Jason Loucas
Read our full length feature of Como The Treasury here.
News that luxe Como Hotels & Resorts was opening its first Australian hotel in Perth might have raised eyebrows, but one look at the $110 million property and it’s clear the Singapore-based group knew what it was doing.
After more than three years’ work, Como The Treasury and the surrounding State Buildings precinct opened last week, jolting to life a once-derelict corner of the CBD.
Spanning three historic buildings, the four-storey hotel is a study in understated elegance. Designed by influential Perth-born, Singapore-based architect Kerry Hill, known for his work with Aman resorts, The Treasury’s 48 guestrooms feature a muted palette, freestanding baths and twin travertine basins. With an average floor space of 70 square metres, some with balconies, they’re among the biggest hotel rooms in the country. Bespoke fixtures feature throughout the property, from bauble light fittings designed by Flynn Talbot to the hotel’s custom-made Eucalypt crockery.
There’s also a signature Como Shambhala day spa, a 20-metre indoor pool, a gym, and two dining spaces: ground-floor Post is open for all-day dining, while the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, Wildflower, is due to open in mid-November. The hotel’s executive chef is WA-born Jed Gerrard, formerly of Tetsuya’s and more recently Black by Ezard in Sydney.
As impressive as the building is, general manager Anneke Brown says it’s her staff who will distinguish the hotel. “We’ve set this up as an international-standard property, so the first thing I’d like people to say about us is, wow, this is service we haven’t experienced before in Perth,” she says. “This is a level of comfort and care that is absolutely benchmarking the rest of the properties in Australia.”
Also open in the precinct is Petition, a triple-act starring kitchen, enoteca and beer bar, and late-night cocktail den Halford, which opened last week. All eyes are on David Thompson’s Long Chim, due to open in the State Buildings’ basement in late November. Promising uncensored Thai street food, it’s Thompson’s first restaurant in Australia since he opened Sailors Thai in Sydney in the mid-1990s, and is another coup for the West Australian capital.
Rooms from $595. Como The Treasury, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth, WA, (08) 6168 7888
