Malibu Apartments — Hotel in West Perth

This is our 4th visit to Perth in the last 5 years. Having stayed at different places, we decided to stay at Malibu again for the following reasons:

LOCATION If you want to stay smack bang in the Perth City Centre, Malibu, with its inner city suburban location, is not for you. However, it's great if you're after somewhere suburban that feels more like home, yet close to the City Centre and amenities. Malibu is tucked away in a quiet street in West Perth (most other buildings in this street are residential). Access to the City Centre is via a convenient bus stop 2 mins around the corner. Malibu happens to be located within the "Free Transit Zone" of Perth buses, so this bus is free of charge (it ends up in the Chinatown side of Perth City, an additional bonus). 8 minutes walk away from Malibu is Leederville, a buzzing trendy suburban centre loaded with stylish cafes, a 24-hour IGA supermarket, a Post Office, independent cinema (Luna Leederville) and familiar brands such as Dome, Subway and Guzman Y Gomez. You are also walking distance (10 mins) to City West train station, which is on the same train line as Subiaco (more cafes, fashion, weekend markets etc.) and Fremantle (ditto, plus the seaside).

ROOM Both times we stayed (2013 and 2016), we booked a studio apartment. Very clean, tidy and well-kept, just like the photos on the website. The kitchen is well equipped with kettle, toaster, microwave, and all the cooking utilities needed to make your away-from-home culinary masterpiece (with fresh ingredients from the Leederville IGA). There is also a digital TV, a DVD player, and a radio/cassette/CD player. You can connect your iPod to this using a tape adaptor, available from JB Hifi $29, but we bought ours over eBay, $5. The staff are friendly and will always ask if you need a resupply of tea, coffee, sugar, toilet paper etc.

CAT The first time we stayed in 2013, we were visited by a very friendly cat. 3 years later, the same cat galloped to greet us, we'd like to believe that he remembered us. We call him Arnie, because he is very tall and lean for a cat, built more like an ocelot or something like that. Looks menacing because of his size, but very friendly and gentlemanly...

I stayed there by myself for two nights in early November 2023.||The code received by email on the day of arrival, is only needed to enter your apartment/unit. It's not necessary to open the front gate.||When I approached another guest to ask how the gas oven and stove hot plates work. - He replied that, a clicker that is a lighter, is in one of the top drawers - to light the hot plates and oven cavity with.||I contacted the manager about it, who replied to me by text message, to inform me that is how those appliances are turned on. - In addition to pressing a button, or turning a dial.||One question I asked before my arrival, but did not receive an answer to, was that all cutlery, crockery, pots, pans and mugs are provided and kept in the kitchen drawers and cabinet.||The only negatives during my brief stay:|1. The front wooden door didn't lock well. I had to keep turning the key clockwise or anti-clockwise to get the door to lock properly.||2. I think it was during the first night I was there, in bed at around 1 AM trying to sleep, when I suddenly heard the voice of a male guest either in the apartment/unit above me/mine, or outside. |- His language sounded Chinese or Korean. This guest continued speaking loud enough for 15 to 30 minutes. So that was inconvenient and not pleasant.||I thought staying in standard room accommodation of that price, that I would be much less likely to encounter that noise. |Having previously stayed in hostels.|- To my knowledge, noise there needs to be kept to a minimum from 10 PM. I know how hard it is to find decent accommodation without any or much bad reviews in Perth, that's not far from the CBD. ||If you're a single, solo traveller, I would advise using a car to transport groceries in. The walk from Woolworths (St George's Terrace) the larger of Woolworths two CBD stores to Malibu Apartments should take 36 minutes, with a distance of 2.5 km.||The problem with using Google Maps when walking in Perth, is that it isn't always accurate and reliable.||I brought over with me, a UBD printed pocket map of Perth city, as a alternative...

I stayed at Malibu for a week in April 2014. The apartment was quite spacious and well equipped. I took advantage of the good kitchen facilities by buying my week's groceries at the excellent Leederville IGA, about 10 minutes walk away. There is a good washing machine in the bathroom and washing powder is supplied - very useful. The location of Malibu is excellent - walking distance to town and very easy driving access to both the Kwinana and Graham Farmer freeways. The bedroom/living area was quite spacious and comfortable. I was not disturbed or kept awake by any noise from other apartments although the traffic noise on Newcastle Street could be noticeable at times.

There is a good parking area although it can fill up. I managed to find a parking spot every night but sometimes it was the last spot available.

The maintenance of the apartment was a bit below par but wasn't too bad. The curtains didn't pull over easily; there was a floor slide missing from the sliding kitchen door. The strangest thing was trying to get the shower temperature right. It turns out that the hot water heater stops heating if the tap pressure is set too low, but the setting on the heater caused the water to be scaldingly hot when the pressure was higher, so for the first couple of days I oscillated between cold and boiling showers until I realised what was going on and turned the heater setting down (to '2').

Another oddity was being asked by the maid one day whether she could wash a basketful of sheets in my washing machine. I declined the request. I have to say I found her request quite strange, given that I was a guest there.

Overall I was happy with the apartment and would stay there again due to its excellent value for money, convenient location, well equipped kitchen and bathroom, ease of parking and the comfort and spaciousness of the living/bedroom area. If you're happy with simple but comfortable and convenient accommodation, Malibu...