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Reef & City: Two Bucket-List Stays in Western Australia
Written by Rebecca Ellwood
WA is beloved simultaneously for awe-inspiring nature and city luxury – but which is your escape of choice?
The beauty of Western Australia is that it offers almost every type of Aussie escape, from off-grid glamping to urban luxury, vineyard stays and five-star beachside bliss.
Here, we pick two of its finest, offering very different, but equally exceptional experiences: Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef (Nyinggulu), right in nature’s cradle in Cape Range National Park, and the multi-award-winning COMO The Treasury, in the cosmopolitan centre of Perth City (Boorloo).
So where will your heart take you – to a World Heritage-listed wonder, or a modern city nestled in nature? Read on to find out.
Discover more about Western Australia on the new season of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays, airing Thursdays 8:30pm AEDT* on Foxtel Lifestyle.
For the nature lover: Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef
Western Australia’s landscapes are nothing short of dream-like, and this spellbinding nature is on full display along the Ningaloo Reef, just an hour’s drive from Learmonth Airport (Exmouth) on the North West Cape. It is here, in Cape Range National Park beneath a blanket of stars, on a private beach with the endless expanse of the Indian Ocean before it, you will find Sal Salis: one of Australia’s most unmissable glamping experiences.
16 luxury safari tents fringe the shoreline, each eco-friendly with native herb soaps and beds crafted from Australian jarrah wood. Step out onto the white sands and you’re just 50 metres from the world’s largest fringing coral reef, an underwater wonderland with 500 different species of fish, turtles and colourful coral. With a limited number of fellow guests, it almost feels like you have this paradise all to yourself – and endearingly, the staff will all know your name.
Try snorkelling and kayaking on the reef, guided gorge walks and stargazing, and – in season – swimming with whale sharks (between March and August) and humpback whales (between July and October).
Here, the stage is set for a unique brand of barefoot luxury, where being off-grid doesn’t mean compromising on comfort. The all-inclusive resort offers an evolving three-course menu of dishes celebrating the best of the bush and the sea each day, and of course, Western Australia’s finest wines are the perfect complement.
For the city slicker: COMO The Treasury Perth
If it’s inner-city luxury you seek, Perth delivers with its ever more impressive roster of global-brand and boutique hotels. But the finest in the city, and perhaps even the whole of Australia (it’s multi award-winning and was named Australia’s Leading Boutique Hotel in the 2024 World Travel Awards), is COMO The Treasury Perth.
Spectacularly located within the city’s 19th-century State Buildings, with three-chef-hatted dining, this has quickly become one of Australia’s bucket-list stays. But the real magic comes from the subtle touches of luxury that make COMO one of the world’s leading boutique brands. The spa, with its heated indoor pool, offers the signature COMO Shambhala treatment approach that marries ancient traditions with today’s science; yoga mats and meditation guides are found in every room; and experiences are curated from the hotel’s ‘Little Black Book’.
It goes without saying that dinner at the three-chef-hatted Wildflower is not to be missed, with its Swan River views and menu inspired by the Aboriginal six seasons of the Noongar calendar. Locally farmed and foraged ingredients like wattle and lemon myrtle are the stars of the six-course tasting menu, featuring dishes such as beef tartare, and asparagus with pesto, anise myrtle and saltbush.
All this is just dipping a toe into the endless culture, cuisine and creativity of Perth. While its famous barefoot and beachy lifestyle remains (it does, after all, have 19 beaches in proximity of the CBD), its offering stretches far beyond. Each day, you might find yourself catching music at a jazz club, distilling your own gin, perusing markets, gallery-hopping, watching a movie at an outdoor cinema, or discovering Perth’s own wine region, the Swan Valley – the only wine region located within an Australian capital city.
This article was created in collaboration with Tourism Western Australia.
Discover more about Western Australia on the new season of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays, airing Thursdays 8:30pm AEDT* on Foxtel Lifestyle.
This season of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays is brought to you by Citi Credit Cards. This product is provided by National Australia Bank Limited, using certain trademarks temporarily under licence from Citigroup Inc.
Feature image: Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef (Nyinggulu)
