Australia's largest State continues to welcome a mix of dreamlike new projects, products and experiences. Read on to discover what's new and what's to come in Western Australia (WA) for the year ahead.

Bigger dream stays

Perth's / Boorloo Elizabeth Quay will welcome an exciting multi-level hotel development at the sparkling waterfront precinct in the latter half of 2025. The Elizabeth Hotel and Residences is promising to be a globally-recognised, luxury hotel offering — and an exceptional new experience for Perth.

In Fremantle / Walyalup, a five-star boutique luxury accommodation offering will open in early 2025. Garde is a newbuild hotel, located within the historically significant and World Heritage-listed Fremantle Prison heritage precinct. It will offer 83 luxury rooms and suites, along with event and function spaces, and a new bar and restaurant — Anglesea. It will become part of the existing Warders Hotel and be known as Garde & Warders Cottages.

Smaller dream stays

This month, Heyscape Tiny Cabins announced Denmark in WA's Great Southern as the latest location for its premium cabin experience, with three cabins available to book. The cabins are ideally located on Raintree, a regenerative farm home to award-winning paddock to plate restaurant The Dam and a cannabis botanical distillery. The cabins offer stunning views of William Bay National Park, home to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks; and links to the Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi cycling track.

In the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo / Nyinggulu region, the Ningaloo Coral Bay holiday village in Coral Bay recently welcomed the opening of four Bayview Villas. The self-contained three-bedroom villas all feature private decks and balconies. Adding to this will be 16 two-bedroom villas, which are expected to be completed this summer.  

After the hugely successful 2021 redevelopment, RAC Esperance Holiday Park is expanding again to offer more accommodation options in the coastal town of Esperance / Kepa Kurl. The $9.5 million project will be completed next month, offering a range of new accommodation options, including up to 21 one, two and three bedroom cabins, plus powered caravan sites; along with barbecue facilities, open areas, increased ablution and laundry facilities. The work includes the refurbishment of the Blue Waters Lodge – a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house originally built in 1947.

Rottnest Island developments

A $40 million redevelopment of the former Rottnest Island Lodge will offer an exciting new accommodation option when it opens in early 2025. The Lodge Wadjemup will have both affordable and premium accommodation options, with 46 new boutique-style rooms and 56 refurbished rooms. It will also feature a new restaurant, café, gelato bar, community space and two pools.  

Also new to Rottnest Island / Wadjemup is HAVZA, offering a contemporary Mediterranean dining experience on the shores of one of the island's most popular beaches, The Basin. There's also new guided cycling tours with Laura the Explorer, uncovering the island's natural beauty, rich history, wildlife and local culture.

Cheers to that

One of Perth's original craft breweries and a much-loved Fremantle institution will be expanding from its traditional roots to the city's sparkling Elizabeth Quay in early 2025. Little Creatures will be situated at Nine The Esplanade - a new-build multi-level commercial building, offering more than 500 square metres of internal dining, brewing, and taproom space, plus a large alfresco space with waterfront views. 

Magic Apple Wholefoods opened its doors at one of Perth's most notable seaside addresses in Cottesloe this month. It's the reimagining of a long-forgotten local wholefoods brand into a modern hospitality concept embracing the clean eating and wellness movements. Cottesloe will be the flagship site, with a company-owned, national rollout of the restaurant planned over the next two years. Owned by prominent Perth restauranter George Kailis from Kailis Hospitality Group, the venue is located just down the road from its other flagship venue – and one of the hottest new openings in Perth for 2024 – seaside brasserie and grill, Gibney.

In the Margaret River Region, a winery restaurant has added to the region's world-class epicurean offering. Miss Chows Margaret River opened at Edwards Estate winery just last week, bringing a contemporary urban dining experience to the region, with modern Asian dishes paired with local wines and set amongst the rolling vineyards.

Land, Island and Water Adventures

Wellington National Park near the town of Collie in the South West is now home to WA's largest network of mountain bike trails, with almost 100 kilometres of national park trails for riders to explore in Collie's Wambenger Trails network, which links Wellington Dam, Honeymoon Pool, Mount Lennard and the spectacular Collie River Valley. To support these trails, Collie-based tour company Adventure Connections has opened a Tours and Hire Hub in Wellington National Park. The hub offers a range of guided e-bike, hiking and kayak tours, as well as equipment hire and mountain bike shuttle services into and around the park.

The Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Geraldton / Jambinu continues to receive significant funding to develop the national park into a world-class sustainable tourism development. Recent upgrades include the installation of new public jetties on East Wallabi and Rat Islands, and infrastructure such as boardwalks, shelters, toilets, walk trails and visitor interpretation. A range of disability-friendly infrastructure and equipment is also available. A light plane passenger lift allows wheelchair users to visit the island, and a beach wheelchair, beach matting and a water scooter for snorkelling are available for hire.

Kimberley Spirit will be offering multi-day experiences onboard the 'ultimate flotel' - Nyawoorn in the 2025 season. Based at Lake Kununurra, the houseboat will have guests cruising through the remote Kimberley gorges and experiencing the awe-inspiring beauty of the Kimberley night sky.

For those seeking a bit of zen, The Hike Collective has launched an exclusive experience at Perth Zoo. The tour begins with a gentle walk through the rainforest, followed by a 45-minute beginner-friendly yoga session in the calming presence of the elephants, finishing with another walk through the African savannah and Australian bushland, meeting some of the much-loved locals.

A new World Heritage-listed park

Murujuga National Park has been nominated for a World Heritage-listing, as lodged by the Federal Government, in partnership with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and West Australian Government. Located near Karratha in the Pilbara region, Murujuga is presented as a living cultural landscape, with potential 'Outstanding Universal Value' demonstrated through the extensive petroglyph collection, the living cultural traditions and the deep time histories of land and sea use. Murujuga has the densest known concentration of hunter-gatherer petroglyphs anywhere in the world, with an estimated one to two million images in an area of more than 100,000 hectares. The application for World Heritage Listing of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape has been underway since 2023, with a decision by the World Heritage Committee expected to be made in July 2025.

Great Southern wonders and wineries

WA's Great Southern continues to welcome a range of new tourism experiences to the region. Scenic Helicopters in Albany / Kinjarling has launched a number of new tours. The Breaksea Island & Eclipse Island Discovery Tour takes guests across the stunning Torndirrup Peninsula, landing on Breaksea Island to discover the fascinating WWI history. The Great Southern Helicopter Winery Experience is an exclusive wine-tasting helicopter tour, landing at three premier wineries; and The Wine Connoisseur: Frankland River offers a truly bespoke wine tasting experience of the region.

Also adding to the winery experiences, Castle Rock Estate in the Porongurups has just launched three wine tourism experiences, with wine flights and guided vineyard tours on offer.

For those seeking adventure experiences, South Peak Adventure will start offering guided treks on a technically challenging and unmarked trail over the rugged mountain peaks between Bluff Knoll and Ellen Peake in the Stirling Range National Park in early 2025. WOW Wilderness EcoAdventures will also launch in 2025 offering guided, small group, full day hiking, packrafting and mountain biking tours in the Walpole Wilderness.

Cultural Connections  

In the Kimberley town of Broome, Mabu Buru Tours has started a 4WD tag-along coast foraging tour. Binba Mayi explores Broome's surrounding mudflats, mangroves and creeks, finishing with a bush barbecue to cook the catch of the day.

South of Perth in the coastal suburb of Rockingham, Hidden deTours has teamed up with In Culture Tours to offer Moordiboordip Cultural Tour - a cross-cultural truth telling walking tour along the Rockingham Foreshore using silent disco technology. Discover the Noongar stories, history and culture of the region through silent disco headphones, brought to life with a musical soundtrack.

South West in the town of Harvey / Korijekup, Boola Bidi Dreaming Centre has started offering guided walking tours of the region, showcasing bush medicine and the local flora and fauna with stunning views over Harvey Dam to the east and the coast to the west.

Cruising news

Eclipse Expeditions is a boutique cruise charter that started offering multi-day tours of the Kimberley for the 2024 season, and will head to the Margaret River Region for the first time this summer. On the new South West Safari guests will sail through crystal waters, hike the Cape to Cape Track, and experience world-class wineries onboard a brand-new vessel — a sailing catamaran equipped with four ensuite queen cabins, a main deck and sun lounge.