Mini-TR: PERfect staycation

[Daver6]

The background for this little staycation was I has Amex travel credits and Accor Plus free nights piling up, some needing to be used soon. I had planned to use two Accor Plus nights at the Sofitel in Melbourne in early August, but that trip was cancelled. Two of those nights expire at the end of August. I called Accor Plus about an extension but got conflicting information and no call back as promised. I decided it would just be less hassle to use them.

Unfortunately the only two Accor hotels worth burning the free nights on in WA are Basildene manor in Margaret River and Pullman Bunker Bay. Wasn't keen on Bunker Bay in August due to the weather likely to be average and Basildene had no free night availability prior to the end of August.

On the Amex side I was keen to make use of a FHR hotel in Perth using the $450 travel credit. The IC is not taking reservations (either closed or a Covid hotel). That left the Ritz Carlton or COMO The Treasury. As it turns out, The Treasury has recently left the FHR program but was going to be my first choice. So with no other options it was the Ritz.

On the Accor side we wanted to be in the CBD. So the Mercure it was. The timing of the weekend happened to coincide with my birthday week too, so not too bad after all.

We booked the Mercure for a Friday night. The Mercue has a bunch of different rooms including suites. Now usually when you book an Accor Plus free night you can pay extra at the time of booking to book above the basic room. This wasn't showing this time. However if looked to book without logging in, other rooms were available. So I just booked a basic room and emailed the hotel to enquire about upgrades. Various options were presented. For $100 more I could upgrade to a suite, which I did. Payable on check-in.

As for the Ritz, I booked this for the Saturday night for Amex's FHR portal and used the option to pay upfront and use the travel credit. We booked the highest level non-suite with the hope of the FHR upgrade taking us to a suite. Midday check-in isn't guaranteed but the 4pm checkout was. Free breakfast and a $100 USD hotel credit thrown in as well. I also hold Marriot Gold Elite via the Amex Platinum Charge card. Now previously when booking a Park Hyatt via FHR I was able to input my Hyatt number. That option seemed missing. I added it in the comments section and also contacted Amex Travel to get it added. Amex travel were a bit hopeless telling me I can't earn point/get status benefits because not booked direct. Not true with FHR. I didn't waste further time figuring I'd add it at the hotel.

Bookings done about three weeks prior to stay. Just needed no Perth lock downs. Thankfully we were good to go...

 

[Daver6]

So after weeks upon weeks of grey skies and rain in Perth, the weekend arrived and the forecast was for blue skies and low 20s. PERfect.

I arrived at the Mercure a little after 2pm. The lobby was empty apart from the check-in agent. As soon as I mentioned my first name I was welcome with a happy birthday. Well that was a lovely touch. To add to it, he said I won't be charged the $100 for the room upgrade and given two welcome drink vouchers as an Accor Plus silver member. The hotel lobby bar as well as restaurant weren't open but I could use them at Cucina on Hay which is accessible from the lobby. This is where breakfast is served. I got the impression that the hotel was pretty empty. In fact, I only saw one other couple for the entire stay.

The room we had was a Privilege Suite on level 12, facing north. Left in the room was a note from the manager with a couple of beers, two bottles of water and a fruit and cheese platter. The champagne has been organised by MrsDaver6. Some pictures of the room and views.



The reflective building is the Westin which is a quarantine hotel at the moment.

 

[Daver6]

On the roof there was this little garden area which was lovley in the sun and the pool. Nothing fancy, but nice enough. Looked like they were doing some work to repaint and update the area.

 

[Daver6]

Friday night we had booked in to dinner at Long Chim | thai street food | state buildings basement perth. We had thought about going for a drink somewhere first, but instead used the complimentary drink at the hotel. Cucina was pretty dead but the beer went down well.

As well as al a carte Long Chim also offers to feed me style menus. We weren't the the slightly more expensive of the two along with a German Riesling. The food was excellent and more than we could eat. In fact, I over-stuffed myself. Seems I ate all the food and forgot to take pictures of it

 

[craven morehead]

So after weeks upon weeks of grey skies and rain in Perth, the weekend arrived and the forecast was for blue skies and low 20s. PERfect.

