Garde Hotel

Garde Hotel opened on 1 September 2025 inside Fremantle's former Police Headquarters, converting the heritage Convict Quarter building into what locals describe as the port town's first five-star hotel. Its 83 new rooms operate alongside the existing heritage-listed Warders Cottages for a combined 106 keys, with the Anglesea restaurant and a wellness centre following two weeks later.

The place

In Fremantle's Convict Quarter, inside the former Fremantle Police Headquarters, steps from the UNESCO-listed Fremantle Prison and Fremantle Markets, about 19 km southwest of the Perth CBD.

The concept

Garde opened its doors on 1 September 2025 inside the former Fremantle Police Headquarters, a heritage building that had never previously operated as a hotel. Architects Matthew Crawford Architects and Foolscap Studio built 83 new rooms and suites into and around the historic structure, which now operates together with the neighbouring heritage-listed Warders Cottages for a combined 106 keys — described locally as Fremantle's first five-star hotel. The project comes from the same Fremantle hospitality operators behind Warders Hotel, Emily Taylor, Gimlet and the Hougoumont Hotel, who have spent over a decade converting the port town's colonial-era Convict Quarter buildings into hospitality venues. Garde's name plays on "guardianship" — a reference to the site's policing history — and the brief was to keep the heritage fabric of the old headquarters visible while updating the building for contemporary boutique use.

Dining & wellness

Anglesea, the hotel's signature ground-floor restaurant with a Japanese and Korean-inflected menu, opened alongside a wellness centre with sauna and ice shower on 15 September 2025.