Ritz Carlton Perth Review - Luxury Status But Shaky Service?
- Ava Lyn
- Oct 3, 2025
- 8 min read
Ritz Carlton Perth
1 Barrack St,
Perth WA 6000,
Australia
Location
The Ritz Carlton Perth stands on Elizabeth Quay and stands at 18 stories tall. Elizabeth Quay is one of urban renewal, with the precinct representing a modern, new urban river front promenade that connects the CBD directly to the Swan River. The Ritz Carlton sits just minutes away from key attractions including Kings Park, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre as well as the Bell Tower.
Once you step into the main building, you are in a vestibule of sorts before the large doors open and you have a beautiful view of 10000 pieces of handpicked Kimberley sandstone which is meant to evoke the sensation of walking through the Karajini Gorges. And it is a beautiful experience.
Our Stay
We stayed at Ritz Carlton Perth under the AMEX FHR program and also have Marriott Platinum Elite status. As with most Ritz Carltons, the frustrating part is that they do not recognise Marriott status, so we are talking no club lounge access. Thankfully for our AMEX FHR, we received the following benefits:
Early Check In (12pm)
Late Check Out (4pm)
Daily Breakfast for 2
100 USD (~150 AUD) Credit
Room Upgrade
Welcome Amenities
We checked in at 10 and our room was unfortunately not ready. We in fact didn't get a notification that our room was ready until we went back at around 3pm. So I am guessing the early check in was not available. However, when we checked in early, the front desk asked if we would like to spend some time in the spa whilst waiting for our room to be available, which is a nice touch.
We were upgraded from a Premier Room to a Studio and we enjoyed a space upgrade from 538 sqft to 689 sqm. This is together with a panoramic view of Swan River. The room was gorgeous, in typical Ritz fashion. Contemporary, neutral colours, the entire space was thoughtfully designed and extremely comforting. With a panoramic window across the entire room, the view was simply magnificent. We particularly appreciated the fact that the blinds were electric and also completely black out, which meant we had an amazing nights sleep when we were there. I have to add that the reason why we typically choose Ritz Carlton is the fact that they use Frette bedding, which is very comfortable. We paid 500 SGD for our room and the studio was priced at 1200 SGD per night, making it a whopping 700 SGD (~840 AUD) worth of upgrade.
The bathroom was spacious and thoughtfully designed. I really enjoyed my soak in the very large tub with full sized Diptique amenities.
Our welcome amenity was a Vasse Felix Idee Fixe Blanc de Blanc, together with some chocolate truffles. I must say this is one of the best bubbles we have received. Priced at 58 AUD retail, we enjoyed it very much and it was a very nice start to our Margaret River experience.
One of the things we found, was the fact that there was no turn down service. It was very odd for us. I dont know if our room was missed or whether no turn down service happens at Ritz Carlton Perth. But, very odd not to have a turn down service at a hotel of this level.
Hotel Facilities
Now, how do I start this section. The hotel facilities are absolutely gorgeous. You walk into the spa and you enter an open area with lockers, and toilets and then as your walk through the shower area, you reach a beautiful sauna area that faces the Supreme Court Gardens. To the other side, you have access to the vitality pool, which was partially outdoors and had a view of the Bell Tower. The whole space is gorgeous and we had the luxury of using this area for the afternoon we were there. It was relaxing and nice. But that is where the good part ends.
During our stay, we were informed that the men's sauna was out of use, and that if my partner wanted to use the sauna, he could let the spa staff know and the spa staff would then ask the women in the spa area whether they were OK with men entering the area to use the sauna. I think that is absolutely OK. BUT. This was not done at all. After my time in the sauna, where I was there alone, I had gone to take a shower. As I was having a shower, I saw men come in with their partners through a partially frosted door at the shower cubicles. Mind you, not only was the partially frosted door visible, my towels and belongings were placed on the seat opposite the shower, which meant I had to walk in my birthday suit to gather my items. So, where was this communication that you were going to do, Ritz Carlton Perth?
