A peninsula, a promise, and forty years of quiet ambition
Sunburnt Palms is Perth's homegrown answer to the grand resort — a casino estate on the Burswood peninsula where the river does half the hospitality and the staff do the rest.
A century on this bend of the Swan
The peninsula worked for a living long before it hosted anyone — brickworks, then ambition, then a resort that kept growing into its landscape.
"Every era left something standing. We kept the good parts."
Resort historian's office
1908
The brickworks era
Burswood's clay pits supply the bricks for half of early Perth — the peninsula earns its keep the hard way.
1985
The resort decision
Western Australia approves an integrated resort on the peninsula; the first tower and casino open to queues around the block.
2003
The dining promenade
Six restaurants claim the river frontage and the resort starts appearing in food writing, not just gaming columns.
2017
The Crystal Club
Nine private salons open in their own wing — the quiet, invitation-tier side of the casino.
2024
Sunburnt Palms today
Full renovation: lagoon deck, Azure Spa, the Riverside Residences and a 1.2MW solar array over the parapet.
Built from the landscape it sits in
The renovation brief was biophilic before it was fashionable: materials that age well, sourced as close to the site as physics allowed.
WA jarrah
Salvaged from a demolished Fremantle woolstore — every lobby panel carries its previous life.
Silver travertine
Honed, unfilled and cool underfoot through the atrium — stone that outlasts trends.
Brushed steel
Handrails and fittings in marine-grade steel — chosen for the river air, finished to be touched.
Tasmanian wool
Suite throws and salon upholstery from a fourth-generation mill — replaced, not discarded, in rotation.
EarthCheck Platinum certified since 2023 — the full programme is on our sustainability commitments.
A botanic estate older than the resort
Twelve hectares of gardens wrap the peninsula — three river gums that predate the brickworks, a sculpture walk and the oldest olive grove in the metro area.
Audio garden guide
Twelve stops, twenty minutes — the trees' own story at walking pace.
Botanic register
Every significant tree carries its Latin name and planting year on a small brass tag.
Private picnics
A chef's hamper delivered to a quiet lawn — the concierge picks the spot.
Native habitat
Black cockatoos, blue wrens and the peninsula's own beehives producing estate honey.
Two acres behind the service lane
The kitchen garden supplies all six restaurants — herbs cut at dawn, citrus by the crate and a compost loop that returns soil to the same beds in eight weeks.
05:30
Herbs and greens cut for the kitchens
07:00
Deliveries reach the six restaurants
Tue & Fri
Guest garden tours with tastings
Join the Tuesday or Friday morning tour through the concierge desk — it ends with a tasting of whatever the beds are producing that week.
The zero-footprint pledge
Luxury that costs the landscape nothing — engineered systems the guests never have to think about.
0MW
Rooftop solar array
Covers the resort's daytime base load; surplus feeds the peninsula grid.
0%
Waste diverted
Commercial composting, closed-loop linen and zero single-use plastics resort-wide.
0%
Water recycled
Greywater irrigation for all lawns; the lagoon is filtered by reed beds, not heavy chlorine.
Flying in? Offset your flight's carbon at check-in with one tap — the resort matches every contribution to verified WA projects.
A gallery that lives in the corridors
The resort runs a rotating exhibition programme — a resident artist each season, works hung through the halls, and every piece for sale.
Current resident
Miriam Ngata
Large-format river studies in oil — "the Swan as a mirror that remembers".
Book a curator's tour
Swan Study IV
Oil on linen · 140×110 · A$8,900
Peninsula, Evening
Oil on linen · 90×120 · A$6,400
Low Tide, Burswood
Mixed media · 100×100 · A$4,800
A library for slow evenings
Four thousand volumes — first editions, art folios and a chess table that has hosted three grandmasters and one state premier.
- Rare-book cabinet curated with Perth's Boffins Books
- Tea library: 22 single-estate and fermented blends
- Thursday author readings by the fire, 18:30
A twelve-seat private cinema
Dolby Atmos, vintage leather armchairs and a projectionist who still threads film — weekend retrospectives for guests, private hire any night.
Fri 20:00 — The Searchers (1956)
Ford retrospective, week 3
Sat 20:00 — Gallipoli (1981)
Australian cinema series
Sun 18:00 — Family archive hire
Private screening slot
Led by hospitality, not spreadsheets
S. Marchetti
Owner & Managing Director
Founded the resort's current chapter with one rule: never make a guest ask twice.
Adrien Moreau
Executive Chef
Two-hat kitchens across six restaurants — and still plates the chef's counter himself.
Priya Raman
Head of Engineering & Sustainability
Runs the systems behind the zero-footprint pledge — and the garden tours on Fridays.
About the resort
Who we are, what we run and how the estate fits together. Broader guest questions live on the FAQ page.
Both — an integrated resort. The hotel towers, spa, lagoon and restaurants operate independently of the casino; many guests never step onto the gaming floor, while others come purely for it.
An integrated resort has stood on the peninsula since the 1980s; Sunburnt Palms in its current form completed a full renovation in 2024 — towers, lagoon deck, Azure Spa and the Crystal Club wing.
Sunburnt Palms Resort Pty Ltd, owned and led by S. Marchetti — an independent, privately held Western Australian company, not a chain.
Yes — the botanic walk, dining promenade, gallery and casino are open to visitors. The botanic walk is free; garden tours run Tuesday and Friday via the concierge.
The peninsula story is still being written — read the next chapter in person
Book a suite, walk the grounds at golden hour, and let forty years of ambition show you around.