The Cott's All Grown Up - Hidden City Secrets

Gone are the days where you would stumble out of ‘the Cott’ on a Sunday and jump on a bus to Clubba. It wasn’t all that long ago that the line of fake tanned women in high-heels and boys in v-neck shirts would stretch around the corner, all eager to be seen in the iconic beer garden.

Since opening in 1905, the Cottesloe Beach Hotel has remained a Perth landmark destination attracting both locals and tourists for beachside beers as the fresh sea breeze provides relief from the scorching Perth sun. But Cottesloe’s favourite hotel has grown up a bit in the past five years.

The Cott we know today is a very different venue to the one it was ten years ago. In 2013, it underwent major renovations. The interiver design geniuses at Hecker Guthrie brought some of their magic to Cottesloe. Art deco features highlight the hotels colourful history, with white wooden panneling, limestone, and modern furnishings keeping it effortlessly cool.

The hotel is now split into three different areas; the Cott & Co. Fish Bar, the Verandah, and the Beach Club.

The Cott & Co. Fish Bar (previously the Bistro) serves up some of the best seafood WA has to offer. The views of the coast are amazing, the service is attentive and friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed, but the real hero here is the local, fresh seafood. Large, juicy prawns, succulent snapper and crispy skinned barramundi, all matched with wines. A little more pricey than what you would expect to pay at a hotel, but The Cott is no ordinary hotel, and these dishes are no ordinary meals.

Then there is the Verandah bar, where beer fanatics can work through the wide selection of local and international tap and bottled beers while enjoying the sunset.

And of course, there is the Beach Club. The renowned Perth ‘Sunday Sesh’ at the Beach Club still attracts all the beautiful people, but a more mature crowd since the renovations. The debauchery of Sunday beers by the beach has been replaced with more chic and sophistication, while still maintaining the beach side feel.

The different levels and furnishings of the Beach Club creates multiple spaces for socialising. The yellow, white and turquoise colours of the nautical décor throughout are reminiscent of sand, sunshine and the idyllic Indian ocean; a reflection of Perth’s never-ending summer.

If its been a few years since you’ve been to the Cott then fear not. You won’t feel out of place or even worse, old. You’ll find 20-something year olds in maxi-dresses sipping Aperol Spritzs, couples eating fish and chips with young children after a day at the beach, and older groups of locals reminiscing about the good ol’ days of the Cott’s RnB room.

There’s something for everyone, so hang on to your existing memories and be ready to make new ones in the new and improved Cottesloe Beach Hotel.