Geoff C
Google
My wife and I attended a 4 day Conference in Perth, Western Australia in May 2024. To maximise the airfare from Brisbane we extended our visit by adding a three night stay in Kalgoorlie - "the capital of the Goldfields", after the Conference concluded. ||To get to Kalgoorlie (650 kilometres east of Perth) we travelled on the Prospector Train. The journey took 7 hours and was quite a pleasant experience. We researched where we wanted to stay in Kalgoorlie on the Internet before leaving Brisbane and stumbled on the Quality Inn Railway Motel and this became our choice of accommodation for our three night stay. It’s a large complex with two distinct sections – a rendered cream concrete and brick corner block ( Forrest and Wilson Streets) housing the reception office as well as Carriages Restaurant and a second larger section mostly in red brick consisting of three buildings containing 102 units, set in a square horseshoe configuration around a large concrete car parking area. A partially covered driveway into the complex separates the two sections. The exterior of the complex provides an overall pleasing effect.||Its number one selling point is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION !!! It is located directly opposite the Railway Station and a leisurely 500 metre walk to the Town Hall in Hannan Street. A bonus being opposite from the Railway Station was that we did not have to carry our luggage too far to get to our accommodation – a “hop, skip and a jump”, no more than 100 metres, and we were there. | |The Quality Inn Railway is motel accommodation. It’s not luxury but it is clean and comfortable. We chose a deluxe unit with a Queen bed and a kitchenette. The cost per night was a little more expensive than we might have expected; however we appreciated we were paying for the supreme location. As well as the Queen bed, there were two basic lounge chairs with a small occasional table. The kitchenette had a microwave, a small bar fridge, a stainless steel kitchen sink and cupboards with a range of cutlery, crockery and glassware. We utilised the kitchenette for our morning breakfasts. For other meals we either ate out or brought takeaways back to the unit. This arrangement suited us fine. The unit does not cater for the traveller who wishes to cook full meals. ||There is no actual bathroom as such but a separate room with a door that houses the toilet and shower recess. The wash basin is actually outside this room opposite the kitchenette with the towel racks beside the kitchenette. It’s an unusual arrangement but it works nonetheless. There is a simple writing desk with a chair below the television and attached to the writing desk is a useful luggage rack. There is a swimming pool on site – however we chose not to partake because we were too busy touring.||On site is the Carriages Restaurant where breakfast is served each morning if you don’t wish to eat in. It also offers dinner and on one of the nights of our stay we had a meal here. There is not a lot of atmosphere in this Restaurant – the décor was very basic; however the food was well cooked and came to our tables hot so we could not complain. The wait service could perhaps have been better but it was agreeable. My wife had Chicken Kiev (crumbed chicken breast filled with herb butter, served with mashed potato, seasonal vegetables & Dijon cream sauce), which she enjoyed. My choice was their Creamy Chicken Fettuccine (with sundried tomato, mushroom, capsicum, spinach, garlic cream, tomato sugo and shaved parmesan). I enjoyed my pasta meal but I felt it missed the mark as a dish as I felt it had too much of a tomato taste. I doubt I would have such a pasta combination again. I guess it comes down to individual preference with another person probably giving it the “thumbs up”.||We found the reception staff friendly and helpful on arrival and during our stay. Our arrival formalities were handled efficiently as was our departure. ||Right in front of the Quality Inn is the solemn and well kept ‘fenced in’ War Memorial. | It is well worth spending a few minutes here to reflect on the sacrifices made by many in pursuit of the freedoms we enjoy today – Lest we forget! ||We found Kalgoorlie a great place for a visit. On our first full day we did the two and half hour Tram Taster Tour booked through the Visitors’ Centre in the Town Hall in Hannan Street (although we booked online before we left Brisbane). Travelling in a heritage style tram car on wheels this informative tour made visits to the Mount Charlotte Lookout; the Super Pit lookout to witness the open cut Gold mine; Chunky Timbers for an interesting look at the marvels of timber art; the no longer utilised but ornate Boulder Town Hall; the wonderfully created Kalgoorlie Racing Club Museum and finally the informative Goldfields Museum. On our other day we did a comprehensive tour of the Kalgoorlie Town Hall for a small charge, also booked through the Visitors’ Centre and we even managed a novel visit to the oldest brothel in Australia at Questa Casa. On both days we had lunch at two great historic pubs in town – the Palace on day 1 and the York on day 2. ||We thoroughly enjoyed our short visit to the city of Kalgoorlie – the capital of the Goldfields in Western Australia and the Quality Inn Railway proved the ideal base for our touring. It more than satisfied our needs during our stay here and for three nights it was “a place to call home”.
