Broadwater Resort Apartments (Como, Western Australia)

137 Melville Pde, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia 
Phone: +61 (08) 9474 4222
Photo courtesy of the hotel.

I have a very good experience in this aparthotel. Not posh, but really comfortable, great service and well located. Here a wrap up of my experience at this hotel:

THINGS I LOVED
+ The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful, one of the best team I've found in my visits to Perth. Truly delightful. It makes the whole difference to me. They go out of the way to help you with anything.
+ The apartment was good sized for a couple or a person travelling alone, and had a full kitchen and basic cooking and table serving tools. Washing machine, drier, dishwasher, microwave, everything. I felt at home.
+ Good firm king mattress!
+ Huge flat TV in the living room and also in bedroom, with a great selection of channels.
+ Wi-Fi was fast and reliable and the line didn't drop at all despite me being online all day.
+ Jacuzzi in bathroom! Good quality towels. Plenty of decent toiletries and hair dryer.
+ Huge balcony facing the pool, with two chairs and a table.
+ Air-conditioned apt. My room was in a shady corner and quite cool so I didn't need to use it but for a couple of hours.
+ 5 minutes away from an IGA supermarket and several cafes, some of them very cool..

THE SO-SOS
- No business desk or chair in my apt even though I booked as a business traveller.
- No lift and two sets of stairs. The girl at reception helped me with my heavy bag (so sweet!).
- The apt would need of a lift me up regarding style, as it feels a updated and chunky. Too much brown! I would start by replacing those horrible photos they have hanging from the walls.
- The bathroom was a bit outdated. The bath a bit too high for a short person like me. Also, the water mixing somewhat flaked after five minutes under the shower, so I had to open the taps more to get a decent flow of water.
-Not many power points in the living room.

Room Tip: If you are bringing heavy suitcases ask for lower ground rooms, as some of the rooms are only access...

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WTF Foodie Moment 1: Warm Coffee

{My turn at the coffee shop is up. First in the line. I order my coffee}

< A skinny flat white just warm, please.
> Not too hot, right? 
< No no, not hot, just waaaaarrrrrmmmmm. 
> OK...  not too hot.

--> (I get my coffee. It is hot. Not too hot means hot enough to be hot, not warm.).

< The coffee is a bit too hot, would you mind adding some cold milk? 

> Oh really? Sooooo sorryyyyy. No problem. 

--> (They add some milk, without stirring. The coffee is still hot, but less hot, still it is hot not warm. I am going to get my tongue burned - again.) 

< Thanks. 

--> (I am just being polite, it is not a thanks full of thanks. Mental note to myself: bring a chapter of Elmo's World in my bag to lend to baristas out there. Hot and Warm lesson. WTF!)

(WHERE? Most Cafés in Perth )

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BROTHER (Menora, Perth WA) = CLOSED

300 Walcott Street
Menora Western Australia 6050
(08) 9272 5787
Hours:
      Mon - Fri: 7:00 am - 3:00 pm
      Sat: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm
      Sun: 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
 
Under new management, BROTHER is a decent unpretentious well-priced café away from the buzz of Beaufort street.

There is nothing flashy or new vogue about BROTHER. The place is small, with comfortable indoor and alfresco areas. The ambience is a bit mismatched and uninspired, still welcoming, the main decoration being the photos for sale on the walls; the woody corner on the right upon entrance is, on the contrary, truly charming, and it is a pity that the whole place is not like that. 

Brother's coffee is very good. I am not a fan of Toby State beans in general, but they do a great job with them here, and the coffee is well-prepared, smooth and creamy.  Mugs available!

Their food is a mix of Australian favourites with a emphasis on Mediterranean dishes for lunch. I love their specials, which are the ones that bring me back to Brother. I loved their White Wine Seafood Linguine, which were not only tasty, but full of chunky pieces of seafood. Their old-style home-made bowl pies were absolutely tasty and filling, although a bit soggy. Their Feta and Spinach Ravioli were also lovely. On the contrary, I found their Peas & Scallop Risotto bland. Serving sizes vary depending on the dishes.  

