Aurea Hotel Perth Kings Park — Hotel in Perth

It's a bit dated, perhaps fifteen years since major renovations, but it has everything you need and wonderful staff.

I stayed in a basic room, but it was large, with a great bed, decent furniture, and a good view of the city from the window. It wasn't a great room to lounge around in (no lounge, coffee table, or kitchenette) but was perfect for a comfortable rest between frequent outings into the city.

The front of house staff were fantastically attentive, helpful, and friendly. The reception is staffed 24/7 and obtaining a spare key when I locked myself out of my room at 2am was extremely painless. There were three or four young French ladies who seemed to have everything well in hand with their front of house duties.

The restaurant prices are reasonable and the quality quite good. During the two weeks I stayed at the hotel I had several great evenings of conversation with other guests. What really sold me on the Sullivan was meeting returning guests, including one couple who'd been staying there on every trip to Perth for most of their lives. It's that kind of place.

As a base for exploration of Perth, Sullivan's is very well situated. It's a short walk into the city which I did several times. More often I caught the bus. There's one every 10 minutes or so that'll take you to the Elizabeth Quay Bus Station from which you can take a bus (or train from the Perth Underground train station next door) to anywhere in Perth. The buses between Sullivan's and the EQ Bus Station don't stop until after midnight on weeknights. The bus is free from Sullivan's into the EQ Bus Station, and also free to most other CBD spots. I didn't need to hire a car at all.

There's a lovely pool out the back that guests make use of and the guest laundry is there too. There is sadly only one guest washing machine ($4 load, $2.50 washing powder) so if you're unlucky you may have to wait for your turn. There is of course a hotel laundry service, but that obviously costs a lot more.

If you want to watch a lot of TV then you probably want a more expensive room with a larger TV (Sony Bravia I think) that you can stream to from your phone. I stayed in a basic room with an old Hisense TV that couldn't do anything flash like that.

There's no wifi to speak of (some limited wifi in the lobby that I never used), but I had excellent 4G (Telstra) reception throughout the hotel. Data allowances are generous enough these days that I didn't miss the wifi at all.

If you're a foreign visitor then I recommend a Boost Mobile prepaid sim card. You can buy one from most major supermarkets, such as Coles or Woolworths. Boost Mobile benefits: It's prepaid, so no bill surprises; free calls, texts, mms, to anyone in Australia; free calls to a dozen international countries and limited minutes to a lot of others; Boost runs on the Telstra network (as a reseller) which has great city coverage and the best rural and remote coverage throughout Australia (no one else comes close to Telstra's coverage in the outback); Boost has better prices than an ordinary Telstra account; and of course, you'll have great coverage in the wifi-less Sullivan Hotel. (As of April 2019)

I also recommend that you catch a bus (free) to the Elizabeth Quay Bus Station, go up one floor and go to the Transperth help desk to buy a SmartRider card for $10 and load $20 or so of credit on it. A SmartRider card is a lot less hassle than carrying small change everywhere and keeping your tickets as you travel. If you want to load more credit on it, then just give your card and cash to the bus driver and they'll do it for you. Easy. I purchased a SmartRider card early in my stay and never regretted it. The bus system was great. Don't forget to download the Transperth app for your phone. It'll make catching the correct buses and trains much easier. It can also track the buses on a map in real time so that you can see how far away they are.

With its cheap price, good service and great location, I'll be happy to stay at the Sullivan Hotel again on my next...

Five-Star Service and Tranquil Comfort

The Aurea Hotel Perth Kings Park, located on 166 Mounts Bay Road, offers an absolutely exceptional experience that far exceeded my expectations for a hotel in this category. The genuine warmth and attentiveness of the staff truly set this location apart.

Truly Five-Star Service

The staff here are nothing short of phenomenal, providing a level of service that easily rivals that of many five-star hotels. From the moment I arrived, I felt genuinely cared for. While there is no dedicated concierge, the entire team is proactively helpful. I struggled to place a local call to book a couple of tours, and Manager Peow went completely out of his way, personally taking the initiative to arrange everything on my behalf.

I also witnessed Manager Peow demonstrate a level of proactive care that defines great hospitality. Seeing a couple about to head out into the rain, he immediately stopped them, asking them to wait while he quickly retrieved an umbrella for them to use. These small, thoughtful gestures define the whole experience: a team constantly anticipating guest needs.

High-Quality Dining and Ambiance

The breakfast during my stay was a delightful buffet experience (though I noted it’s not always buffet style). The food was consistently fresh, and I appreciated that the chef was often out of the kitchen, personally checking the buffet to ensure quality and a constant, ample supply of dishes. The dining experience is overseen by excellent staff, including May, who was prompt and efficient, ensuring tables were cleared and reset immediately after parties left, maintaining a smooth flow. Crucially, the coffee was excellent, offering great flavor with zero bitterness—a perfect start to the day.

In the evenings, the small bar and dining area provide a quiet, relaxing environment to enjoy a drink or a snack.

Comfortable Rooms and Relaxing Views

The rooms are kept immaculately clean and comfortable, equipped with all the usual amenities you need for a restful stay. A definite highlight is the nice private balcony, which offers a peaceful space to step out and enjoy the view of the trees across the street on Mounts Bay Road.

In summary, Aurea Hotel Perth Kings Park provides a beautiful, quiet retreat with world-class, personalized service. I highly recommend it for any traveler looking for exceptional value and...

In hindsight, I would have been better off booking a motel. The only positives were friendly staff and free onsite parking.

The toilet is in a shower cubicle. There is no privacy. It's just a frosted glass door with a three inch gap at the top. If you like pooping and talking to your partner I might recommend it but if you want to keep some mystery find another hotel.

Lighting in the shower is extremely dim. This is dangerous.

There was a massive clump of hair in the shower drain. This caused flooding in the bathroom area. That's when we discovered some barriers which seemed to be there to stop flooding into the carpet. Rather than cleaning drains. Maybe that explains the poor shower lighting, can't really see if it's clean.

Automated lighting in bedside tables goes off when you roll over in bed. There is no way to turn this off. Even when all the other lights in the room are off, the bedside lighting will still turn on when you roll over. Even when you've hit the lighting button labelled 'sleep', it'll still react to you rolling over!

Fridge continuously stopped working. I suspect this is a known issue as the first time it happened the staff member had us remove all items, then pulled out the fridge and flicked something at the back. It begun working again but continued to have the same problem daily.

Housekeeping generally came quite late in the afternoon (after 3pm and after 4pm one day). We had usually completed out day activities and we're back at the hotel to relax before evening activities. This was despite us seeing them on the floor...