorted out.

Overall, in its design and service delivery, Fraser Suites was a rather sweet experience.

by Ian Jarrett

~