Samphire Rottnest: The Australian island that's now a world-class destination

It's 7.30am on a sunny Wednesday morning on Rottnest Island at the new Samphire resort and guests are rolling out fluffy towels on the poolside lounges, a couple is booking in for an in-room spa treatment with the concierge, and others are being guided by linen-clad staff to take a bayside seat for breakfast; maybe Gorgonzola whipped eggs with a Samphire Bloody Mary on the side. This is not the Rottnest I knew. At the Rottnest I spent childhood summers on, the only accommodation was self-catered bungalows with salt-water showers where you'd have to haul over a suitcase full of food on the ferry. The other options were tents or bunks at the army barracks.

Luxury has finally arrived on this quokka-filled isle, 19 kilometres off Fremantle. Various hoteliers had tried over the years, but it was WA family-run hotel giants, the Prendiville Group that endeavoured to comply with designing a resort on a protected A-class reserve – the highest level of protection afforded to public land, making Samphire Rottnest, together with Discovery Park's glamping option (which opened in 2019), the first new accommodation on the island for 30 years. Rottnest Island/Wadjemup is now a world-class island escape with a range of accommodation and high-end cuisine, notably chef Will Meyrick's superbly crafted south-east Asian-inspired menu at Lontara on site at Samphire.

At Samphire, I'm staying in a Beach Lane room which overlooks those bungalows from my childhood. The look is muted natural tones in a palette of sand, sea and native flora against pale timbers. Architects Christou Design Group were engaged to design the building with a remit to tread lightly. Endemic Tuart eucalypts frame the site, and all over the grounds native plants have been sewn. The pick of the rooms are the Beachside Suites, with views over Thomson Bay, though for the moment, at least, the cycle path in-between does attract onlookers keen to peer into this new island offering. The in-room menu features Sandalford Estate wines (also owned by the Prendiville Group), and to accompany, a mixed plate of dips and olives known as a Sundowner Board.

Over by the bar, Warwick Prendiville is picking up empty glasses. Opening a new resort during COVID-19 added an extra layer of challenges, he tells me. The cushions, clearly abundant on outdoor lounges and down at the Beach Club where guests sip cocktails with sand underfoot, didn't arrive in time for the opening.

"We had a last-minute rush to Ikea," he says.

All is in place now, and there's more to look forward to. A smaller kitchen and bar right on the beach will open up, and there will be more overhead coverage in the outdoor eating areas, to protect from the occasional inclement weather.

With suites from $400 a night, guests know they are also paying for the convenience. Interstate (and one day, international) visitors don't know the complicated rules behind securing the standard Rottnest ochre-tinged lime-washed bungalow, issued through a ballot by the Rottnest Island Authority. Even Perthites are having a hard time, with waiting lists banking up beyond 18 months.

Over on the northern side of the island, Discovery Parks has the low impact glamping experience zipped up. My Deluxe Tent overlooking the lighthouse at Pinky's Beach, once the destination for late-night bonfires and teenage trysts, is definitely more glamour than camping in this portmanteau. There's a built-in timber kitchenette with microwave and fridge, a walk-in robe, floorboards are adorned with kilim rugs and there's not a sleeping bag to be seen on the pillow-topped kingsize bed. The best perch to enjoy the sunset is the outdoor lounge suite on the giant wooden deck, or you can head off the Pinky's Beach Club on site and decide to have a drink by the 30-metre pool, or on the expansive lawn setting beachside. The restaurant began as a la carte, but in keeping with the more relaxed barefoot vibe, it's now casual pub-style where you order at the bar. Come bedtime, the room is cooled by the seabreeze floating through the mesh windows.