Our Staycation at The Holiday Inn, Perth!
For some reason we had never thought of doing a staycation in our home city before with the kids in tow – we had done a few as a couple for our anniversary, but never got around to booking one with the kids.
After our recent staycation with The Holiday Inn, I am pleased to report that we are now converts to the “holiday at home” and will defnitley be booking another one in the future! We all had such a great time and it was so nice to be a tourist in our own city.
The Holiday Inn chain of hotels has always been our firm favourite and I have spoken many times of our love of their properties on our blog and instagram. They just seem to understand what it is families want in a holiday. Most of the hotels offer a Kids Stay & Eat free deal, which when you have three children, can make a huge difference.
The Holiday Inn Perth is in a great location right in the heart of the City, on Hay Street. The train station is only a few minute walk, and the main shopping strips at the end of the street. There are plenty of restaurants and bars around the area for those wishing to head out into the city for dinner and drinks.
We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon and as the hotel offered Valet Parking, just gave the lovely staff our keys who took care of the car while we checked in. One thing to note is the staff here were SO friendly. It really does make a difference when you arrive at a hotel and the staff go out of their way to make your stay amazing. The kids were given their green wristbands for the VIK Program (more on that in a moment) and some kids travel packs on checkin, before heading up to our interconnecting rooms.
The Rooms
We had a double room interconnecting to a twin room, and decided for something a bit different to have a girls room and boys room. Alysse and I planned to have a girly night and watch some movies together so we were super excited. The rooms were generous in size, with nice modern bathrooms and a bath in the twin room (a bath is a luxury for me in a hotel room!).
VIK Kid’s Program
One of the great features of the Holiday Inn is their dedicated Very Important Kid’s Program. This green wristband allows you access to discounts on some of the popular family attractions around Perth, aswell as free meals at the hotels Ivy & Jack Restaurant. We took advantage of this and headed to Palace Cinemas to watch The Lion King, aswell as enjoying lunches and dinners at the restaurant. All the names of the attractions are on the band and you will receive a booklet on checkin detailing the offers. You can read more about the VIK Program here.
Kid’s Stay & Eat Free
Holiday Inn’s Kids Stay & Eat Free program is just one of the reasons they are so popular among family travellers around the world. It can be a huge saving for parents (because travelling with kids is already expensive enough!), and a massive selling point for us especially. We have travelled to many Holiday Inn properties around the world for this reason. At the Holiday Inn Perth, up to four kids aged 12 and under eat for free any time of the day at their on-site restaurant, Ivy & Jack.
Ivy & Jack
We loved everything about this restaurant – the vibe, the food, the drinks. It was all delicious and a great price aswell. I highly recommend the Sticky chicken bites for an entree, the Beef Burger for Main and a Smores Cocktail for a special treat! Jay recommends the chicken nuggets and Max the spaghetti bolognaise.
The buffet breakfast was amazing, with everything from toasts, cereals and muffins to freshly cooked eggs, freshly squeezed juices and a real coffee machine. Always a winner when you can get a proper coffee at breakfast!
They also have happy hour from 5-6pm where they have select wines and beers at a discount price. The house red here was beautiful!
Events in the City
During the school holidays, there is always a variety of activities going on in the city for families. One annual event is of course the Perth Royal Show! The Holiday Inn is a great base for those wanting to visit the show aswell as enjoy the city – just jump on the train to the Claremont Showgrounds before heading back to the hotel for some much needed R&R.
For a full list of some of the events going on these holidays, click here.
We decided to check out the Palace Cinemas and watch a movie together as a family – something that doesn’t happen often. We watched the new Lion King movie which was a beautiful movie and the whole cinema complex was just amazing. The cinema was only around a five minute walk from the Holiday Inn – it really is a fantastic location!
The Holiday Inn is a great base for either locals wanting a Staycation in their local city, or tourists visiting our beautiful Perth city. The location is unbeatable and for families, you really can’t beat a Holiday Inn property.
Thank you so much to the team for inviting us to stay, we will defnitley be back again.