I arrived at the Mercure a little after 2pm. The lobby was empty apart from the check-in agent. As soon as I mentioned my first name I was welcome with a happy birthday. Well that was a lovely touch. To add to it, he said I won't be charged the $100 for the room upgrade and given two welcome drink vouchers as an Accor Plus silver member. The hotel lobby bar as well as restaurant weren't open but I could use them at Cucina on Hay which is accessible from the lobby. This is where breakfast is served. I got the impression that the hotel was pretty empty. In fact, I only saw one other couple for the entire stay.

The room we had was a Privilege Suite on level 12, facing north. Left in the room was a note from the manager with a couple of beers, two bottles of water and a fruit and cheese platter. The champagne has been organised by MrsDaver6. Some pictures of the room and views.

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The reflective building is the Westin which is a quarantine hotel at the moment.
View attachment 256050

An excellent outcome

 

[Daver6]

On Friday morning I had emailed the Ritz from their email address on the properties website. I wanted to confirm whether we could check-in at midday while also seeing what upgrade might be available. It took them until late on Friday to respond saying the best they could offer was a 2pm check-in (instead of 3pm) and can't comment on the upgrade. I got the feeling the email wasn't directed to the hotel, but rather a team in a different country.

Saturday morning we went to breakfast. I had a free breakfast voucher from Accor Plus that expired at the end of 2020, but wasn't able to use it. They were happy to let me use it at the Mercure. It was an al a carte choice at Cucina and was decent enough.

After breakfast we watched a movie in the room. Checkout was at midday, but around 11:30am the front desk called up and let us know that we could stay as long as we wanted. A lovely touch.

I had been keeping an eye on rooms available at the Ritz. In the lead up, including Friday, there were suites (and other rooms) still for sale. However on Saturday morning the hotel was shown as being booked out (well no rooms for sale). We decided to go try check in just after midday as we had a 1:30pm lunch booking at Balthazar which is close to the Ritz.

 

[Daver6]

We arrived at the Ritz about 12:20pm. The check-in agent was happy to receive us and our room was ready from midday. Additionally we have been upgraded to a Elizabeth Quay suite, so technically a double upgrade. The suite below this has a different layout and view, but similar size.

We had booked the highest non-suite room which is Luxury Hotels & Resorts | The Ritz-Carlton and the upgraded room was Luxury Hotels & Resorts | The Ritz-Carlton What I really liked about the hotel website was this page Luxury Hotels & Resorts | The Ritz-Carlton that in plain terms tells you the difference between the various rooms and suites. More hotels need this.

Additionally at check-in I was asked if I was a Marriot Bonvoy member. Gave my number and it was added, noting I was gold elite. This seems to have triggered them sending up a fruit and cheese platter along with a handwritten note later in the afternoon.

To the room. It was fantastic. Amazing views. We were only on level 12, but there really isn't any major loss in view from being on a lower level.

Up on the diagram below is south, or towards the Swan River. If you have a room facing the river, you're actually looking across to the residential tower (separate building). It's far enough away to not ruin the view. I believe the other rooms on the curved areas are the higher level regular rooms.

 

[Daver6]

 

[Daver6]

 

[Daver6]

This suite had something for everyone...even those AFF members who like looking at rocks. You too were catered for. These were hanging on the walls. Go figure?!

 

[Daver6]

Some views from the pool area. Water heated to 26C and good enough for me to get in on this PERfect day.

 

[cove]

Thanks for the pictures @Daver6 and happy birthday.
We have talked about having a city break so your pictures were PERfect.

 

[Daver6]

A late lunch was had at Balthazar. I'm still terrible at taking food pics, but managed the wine. We started with some coughtails that hit the spot.



Later that evening we went to checkout the bar at the top of the DoubleTree which was nearby. We figured we'd make use of the Hilton Dine Like a Member offer for 25% off. In the end we just had a drink and some oysters there. The views were amazing, but the atmosphere not so much. On a Saturday night it was a little too loud and crowded. Annoyingly at payment we were informed the Dine Like a member offer didn't apply on a Friday or Saturday night.

After that we went back to the Ritz and to the Songbird bar for a drink and little snack. Now that was much more like it. We sat inside, but lots of seating and great views from outside. I think it opens midday or early afternoon, but a little surprised to find it doesn't open on a Sunday.

