Garde Hotel (Warders Hotel) — Hotel in Fremantle

I chose this property due to the heritage and history of the building. I also wanted to explore more boutique hotels rather than big chain hotels. I think I have satisfied my two goals and while I think it was an interesting and overall passable experience, I would not choose to stay here agiain.

Let's start with the positives. The location of the hotel is very convenient. It is about 7 minutes walk to train station, 15 minute walk to wharf and 30 seconds to Fremantle markets. All sorts of food and entertainment was at my fingertip. I love the convenience, including a great gin bar and a fusion chinese restaurant called Emily Taylor right next to the hotel. When I say "right next", I really mean it. The diners of that restaurant can look right into my hotel room (see below for more).

The room itself was okay. We had a courtyard room which means it opens up to a ground floor courtyard and we could sit there and watch pedestrians (and vice versa). The king bed was on the coutyard side (the quieter side) and the single bed was on the noisy (Emily Taylor) side. Bed was comfortable, good general cleanliness and the bathroom was newly renovated. Both the bathroom layout and the water pressure was great. However, no bathtub. Toiletries were from Apelle and made in China.

I really enjoyed Gimlet, which is in the hotel complex and a very small nook (the size of half of a hotel room). We had arrival drinks voucher (one per person and redeemable only between 5pm to 6pm so a bit restricted) and "breakfast" vouchers (one coffee and one pastry for each guest - some would not call it a breakfast). Although quantity was lacking the quality was great.

Now the negatives...

Emily Taylor was very noisy, and the noise really travels through to the hotel room. I was woken up at 1.16am by the noise from the bar. This was really not cool, particularly when it costs $750 a night I expected a good night sleep.

The bathroom has motion-sensed, full-strength lights which cannot be dimmed or controlled. This was very annoying when I went to the toilet at night.

The light to the amenities room (jron, iron board, hair dryer and safe) only switches off if the door is fully closed, however the door could not be fully closed no matter how we tried so we ended up needing to sleep with the light on (it was not a very big place so the light was too bright for sleep).

Room service included making bed only. Bath mat on the floor was not changed (again, passable if it was a $200 room but this was a $750 per night room and I expected a lot more).

On arrival, mini bar was stocked with 2 beers, 1 small bottle of chardonay, 1 can of sprite and 1 can of coke, and one mini packet of red rock deli chips. We stayed 2 nights and I was disappointed that the mini bar was not replenished at all.

Conclusion

I think it would deserve a 3 to 4 star rating if it was a $200-$300 room however it charged such a premium and yet under-delivered. It was an interesting experience however it was probably a...

This is our 5th stay at Warders, but first time staying at the newly opened Garde Hotel portion. Reception staff were lovely and we were able to park our car within the secure complex for our 3 night stay. Fantastic location and walking distance to our favourite places in Fremantle. We stayed in the Helen Bath Suite. Beautiful room with comfortable bedding, fantastic shower and deep bath. Oddly only 1 chair at the dining table and 1 chair outside the room when there are 2 of us. A lot of night time noise from Freo Social next door. Minibar was lacking compared to when we stay in the Warders cottages. Just 1 Twix, 1 packet of chips, 2 beers and a small wine. Normally there is more so unsure if it was perhaps just an oversight or it has permanently changed to this. Breakfast had a good selection of fruit, muesli, yoghurt and breads. There is a self service coffee machine ,however we opted to order Barista cappucinos for a fee and they were delicious. Our room was not cleaned the first day despite putting the "clean me" sign out. The second day not cleaned either and had to go down and ask for our room to be serviced. We weren't on the list for included welcome drinks either and the wait staff had to go and organise for us to be put on the list. Overall disappointed in the service and felt forgotten about for the entire stay, which was a belated birthday holiday. We still love the Warders cottages so next time will give the new Garde Hotel section a miss and stay back at the cottages as we have always had welcoming and wonderful...

What a fantastic little hotel, lots of history, beautifully restored whilst keeping the original elements and providing all the modern amenities you expect and more. In room on tap chilled, filtered water in both still and sparkling was a new one for me!

Everything is a bit quirky with the hotel fitting into the spaces available, so expect odd little turns and hidden little bits of interest. As an example the original outside windows are still in place, but modern double glazed sound insulated windows have been fitted on the inside of them, thoughtfully important for a hotel in the middle of Freo.

The staff in reception and the cute Gimlet bar were really friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble, they were really happy to chat about the hotel and show off some of the nods to the 1800s layout like the different coloured paving that shows what the back yard layouts used to be like.

Unusually just about everything was included, the mini bar contents including the wine, beer and chocolate. An evening drink in Gimlet (great range of gins) and breakfast (good quality but limited to a continental style because of the tiny size of Gimlet), the on tap sparkling water, even a lime and a lemon on a little chopping board in the room were all included, a lot of other hotels could learn from that!

For standard hotel stuff, superb location right in the middle of Freo, quiet (due to the sound insulation), great bed and linen, large well appointed bathroom, will be...