In addition, as I was changing at the locker area, again an open space, because evidently this is meant to be a female's only area, and there was no enclosed spaces, a man walked out of the toilets in the female only toilet and then proceeded to enter the vitality pool. Again, Ritz Carlton Perth, very poor form no? Firstly the entire spa area is not designed to have privacy, and yet you allowed men, multiple at that, saunter in and out of this female only area without any prior communication whatsoever. I felt really disrespected and my privacy exposed and was going to say something to the spa staff upon changing. However, when I went outside, I met 2 girls who had gone to the spa and left immediately upon seeing all these men in the same area. They had let the spa manager know about the situation. And I overheard the conversation which went like this: "There are men in the women's only spa area and we were not aware that this was going to be the case" Spa manager responds: "This is because the sauna is closed in the men's side. But if you have a problem with this, I can ask the men to leave." After hearing this, I thought it pointless to be sharing my experience with the spa manager. But let's just say I am absolutely mortified by a response like this which became as though the women were the problem, not the fact that the hotel facility was temporarily out of use.
My experience of the spa facilities? What began as a promising spa experience in a beautifully designed facility quickly deteriorated into a deeply disappointing breach of guest privacy and respect. The way the staff responded showed a fundamental failure in putting service first, and a failure in communication, protocol and guest consideration. The responses were dismissive and in a five star luxury hotel, I consider this an absolute debarcle and a lapse that should never be accepted.
Alright, on to the other spaces. There was a nice gym space with different sections including a studio area for yoga and barre and a beautiful outdoor pool with sun beds. We also appreciated some snacks laid out by the staff when we were lazing by the pool - Honey Soy Redrocks as well as Tim Tams which are always a fantastic treat. As usual, we utilised our late check out benefit to spend the day at lounging and as usual, we will value this at 10 % of the rate of the hotel room we booked which makes it 60 AUD.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served at the Hearth Restaurant which doubles up as a 3 Chef Hat restaurant in the evenings. We did utilise our 150 AUD credit at Hearth on a separate night, which I will write about in a separate post. However, breakfast was wonderful. There was a good selection of continental and hot food as well as made to order eggs. We also had a nice selection of freshly pressed juices and fruits, something that we always enjoy when on holiday. Overall, the food quality was high and we had great barista made coffee. We value this at the local rate for brunch, which was 40 AUD x 2.
We had a friend join us for breakfast and this was also one of the big misses Ritz Carlton Perth had. We enquired at check in about the rate for breakfast for an additional guest and was offered a 10 % discount due to Marriott Platinum status which we confirmed for this additional guest. On the next day, we then proceeded with our breakfast and there was nothing to sign off on during breakfast and we had expected this communication to be done. Unfortunately at check out, the lady at the front counter said that we had not checked on the rate again at the restaurant and was charged at full price. They honoured the discounted rate at the end whilst expressing that this was done as a favour for us. But honestly, I found that a really an untasteful and unnecessary conversation. I really didn't appreciate feeling as though one of these big favours were offered to me, because it was not. I enquired, you offered, I accepted. So my expectation would be that you honour what you offered, Ritz. In comparison to Pan Pacific Perth, which I shared about their service first approach, Ritz Carlton Perth really could have done alot better.
Overall
I thought the hotel to be beautiful and had a very restful stay. Everything in the hotel was top notch. However, whilst the service staff were friendly, I found them always to be giving the attitude of :"Oh, we are doing this as a favour for you", which I really didn't appreciate. In particular, I was extremely peeved at the spa manager's response to the girls comments about men being in the spa area. Especially since I was there and men were walking in and out as they wished whilst I was getting dressed. For the purposes of addressing the fact that one of your men's facility was closed and not angering some of your male patrons, you compromised all your other female guests - sounds like the Ritz Carlton Perth Management really needs to get their priorities right here.
Overall in terms of value and savings, we paid 600 AUD and received a total of 1188 AUD in additional benefits. Yes, you saw that right, double what we paid for. So in terms of value, it was really good value.
Room Upgrade: 840 AUD
Complimentary Bubbles: 58 AUD
Late Check Out: 60 AUD
Breakfast: 80 AUD
Hotel Credits: 150 AUD
Would We Recommend?
No. I wanted to like this hotel. They gave us fantastic upgrades, wonderful quality of bedding, amenities, facilities and food. However, the shaky service and the inability to properly address customer concerns leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, Ritz Carlton Perth is not a hotel we would return to. Ultimately, we would rather go to a hotel who welcomes us, rather than one that makes us feel like we were a burden to them.
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