Perth, Emperors Crown

Dorm room appeared unclean. It looked as though it had not been vacuumed for months. This is the noisiest hostel I have ever stayed in, numerous complaints were being made every day to management but nothing seemed to change - a real shame as this meant lots of people (me included) look for somewhere else to continue our stay in Perth. Kitchen on the small side and nowhere near enough fridges.

I would actually not recommend this place due to the excessive noise - people arriving at 2 and 3 each morning drunk and loud and waking up the entire hostel. A shame as nice in other respects.

Emperors Crown is the place to go in Perth. It's so clean, friendly and in such a perfect location. We got there by mistake or stroke of luck, depending on how you want to see things, but nevertheless, we had an outstanding stay, and we would recommend this superb establishment to anyone and every one we meet, as it really is PERFECT.

The Emperors Crown in Perth, Australia is brilliant! It is made more so by the friendly, helpful staff that we saw each evening.

We found Emperors Crown in a local accommodation guide literally by chance, and thought we'd give it a try as we'd arrived in Perth and had nowhere to stay.

After chatting to the friendly New Zealand girl on reception over the phone, and having had the price quoted to us, we decided to check it out. The reception is supposed to be permanently manned, but if no one is there, they're only a phone call away and the front door has a coded lock to keep away any uninvited guests.

Although not situated in the most picturesque of areas, the Emperors Crown is a gem of a find, and it's only a short walk to the free Cat Bus stops and Perth Central Railway Station. The building was only about 8 months old when we stayed there, so everything was still virtually brand new. The interior is pretty funky, having big open spaces, loads of sofas and great decor. A useful Internet area ($5 for 2.5 hours) with card readers and a scanner for forwarding those all-important holiday snaps back home. A fully fitted caterers kitchen for general use, and a dining area. A TV room complete with huge plasma screen and DVD player (with selected DVD hire available). A laundry. Two outdoor communal areas (one smoking/one non-smoking). And a cafe located right next door for breakfast in the mornings.

The rooms are great; spotlessly clean and feel brand new, with a choice of dormitory, double or triple rooms. Ours had a bunk bed and a double bed, a fridge, TV and DVD player, remote controlled air conditioning, wardrobes and an en suite bathroom. There are vending machines located around the building for drinks, washing powder, toothpaste etc. Everything a traveller needs has been thought of. We'd stayed in some pretty dodgy AND some pretty cool places during our three months in Oz, but this place was by far the best, we really could not fault it. It's a great base to have whilst exploring this fantastic city.

An extra bonus was that the price we were quoted over the phone was actually incorrect. We should have paid $99 a night for our room (Deluxe Triple) but we were only quoted $66! And after insisting that it was their mistake and that we'd left the previous hotel to check in at The Emperors Crown, we were allowed to stay for the eight days we'd booked at the previously agreed upon price. BONUS!

All in all, if you're looking for some friendly, clean, first class and pretty swanky accommodation while you're in and around Perth, you should DEFINITELY consider checking out this place. Although described as a Backpackers Hostel it didn't have the feel of the majority of hostels we'd stayed in, it just felt a whole lot cleaner, friendlier and more cosmopolitan; more of a hotel than a hostel. There should be more places like this to stay around the world. Take heed prospective hoteliers! Spot On. Top Marks!!