BobbyDazzler

After being somewhat discouraged from staying in Scarborough for our family's holiday and reccie visit in April 2006, the choice seems to boil down to either Fremantle or Sorrento

The Sorrento resort seems to come highly recommended and allows good access to Hillary's, Perth CBD, beaches and other suburbs

Freo looks fantastic, particularly the Pier 21 resort, but is further away from the areas mentioned above

So, which area would be the best choice for a family holiday in quality accomodation (with decent facilities) as well as being within easy travelling distance of the areas above

As always, any advice appreciated

Thanks and regards

BD

SuperSeagulls

Hi BD

I stayed in Freo - and drove up to Sorrento. Freo is really nice, and I reckon there'll be a bit more of a buzz down there then in Sorrento. If you have a car then you can drive from Freo to Hilarys up the ocean road in 30 minutes, no problem.

SS

BobbyDazzler

Cheers SS

Freo looks great. Might even be able to pop up to Ocean Reef to see our friend and CEO (C.B) ?

How's your season going? We're joint top of Div 1 at the moment - won't last long though before another relegation battle looms

Cheers

BD

wavy_davy

Hi, we stayed in the sorrento beach resort when we were there earlier this year. It was lovely. We had four adults and a baby so hired a three bed apartment (which was actually a house with an upstairs and downstairs) and had plenty of room. it was just a stones throw away from the beach and the pool was nice too. It has a restaurant although we didn't eat there. The kitchen etc had everything we needed. The drive to Freo was easy enough. When I was in Australia a few years ago on a working holiday I lived in Freo for three months and it was lovely. It has a more lively lifestyle and I would say it would be a better choice if you like wandering in the evening or fancy a drink without having to drive ... the beach isn't as good though. It depends what you fancy! Hope this helps. Katy x

sj oldfield

They are both fab places.........but both very different. Looks like you are going to have to flick a coin!!!

SuperSeagulls

Hi BD

Yep - another relegation battle for us, although at the moment we are at the dizzy heights of 16th in the Championship!!!

So you decided - Freo or Sorrento?

And how's the visa pplication going?

SS

BobbyDazzler

SS

PM

BD

michellemac

Hi there,

I would choose Freo. It's an actual town in itself itself with resturants/pubs/good public transport links and lots of things to do for the kids like the museums, the harbour, the old prison etc. If you're not hiring a car, then you'd be more mobile as you can catch the train or bus to Cottesloe, Port or Leighton beaches and also the train into Perth city centre. You're also close to the Western Suburbs on that train line - Subiaco and Claremont have quite good shopping as they are the "posher" bits of Perth as well as good restaturants and pubs. It's great to mooch about in Freo and is especially lively on Fri/Sat nights in summer but pretty good any time of the year really. Most of the restaurants are Italian/Greek/seafood but there are others too and pretty much all of them are child friendly like the Italians are good at. Ironically, we recently went to Sorrento in Italy and my H and I were commenting just how simialar Sorrento (Italy) and Fremantle are atmosphere-wise.

Sorrento is an actual suburb so doesn't offer the same variety of restaurants etc - you'd be stuck with what in the resort itself. The beach is good up there but you're not exactly central to the Perth metro area. Having said that, Pier 21 is lovely but not actually in Freo itself, it's in North Fremantle, on the other side of the river, which would be a good 30/45 min walk from Freo itself (but closer to the beach). There is a train station relatively closeby though and it's only one stop to Freo and you're on the same train line that goes to Perth, Subiaco, Cottesloe, Claremont.

Michelle

Bella Donna

We stayed at Pier 21 when we visited Fremantle back in May. We loved it. The only drawback was being quite a way out of Fremantle itself - too far for us to walk, and nothing else really near in the vicinity. The catering facilities in the room we had were very basic, and we ended up eating out every night. But that wasn't a hardship with all those harbour-front fish restaurants. The fish was fantastic.

We did a river trip up the Swan to Perth which was enjoyable, but we only got an hour or so there to look around. Still good though - and wine-tasting on board.

Have a good trip!

BobbyDazzler

Hi there

We've reserved 7 nights at Pier21 and from what you're saying it could be a good choice

We like it quiet (I need my sleep) but we're hiring a car so getting into and out of Freo should not be a problem

We'll probably spend the first few days lounging around recovering from the flight so as long as the place is clean and comfortable, and has good views then we should be right

I don't plan on eating inside much so I guess we'll be checking out the restaurants (particularly the Italian ones - yum yum) from the word go - even if it means me nipping out in the car for a takeaway

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Glad you had a good time

Rgds

BD

BobbyDazzler

Thanks for the advice

We'll have to weigh up whether we'll feel isolated being 30/45 mins out of Freo but we will be hiring a car so that may help us. As per my previous post, we like it quiet but don't want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Objective of visiting Perth (Freo) is to get a taste of Australian (Perth) life. We've not been to Oz before so if we're too far out of things staying at Pier 21 then it will be a wasted trip. May have to do some sums and check out other potential accomodations

Rgds

BD

Bella Donna

Pier 21 isn't that far out of the way if you're hiring a car - just round the corner and over the bridge and you're south of the river again. Five minutes' drive and you're right in the hub of things. But I agree that without transport you'd probably find it too far to walk to be enjoyable.

Sue

michellemac

Its a bit hard to explain because Perth and suburbs aren;t the same as the Uk is. I'm trying to think of a way so you can understand how it's set out but basically North Fremantle is an old suburb of Fremantle that is now part of the whole Perth metro area (like say, Richmond, is part of greater London now although both have distinct identities).

There's a strip of land between the beach and the river that knd of runs from Fremantle up to Scarborough that is known as "the western suburbs" and this bit is the more exclusive part of Perth and is also the oldest part of Perth (with teh places i mentioned - Subiaco, Cottesloe etc) They are lots of "towns" all joined up but are based more on your UK set-up of High Street with shops/pubs than most other parts of the Perth Metro area (which are more like endless fields of new towns like Milton Keynes) - hence being more expensive and more exclusive. iIt's not the best analogy but it will do!

Anyway, this means that Perth people drive most places. Most people do not have a pub/restaurant in walking distance of their home. You would be considered quite "close" to Freo (but Perth standards) if you were staying in North Freo, especially with the car - the journey would be say 10 mins maximum?.

It really is a nice place and one of the more exclusive suburbs of Perth (and Freo). I know the area quite well because my dad grew up there, my aunt lives there and my nanna lived there until she died (it used to be working class when they bought houses there though!) Bon Scott (AC/DC) lived on Ainslie Road when he was a kid (as did my dad!). I am racking my brains trying to think of holiday apartments closer to freo town centre but i am a bit stumped as I stay with family when we go there. I know though that Pier 21 used to have a very good repuation. not sure what it's like now as I'm talking a good 10-15 years ago but I wouldn't cancel in the hope of getting closer becasue the way things are set out means you probably won't get anywhere closer if you want an apartment.

Michelle

steve99

What about the Esplanade Hotel right in the centre of Fremantle, I know its fairly pricey but it is in an excellent location?
Steve