MORE than 300 new accommodation rooms will have opened in Broome in time for the start of this year's peak season, with a number of new developments coming online over the next three months.
MORE than 300 new accommodation rooms will have opened in Broome in time for the start of this year's peak season, with a number of new developments coming online over the next three months.
Scheduled to open in May is the Pinctada Cable Beach resort and spa, the fourth addition and the flagship property for Marilynne Paspaley's Pinctada Hotels and Resorts Group.
The Pinctada is the first fully serviced five-star hotel to be built in the town since the Cable Beach Club opened its doors in 1988.
The hotel is also the first property in the group that has been built from the ground up, according to the vision of its founder.
"This is my vision, this is my design, my values, my decision on how I wanted the experience of our guests to be when they visited Broome. That was incredibly important in the design process," Ms Paspaley said.
"Broome has sufficiently enough to celebrate. This celebrates what Broome is, the architecture is very much of Broome, it reflects and relates to the architectural style here.
"The main element is there is a strong sense of place, a very strong sense of destination and a sense of intimacy even though it's a 72-room property."
Guest rooms feature marble bathrooms, king beds with high-quality linen and a personal pillow menu, custom-made furniture and a Nespresso coffee maker.
Some of the more luxurious guest suites offer some added features: the Pinctada suite features personalised cutlery designed by French fine silverware and flatware manufacturer Christofle; the Honjin courtyard room opens onto its own courtyard with native gardens and relaxation plunge pool; while the Master Pearler room offers an aromatherapy bath oil menu for its free standing bath.
Other properties within the Pinctada Hotels & Resorts group are the award-winning boutique hotel McAlpine House and Captain Kennedy House, a century-old former Master Pearler's home, both in Broome, and The Kimberley Grande resort in Kununurra.
Also scheduled to open in the coming months is the new four and a half star hotel Oaks Broome on Roebuck Bay.
Opening on July 1, the $85 million property will comprise 129 rooms consisting of studios and one- and two-bedroom serviced apartments.
The Oaks Broome is the first WA property for the Queensland-based Oaks group, which has 30 hotels across the country, as well as five in New Zealand and one in Dubai.
Australia's North West Tourism chief executive Glen Chidlow said the significant injection of new hotel capacity in Broome would provide greater accommodation options for visitors.
"An additional 300 rooms into Broome is a fairly significant number in that period of time," Mr Chidlow told Business Class.
"In recent years Broome has found it difficult especially in peak times that available accommodation is hard to find.
Mr Chidlow said tourism operators in the region were confident heading into peak season.
"Expectations at the moment are fairly buoyant. People are telling me that forward bookings are looking positive. In the current economic circumstances were feeling fairly confident, and we're looking forward with optimism but with a bit of caution," he said.
Ms Paspaley believes that Australians will look to travel locally during these economic times.
"Australians are looking at home for their travel because of the value of the dollar, the sense of responsibility to buy Australian and travel in Australia, and many Australians of a particularly socio-economic group have travelled the world extensively and are very keen to explore their own country," she said.
