“You're visiting Perth for the first time, you want to be walking distance to restaurants and bars without paying boutique prices, and you need a pool because it's Western Australia and it's going to be 38 degrees.”

If you're flying into Perth and your only planning move so far is 'somewhere central, not too expensive, ideally with a pool,' stop scrolling. The Doubletree by Hilton on James Street in Northbridge is the answer you keep almost finding and then getting distracted from by some overpriced CBD box hotel with a gym the size of a cupboard. Northbridge is Perth's going-out neighborhood — the restaurants, the bars, the weekend markets — and this hotel drops you right in the middle of it without charging you a lifestyle tax for the privilege.

It's the kind of place that works for a surprising number of trips. Couples doing a long weekend. Friends in town for a gig at RAC Arena. A work trip where you want to feel like you're actually in a city and not inside a beige corporate hallway. The location does most of the heavy lifting, but the hotel itself holds up its end of the deal — particularly if you book a pool-view room, which is the move here and the reason you're reading this.

The room and the pool situation

The pool-view rooms face inward toward the courtyard pool, and the view is genuinely the selling point. You wake up, open the curtains, and you're looking down at blue water and palm trees — which in Perth, where the light hits differently than anywhere else in Australia, actually feels like something. It's not a rooftop infinity pool with a DJ. It's a proper hotel pool that's clean, well-maintained, and big enough that you can do laps or just float without bumping into a family of four. In summer, this is non-negotiable.

The rooms themselves are standard Doubletree — which, if you've stayed at one before, you already know what that means. Clean, functional, a bed that's better than it needs to be, and a bathroom that two people can share without a domestic incident. The desk is big enough for a laptop and a coffee, which matters if you're working. There's decent blackout curtains, which matters if you were out in Northbridge until 1am. Nothing will surprise you, and that's actually the point.

And yes, you get the Doubletree cookie at check-in. It's warm, it's chocolate chip, and it's the kind of small, slightly ridiculous touch that somehow works every single time. You'll feel silly being charmed by a cookie. You'll eat the whole thing before you reach the lift.

“Book a pool-view room — the price difference is small and the morning light through those curtains is the whole reason to stay here instead of any other mid-range option in Perth.”

What's around you

James Street is one of Perth's best strips for eating and drinking, and you're on it. Walk out the front door and you've got options in every direction — dumpling houses, wine bars, late-night ramen. The Perth Cultural Centre is a few minutes on foot. Highgate and Mount Lawley are a short cab or an easy walk if you're not melting. You don't need to plan transport for your evenings, which is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade a hotel location can give you.

For morning coffee, skip whatever the hotel is offering and walk to one of the specialty spots on William Street — you're in one of Australia's best coffee cities, so act like it. Breakfast is the same story: Northbridge has enough cafes within a five-minute walk that the hotel buffet becomes purely a convenience play for early flights.

One honest note: the hotel sits on a busy street in a nightlife district. Thursday through Saturday, you'll hear Northbridge doing its thing if your room faces the street. This is not a problem if you're out doing the same thing. It is a problem if you're in bed by 10pm. Request a pool-facing room on a higher floor and you'll sleep fine.

The plan

Book a pool-view room on a higher floor — you can usually snag one without a huge premium if you book a couple of weeks out, and it's worth every cent for the quiet and the morning light. Skip the hotel breakfast and walk to a cafe on William Street or Francis Street instead. Use the pool in the late afternoon when the Perth sun is at its most absurd and most of the day-trippers have cleared out. If you're there on a weekend, the Northbridge markets are practically on your doorstep. Don't bother with a rental car unless you're heading to Rottnest or the Swan Valley — everything you need at night is walkable.

Book a pool-view room on a high floor, skip the breakfast buffet, walk to William Street for coffee, swim at 4pm, and thank me later.