Premier Mill Hotel Katanning Review

Spending the night in an old flour-mill wasn’t high on my bucket list but we did enjoy the experience.

On our way to Cheynes Beach, near Albany, we decided to break our journey in the town of Katanning.

It’s a small town, about a three and a half hour journey from Perth, with a multicultural population of almost 4000. The history of the local Nyoongar people is fascinating and there are a lot of interesting old Federation buildings.

The Premier Mill Hotel was previously the site of the Premier Roller Flour Mill, which was established in 1891 and was the first building in Katanning to have electric lights installed. During the last century, the space was used by different entities including a butchery, a barbershop, a tea room, an arts and craft centre and a tourist bureau. However, it was the innovative idea from the Shire of Katanning to sell the building for $1 to developers willing to invest capital that led to the building being restored.

As we entered the 22-room Premier Mill Hotel, we were greeted by Maneulla at the very small reception. Also on the ground floor is a lounge area with chairs placed around a wood-burning fire.

One of the most striking features of the hotel is the flour mill’s original boiler, which rises three floors. It’s quite a dramatic statement next to the staircase. A steel-framed lift cage takes guests and their luggage to the upstairs area.

There are four different types of rooms available – the Boiler rooms are $265 per night, the other three rooms are $295 per night. Packages are available for longer stays.

Boiler rooms: The smallest of the hotel’s rooms that overlook the original boiler in the atrium.

Silo rooms: Rough-sawn, solid Jarrah timbers built as part of a granary in 1910 make up some of the walls in the silo rooms.

Packing rooms: The largest rooms in the hotel featuring some old equipment. We had a good view of the town from our window.

Purifying rooms: These rooms come with high ceilings and original beams and feature equipment used in the purifying of wheat.

We would have liked to try out one of the Silo rooms but as the hotel was fully booked for the weekend, we settled for a Packing room. The renovation of the hotel has been obviously been carried out by an architect and interior designer with imagination, flair and with one eye on history. The materials all seem to be of a high class and our stylish room was light and airy during the day but cosy in the evening. Aesop amenities are provided in the spacious bathroom. Free wifi is available and the Bang and Olufsen personal sound system was a nice surprise. Most importantly, the bed was very comfortable!

Our room had what must be the smallest hotel fridge on the planet but that wasn’t a problem on an overnight stay. There is however no safe and no wardrobe space although three wall coat hangers are provided.

On each of the hotel’s two accommodation levels, there is a guest valet room which is complete with tea and coffee making facilities, fruit, extra pillows and towels, complimentary bottled water and a well-stocked library.

On the mezzanine floor of the hotel, there is a kitchen and a private dining room as well as an entrance to the attached Dome Café. A ramp is provided from the ground floor to the Dome entrance. The Dome is obviously popular with locals and a good place for hotel guests to have breakfast and perhaps dinner. It features an After Five menu that I haven’t seen in any of the Dome’s metro cafes. That menu includes dishes such as grilled barramundi salad, beef cheeks and roast chicken with wild rice.

In the basement, we were happy to relax in the hotel’s Cordial Bar that has tapas-style food as well as local wines on tap. There is no wheelchair access to the Bar, however, staff is happy to supply drinks and food to the ground floor lounge area. Every staff member was pleasant and friendly – a great asset for any hospitality business.

I definitely recommend this hotel for an overnight stay. However, I would also recommend that guests try to arrive earlier or later than the check-in time of 2pm, as there was only one person on duty. Manuella was very welcoming but as there were three other couples waiting to check-in we had to find our own rooms and if I hadn’t done some research and found out about the guest valet room, we would never have known it was there.

Address: Cnr of Clive Street and Austral Terrace, Katanning

Phone: 08 6500 3950

Parking: Free – across the road in a public car park

Website: premiermillhotel.com

About the Author
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About Hazel Broomhead

My name is Hazel and I am a Perth senior!

Originally from Edinburgh in Scotland, my husband and I moved to New Zealand with our children in 1974. As my husband is in the oil business, we moved to several other countries including the Sultanate of Oman, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Philippines, the USA, Russia and Kazakhstan during the next 36 years before retiring to Perth.

We have six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who live in different parts of the globe – New Zealand, Scotland and Colombia - which makes a great excuse for us to travel and visit.

My career background is in radio and print journalism in Scotland and New Zealand as well as public relations in various other countries.

We love to eat out, walk, travel and enjoy the wonderful lifestyle here in Western Australia.