They have also have a nice selection of cookies, cake slices and muffins baked on the house, sometimes still warm when you order, like the strawberry friand in the photo.

The service has always been terrific regarding friendliness, speed, modifications and adjustments of the menu. All the staff and the young couple of owners are truly welcoming, humble, honest and hard-working.

The place attracts a varied group of people from all ages, families included, but mostly quiet people looking for a place where you can eat and talk at the same time without having to yell. They have several copies of the daily newspaper available for customers, which is always a big tick in my list.

One of the main downsides of the place is their limited opening hours during the weekend, days that usually bring more customers to any restaurant. I have gone on a Saturday and the kitchen was closed at 2.30pm, and 1pm on a Sunday, so I went and spent my money elsewhere. They open the whole week, and it is understandable, but perhaps closing another day of the week and having extended hours during the weekends might pay off.

MIND - They are starting to open in the evenings for dinners some days of the weekend.

BONUS - Free WIFI.

FIX IT - Last time I was there, the knob lock of the toilet self-opened. My bottom is sacred. Yelp!  

ACTIVATE IT - The former website is no longer operational. Their Facebook account has been untouched or very quiet for months. They could easily post here the specials of the week or extra info about events, change in opening times, hours when the kitchen closes and so on. 

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Charities Marketing Practices

If you live in Perth and move around the CBD and the Cultural Centre you surely have found young people from different charities and NGOs trying to get you to sign as a member.

Two things will catch your attention: They are very good looking, and they seem to have a passion for their cause. They are my kind of hero...  However, once the blindness of their beauty and friendliness wanes, and your analytical power switch on again, you start noticing a few oddities. 

1/ They are not only good-looking, but they can even flirt with you... Oh gosh I am that gorgeous and attractive to have a guy who is in his early or mid twenties flirting with me? No, Not really. They do the same to everybody. They use reverse psychology techniques and compliments to make you stop. For ex. I love your bag/pendant/dress. Or ask you open questions like, "Do you care for the environment?" They are very friendly, and greet you hyper-friendly at 9am, when most people, or at least me,  are struggling to even talk.

2/ They have tons of photos and booklets and that they start talking very fast, like repeating a script without much breathing. Like telemarketers but a bit more paused. They are convincing, as most charities support a good cause, and you cannot deny them that. I think the tactic is to overwhelm your senses so you feel so overwhelmed and trapped that you want to get rid of them by signing whatever they want you to sign. It works. That is why they do it.

3/ They can lie to you... bluntly. Well, most marketers will tell you half-truths or sugar-coat anything on a daily basis. Still, when it comes to charities, I find that really shocking. I have specific examples. Like you have to become a member to sign a petition against concentration camps in North Korea, they swear on their mother's grave that you cannot do so online for free even you tell them that this is not the case. Or give you wrong statistics about nett income going from donations to the cause. Many of them openly criticise Worldvision and their millionaire add, but Worlvision does not pay salaries to people to be on the streets and their adds are very limited. Then you go online, check the website of their charity and see that you were being lied. In fact you are online because you already knew that they were lying to you.

4/ Their cause.... is a job. Because, as a gorgeous guy put it, "I have to pay my bills". Well, so do I, sweetie. So I get a job and then I support my causes with my salary. You can even volunteer, you know. That is passion.

I do give quite a bit of my money to several charities and I have had a sponsored child in Malawi for a few years now. I consider giving to local and international charities an obligation and nothing to be praised about because I am lucky enough to have a good salary, live decently and have my basic needs covered. Still, I want charities to sell me their cause in another way.

Do not take me wrong, I stop most times just to say no in a graceful way, because I think it takes lots of guts approaching unknown people early in the morning despite some people being quite rude at that sort of approaches. As one of the girls told me, "you are the first person who has been nice to me this morning, and I have been here for an hour. I just wanted somebody to return my good morning and be nice to me". It is not an easy job.

Still, I find disgraceful using flirting and choosing good-looking people or giving me compliments on my bag to get my attention and sell a cause. You sell me the cause, you convince me with arguments, and you talk to me like a person who has a brain. You are not selling snuggies, are you? There is nothing better than a genuine person telling you how wonderful what they do is because they do it out of passion and love and not because they are being paid to say just that.

