Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition 2014

The Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition in Perth is one of the biggest weeks of the year for hotel accommodation and its only just around the corner now, starting on February 19 until the 21st.

Despite getting in relatively early, there were only so many rooms we could get our hands on at a "reasonable" rate. If you ring around hotels now or look online you'll struggle to find anything under $400/night. Within a week or two, that availability will disappear and the prices will all be above $500. That may come as a surprise for anyone that doesn't know the Perth hotel market, but that's what happens when the city gets busy.

This is where we can help out tho, we currently have the following available:

• 4 star apartments for under $300/night (based on a 3 night minimum stay)
• 3.5 and 4 star hotel rooms from under $350/night (based on a 2 night minimum stay)

Obviously, if you can avoid travelling to Perth this week I'd highly recommend it. If you can't, call or e-mail us and we'll let you know what we still have available. 

One of the challenges that is Perth accommodation

Everyone (in the hotel industry) knows that Perth is Boomtown, USA right now and that the city is essentially filling midweek every week. If you don't get in a week or two early you will struggle to get availability and rates will be well over $400/night for even standard 4 star hotels.

This leads to the other challenge with Perth hotels ... and that is managing expectations. When you are paying over $300/night for a hotel room you have certain expectations about the standard you'll receive for that cost. In Sydney or Melbourne that will get you a 5 star hotel but in Perth during their peak times this is definitely not the case.

So the problem comes that not only are people having to pay far more than they're used to but they're not receiving the quality of accommodation they'd expect. The challenge for the Perth hotels is to justify the rates they charge other than just by saying "because we can". As you can see from the article below, Perth rooms are some of the oldest in the country but because they're so full so often the hotels don't get the chance to spend money refurbishing them and keeping them up to date.

The gap between the value of a hotel room in Perth and the price that is charged to the traveller has become so wide that we hear numerous complaints that even the decent hotels aren't up to standard. From what I've seen many of the hotels are fine (older but still ok), but when you're paying an arm and a leg for them its understandable that people will leave disappointed.


Old age looms
over hotel rooms

More than 40,000 of Australia’s
hotel rooms are aged 20 years
plus, posing a considerable
challenge for the industry over the
coming decade, new research has
revealed.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’
research revealed that Australia’s
accommodation product had aged
significantly with an estimated
average age of 10 to 14 years across
the country.

Of the seven state capitals,
Darwin had the newest rooms,
aged between five and nine
years, while Perth, Canberra and
Hobart had the oldest rooms, aged
between 15 and 19 years.

The average was skewed slightly
by newer serviced apartments,
while hotel rooms were often far
older.

“It is generally accepted that the
sustainable life for a real estate
asset is around 30 to 40 years
before extensive refurbishment
and replacement works are
required,” the report said.

“A high proportion of rooms
will therefore require major
works over the coming decade,”
it predicted, adding that
refurbishment costs escalated in
line with the age of product.

Technology would become a
major issue for many hotels, with
necessary infrastructure requiring
extensive refurbishment in older
properties.

Perth and October don't mix

Perth is NOT the place to be in October if you can help it!

Everyone knows about CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and the visit of the Queen but its now every week in October that the Perth hotels are full.

October started a little slowly for Perth due to the school holidays in QLD, VIC and NSW. Not as many corporates travelling so for once the city didn't actually fill midweek. Every other week has been nuts and next week is one of the worst. The reason? Well, its the week before CHOGM so everyone that doesn't want to pay $500/night for a 4 star hotel is coming next week and now every hotel is sold out on Tuesday, Wednesday and many on Thursday as well.

Normally for Perth, I suggest booking two weeks in advance to ensure you can get availability at a decent price, this month I just recommend postponing your travel until November.

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.