Perth - peak season

Its peak season for corporate travel around the country at the moment but the city that's the busiest would definitely be Perth.

I remember pre-GFC, the mining boom in WA was in full effect and Perth used to sell out week after week. There were plenty of reports in the media about it being impossible to get rooms in Perth and while they were slightly exaggerated, we're not far off that situation again. Essentially, if you don't book your accommodation a week before you travel, you may as well not go.

To give you an idea of how busy it is, the Perth hotels have essentially filled for 5 or 6 weeks straight now. Sure, not every night, but the peak nights (Tuesday & Wednesday) have been filling without a great reason. No massive conferences, no sporting events, our only excuse right now as to why its full is that this is just Perth being Perth.

This week has been one of the worst I've seen ... and again, no good reason, its just peak season. I had an allotment of rooms that I grabbed late last Wednesday night ... and there wasn't much left at that time. Most of the rooms were sold on Thursday and we were completely out by Friday morning. Its been frustrating ever since having to turn away the hundreds of enquiries we've had.

I've loaded up for next week in preparation, so let's see how long they last this time!

Morale of the story: If you're going to Perth in October or November, book your accommodation early ... and before you book your flights.

Long weekend at Hyatt Coolum

Its been a while since I've blogged. Its due mostly because we're in peak season at the moment and we're flat out but also partly due to the fact that I've been doing a bit of travel of late. The first time was the end of October for a friend's 40th birthday.

She's an ex-Brisbane girl now living in Sydney and they love to holiday at Hyatt Coolum, so to celebrate her 40th birthday they invited myself and some other friends to join them for a long weekend at the Hyatt. There were 7 of us sharing a three bedroom Ambassador's Residence and two couples with babies in a two bedroom villa nearby.

The Hyatt is a great resort and the facilities are excellent. The only disappointment from my professional perspective was that the Residence that we were in was in serious need of refurbishment. I believe our friend's villa had been refurbed and looking at the Hyatt's website, I see most of the rooms and villas have been.

The Residence we were in was in a great spot in the resort tho. It was next to the 18th tea so looked straight down towards the clubhouse and was and also just a 20m walk to the Residence lounge (for breakfast each morning and drinks & canapes each evening).

We spent the days relaxing, getting a bit of sun, swimming and reading. The nights were basically spent eating, drinking and catching up on old times.