The first time I donated to Medicins Sans Frontiers was during one of those infamous international war-food crisis in Africa; there was an item of news on TV, nothing related to the charity, but the logo of MSF was on every medical tent in the field. MSF did not have any add on TV that day or any other day, or gorgeous-looking marketers in the city centre. But their work and their being there was enough reason for me to donate. Nobody was selling me their cause. They were too busy helping those in need. Can you see the difference?

Call me a romantic, but you  do not have to sell me a cause, a cause sells itself. My causes, the ones that get my money are those that touch me for whatever reason. The only time I have signed through one of these guys was recently, and despite me believing in their cause, I regretted it immediately, because of all the things I have said above. 

The line you have to use with the most insisting guys is "I am already a member", and they will let you go. Be nice to them. After all they are nice guys making a living and working hard for something they believe in. Still, choose your charity and donate to them based on your preferences, not on marketed lies and aggressive marketing practices.

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P. A. W. S. City Cafe (Perth WA) - CLOSED

120 Beaufort St 
Perth Western Australia 6000 (08) 9228 2435 
Website
Facebook
Hours: 
    Mon-Sun 8:30 - 21:00

Upon entering PAWS, you will get a feeling of entering a comfy backpacker hostel's lounge that is also a bit chaotic, as the shop, eating, serving and cash out areas are all mixed without any sort of harmonious spatial amalgamation - harmonious in its dysfunction, perhaps.

The seating area is very luminous, colourful and comfy, with a few nice ethnic details, office-like furniture, and wonderful world music. It would be great having some sort separation from the other areas by, for example, using cute ethnic screens/curtains so eaters have more intimacy and enjoy their meal without asking themselves "Where am I?".

THE FOOD - The selection of dishes is small, with six varieties of hot dishes and six cold ones, and a cake corner, but everything I tried (two salads and two hot dishes) tasted very good. This is unsophisticated cooking, more home-made vegan cooking than anything else, but the food was very tasty, and had an interesting mix of flavours and textures.  I liked it a lot! 

THE COFFEE - The coffee tastes a bit like mocha and is bland in general. A Lavazza machine with coffee pods produces great coffee and would not be out of place in PAWS. :O

THE PRICING - The pricing is fantastic. You can have a decent big vegan dish, mixing salads and hot dishes, for 12 dollars. Besides, you know the money serves a good cause and that what you eat is fresh. Not enough for you? Students get a 10% discount and takeaway is just 5 bucks!

THE SERVICE - Regarding the service, the lady behind the food counter was super-friendly, you go girl!, so much so that instead of charging me for two small dishes, charged me for just a big one, even though two small dishes are bigger than a big one. Lucky me! It was very cool. The cashier lady was completely plugged into her cashing machine and Ipod, and was a bit detached from the world. 

TIP
Servings are a bit small, so go for the large dish. I had two small dishes and I left feeling that there was plenty of room for more.

Meow!

UPDATE 24/8/2012
 I returned to Paws for lunch today, after Laura's photo showing a meal of humongous proportions. Humongous meals that taste good are my type of meal, you know. Last time I was there, my meal were very good but a bit small in size, and I had to have two small dishes to leave full. Today, I have ordered the big dish, which allow you to have three of the hot curries and three of the salads, plus the rice, for 12 dollars. The serving was indeed humongous. Most importantly everything was tasty and even yummy. The zucchini salad, and the parsley and parsnip one salad were terrific. The curries were also very tasty, and consistent in texture, not fluffy stuff.

I was really tempted by one of the sweets, a sort of vegan tiramisu made with custard, vegan jelly and carrot, and it was yummy and looked so very pretty.

Their coffee is still the same, not bad, but a bit weak for me.

The service is still very good, and the lady behind the kitchen counter a pleasure to deal with.

The place really is very quiet and will suit people who like quiet lunches, surrounded by people who also love quiet lunches in a luminous place. There was this grandma with her grandchild both sleeping on the sofa, as per the photo, and I thought that it was such a great sweet moment, in a restaurant, that I had to take a photo. Only at Paws.

I will be back.

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