Broome sweeps in a little luxury

LUXURY rooms, a day spa and a soothing Buddha yoga sanctuary – Broome's Cable Beach Club Resort splashes out with a $20 million makeover.

TWENTY years ago, Broome's biggest-ever development was signed, sealed and delivered on a beer coaster.

The project transformed the town and helped erect one of Australia's fastest growing cities.

This month Cable Beach Club Resort celebrates the 20th anniversary of a luxurious tropical retreat built inside a frontier township.

The town, which was little more than a graveyard and collection of tents in the beginning, has been raised from the dust of a pearling port into an attractive town flushed with its own beach clubs and hotels.

Located 2200km north of Perth, lazy Broome's red-earth setting screams small-town, but its newly renovated all-inclusive beach club oozes something far more upmarket.

The brainchild of Lord Alistair McAlpine, Cable Beach Club Resort is the most expensive development the town has ever seen.

The budget for the project back in 1988, a joint venture between McAlpine and the State Government, was more than $34 million.

New owners, Hawaiian Guests, have refurbished the resort with a $20 million makeover, sculpting luxurious rooms, decorated with Australian art and Asian accessories.

It is a modern, self-contained complex with four restaurants, bar, two pools, 167 rooms, a Buddha yoga sanctuary, day spa, gym, hair salon, tour and activities desk, shop and even Linneys – one of Broome's biggest pearl distributors.

Aside from the dazzling beaches of Broome, in the barren north of WA, there is not much else around.

Cashing in on the unique splendour of the location, Cable Beach Club has been built over 10ha of land – smack on the white sands of the main beach.

Soak in the best of the Kimberley Outback

It effectively manages to disguise the obvious draw-backs for guests who want everything a luxury holiday can offer in one of the most isolated towns in the world.

One can sit back, be pampered and enjoy the comforts of home while soaking in the very best of the Kimberley Outback.

When the pearling industry flourished in the 1800s and oysters were harvested for mother of pearl, the people – mostly Asian immigrants and Aborigines – paid for the riches of pearl beds with their lives.

A Japanese cemetery, where more than 900 men and women divers are buried pays tribute to these exploits.

Aside from the prominent Asian influence in the town, it was a European who first colonised the area in 1688. The town was later named after the Governor of WA, Sir Frederick Broome.

The local indigenous population, the Djuleun or snake people, saw their land was cut up and they were chained into slavery.

Cable Beach, which got its name in 1889 when a telegraph undersea cable was laid from Broome to Singapore, connecting to England, was attacked in World War II.

The town recovered and a mining boom took hold in the 1960s, swelling the city's population to today's 13,000. This number bulges to 34,000 during peak tourist season.

Nowadays Qantas, Virgin Blue and Skywest fly direct to Broome daily. The tourism industry is rife with 4WD adventures, hovercraft rides and beach camel tours.

Oh, and 130-million-year-old dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point will amaze even non-science tourists.

Sunday Mail