 

[drron]

We are actually booked into the Ritz for Christmas this year but travelling via the Indian pacific.hope we make it but I doubt we will.

 

[Daver6]

Next morning we headed down to breakfast at Hearth at 10am. Breakfast goes till 11am, so plenty of time. Breakfast is al a carte and at check-in we were told the free breakfast we get is essentially $49 worth per person. This is more than sufficient to fully stuff oneself.

It was pumping at breakfast. We joined a short queue. One staff member came to seat the people at the front, but then we stood and waited. And waited some more. Plenty of waste walking around but zero acknowledgement. No, "we'll be with you shortly" or anything like that. After ten minutes we were seated. Drinks ordered and told because they're busy food would take about half an hour. Was that ok? Well, we didn't exaclty have any option and thankfully were in no rush. But if they can't cope with breakfast like this, you wouldn't want to be staying here for business and want to get going in the morning.

Breakfast came and was fantastic.

After breakfast we went for a little walk around Elizabeth Quay.



The Ritz on the left and the residential towers on the right.

 

[cove]

Well @drron may I suggest you fly into PERth and go Indian Pacific back. Go Brisbane -Perth to get here.

 

[Daver6]

We are actually booked into the Ritz for Christmas this year but travelling via the Indian pacific.hope we make it but I doubt we will.

We actually did Xmas lunch at Hearth with friends in 2020. It was excellent and well worth doing.

 

[RooFlyer]

To the room. It was fantastic.

Hmmm ... this or @JohnM 's digs in the desert ... lemme think for a minute ...

 

[Daver6]

Some thoughts on The Ritz. The location is excellent, especially for tourists. The hotel is new and shiny. The suite we were in had stunning views and well laid out. The large couch was great and the winter sun in the afternoon was lovely. The pool area is pretty nice, but not that large. I do wonder what it would be like if was serious pool weather and busy though.

Our stay was not without fault though. There was the initial slight annoyance with the email team obviously not communicating with the hotel. A friend of mine had stayed at the hotel about a year ago and complained that in the middle of the night the TV randomly turned on. At around 6am all the lights in the room flashed on for a second and then back off. Not ideal. Adding to that, I went to the guest bathroom in the suite later in the morning. The room was all dark. I only turned the light on in the bathroom, yet this lit of the entire suite. Again, more automation issues it would seem.

There were also minor service issues. When we arrived in the room there were four bottles of water. Those re-usable glass ones that hotels use sometimes. Before lunch we had consumed most. Before we went out in the evening we had showered and hence used the towels. The hotel compendium indicated there was a turn down service in the evenings. Fantastic. On our way out I mentioned to reception that with the turn down service it would be great if they could also replenish the water. At this point I started to wonder if the turn down service was a general thing or not as they asked if I would like one. I said yes and they acknowledged the water request.

I happened to need to stop by the room a couple of hours later. Sure enough they had been. The cleaned up some plates from the table. However, the bathroom was untouched. All towels (used pool towels) still in the tub and no fresh ones. This seemed a little strange. I guess I'm used to a turn down service meaning a quick room refresh too. Anyway, passing by reception I specifically mentioned the bathroom and lack of fresh towels. When we returned at the end of the night we had two fresh towels. Old ones still in the tub. Oh well.

One final slight annoyed was the air-conditioning. You could control the main room and the bedroom seperatly. Even on the lowest setting though, the bedroom one blew an absolute gale. The vents are on the wall above the TV at the foot of the bed, so you get a nice blast in your face all night.

So a few minor issues and the delay at breakfast. Nothing major, but I feel that a hotel where the entry level room starts at $500/night should be able to get these things right.

All in all a fantastic weekend. We made good use of the 4pm checkout. The Mercure exceeded my expectations especially the level of service. The Ritz certainly has the wow factor besides a few minor niggles, thoroughly enjoyed it. The Amex FHR benefits make it an excellent deal.

Both Long Chim and Balthazar excelled and were thoroughly enjoyable too.

Any questions, I'd be happy to answer. Thanks for reading.

 

[boomy]

Nice TR, thanks for sharing @Daver6 and happy birthday.

Looks like staycations are the way to go ATM, at least until the end of the year.