I'll begin with my usual Trip Advisor cut-and-paste review of the Seashells apartments in Scarborough. Scarborough is a small town/village about fifteen minutes away from Perth in Western Australia. The apartments are situated across from the beach, with amazing views, and I can wholeheartedly recommend the three-bedroom Sandcastles apartments for families.
We stayed at Seashells in August 2014, so my memory may be a little hazy on some aspects! We arrived late at night, and had already been given a key code in advance to access our room key from a little box outside reception, which is closed at night. There are plenty of parking spaces opposite the apartments to enable you to visit reception, and we had no trouble finding the apartments or accessing our room package. We were allocated a parking space (possibly two?) in the underground car park, and I believe there was a key or code access to the car park to make it secure. From there, there was a lift up to the apartments. We had booked a superior two-bedroom apartment, but we found out on arrival that we'd been upgraded to a three-bed Sandcastles apartment. I was slightly apprehensive, as I had a feeling that I'd read that the Sandcastles were lower starred than the superior two-bed, but I needn't have worried, as we really couldn't have asked for anything more.
As a Brit, used to fairly cramped hotel rooms, the spaciousness of the apartment was the most striking thing. We had three bedrooms (obviously), which meant the children could have their own rooms. The main bedroom had a large en-suite bathroom with corner jacuzzi bath, while there was another good-sized shower room/toilet nearer the boys' bedrooms. There was a large living/dining area and a reasonable-sized kitchen. Overall, the apartment was bigger than plenty of family homes in the UK. It was also well-equipped - free Wi-Fi, washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, microwave, TV & DVD player, CD player, safe, iron & ironing board, etc. Toiletries and plenty of towels were included, and extras in the kitchen, such as dishwasher liquid, milk, sugar and salt & pepper, made life easier.
I believe that the apartments are all individually owned, so the decor and level of upkeep differs. I can't speak for the other apartments, but we certainly had no complaints about this one. Yes, if you want to be picky, it is not brand spanking new - there was a crack in the bath and there were the odd chips or marks in the paintwork. But it certainly didn't look shabby and it was all very clean and comfortable, which was good enough for us.
The apartments are located directly opposite a beautiful beach, and the views from the lovely large balcony were amazing. Sadly, because we were there in winter, we couldn't take advantage of the balcony, although I'd imagine it would be lovely to sit out there for breakfast. Similarly, there was an outdoor pool, sauna and BBQ equipment, but it wasn't the weather to be able to use these.
There is not too much to Scarborough itself, but it is only a short drive to Fremantle or Perth city centre. The main attraction of Scarborough is the beautiful beach, but there is also a big supermarket next to the apartments, and several restaurants within easy walking distance (I'd recommend the Wild Fig Café or Grill'd).
The apartments were very quiet - we couldn't hear our neighbours and only rarely heard people walking past the front door. We had to call in at reception the morning after arrival (can't remember why - think we needed to check in properly or something), and they were very friendly. All in all, the apartments felt like a real home-from-home, and would be an excellent base for a long stay in the area. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
If you'd like a little tour of our apartment, you can watch the YouTube video below. You can also visit my YouTube channel (Holiday Obsessive) for more holiday videos (with more to come soon).
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