Four decades on the river's elbow
What began as a casino on a parkland peninsula became Western Australia's most complete resort — towers, theatre, kitchens and a pool deck that meets the Swan. This is the story we tell guests who ask.
Three eras, one address
The doors opened in December 1985 to a city that had never seen anything like it — a casino, a hotel and a convention floor on parkland ten minutes from the CBD. The first New Year's Eve drew forty thousand people to the foreshore.
The 2000s rebuilt the precinct in stages — a second hotel tower, the theatre, the pool deck and a dining program that stopped importing chefs and started growing them. The river stopped being backdrop and became the design brief.
Today the peninsula runs as one resort: signature suites, private salons, a chef's-table kitchen, the leisure club and a calendar of seasons and shows. Same postcode, entirely different ambition.
The building changes by the hour
The precinct was oriented so the river light does the work — dawn into the east rooms, midday through the atrium spine, evening across the lobby.
"We metered the lobby for candlelight at eight — guests slow down without knowing why." — lighting designer's note
Art in the corridors
A rotating collection of Western Australian artists hangs where guests actually walk — no velvet rope, no admission.
River Form
Lobby court — commissioned for the rebuilt entrance.
Floodline
East corridor — the river remembered in pigment.
Signal
Sculpture garden — lit from within after dark.
The invisible presence
Suite guests are looked after by a butler team trained to the British standard — present when needed, absent when not.
- Unpacking and repacking on request
- Pillow, scent and mattress preferences logged to your profile
- Morning press and garment pressing included
- Direct line to the chief butler, 24 hours
What the peninsula gives back
Rooftop arrays plus a PPA with a Mid West solar farm cover the precinct.
Greywater feeds the gardens; the pool deck recaptures its own backwash.
Every long stay plants a native pine in the peninsula's regeneration strip.
Source
Kitchens buy from named WA growers; menus print the farms.
Use
Kitchen trim goes to the worm farm; grounds go to the gardens.
Return
Compost feeds the peninsula beds the chefs pick from — the loop closes.
Makers in residence
Each season a Western Australian craftsperson takes the garden studio — potters, textile weavers, a luthier one memorable autumn. Guests watch, try, and commission.
10:00 — studio opens
Coffee with the maker, work in progress on the wheel.
14:00 — guest workshop
Two hours of clay, tea served between attempts.
Pieces ship home
Fired work travels to you, insured — a souvenir you made.
Postcards from the peninsula
"A resort earns its name in the quiet details — the remembered coffee order, the cabana held without being asked, the driver who knows which gate you prefer. That's the standard we hire for."
Asked about us
Premier Hotels Australia Pty Ltd is privately owned (owner of record J. M. Sullivan) and operates the resort precinct at Burswood under a WA casino licence. Corporate details are on the legal page.
The complex opened in December 1985 and has been rebuilt in stages since — the towers, theatre and pool deck are all part of the modern precinct.
Yes — media enquiries go through the contact page marked 'Press'. The photo archive and press kit are available on request.
The journal carries guides written by the concierge and events team — the same people who would answer these questions at the desk.