Is it good karma to build a hotel in part of an old prison? Maybe not. But if you're worried, ask for a room in the more spacious new section, overlooking a salt lake. The older rooms are comfortable but compact and basic. Services include a bar, Riva restaurant, a shady pool and an easy-listening 1970s California soundtrack.

The long-term future of Karma Rottnest as the adjunct Quod undergoes restoration (the island's former Aboriginal prison) is uncertain.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Rottnest Museum

0.02 MILES

Housed in the old hay-store building built by Aboriginal prisoners in 1857, this engaging little museum tells of the island's natural and human history,…

2. Historic Chapel

0.02 MILES

Push open the door and enter this hushed, simple chapel near the old prison, built in 1858 and with creaky floorboards, a driftwood crucifix and a single…

3. Quod

0.05 MILES

Built in 1864, this hefty octagonal building with a central courtyard was once the Aboriginal prison block. During its time as a prison several men would…

4. Salt Store Gallery & Exhibition Centre

0.06 MILES

The photographic exhibition inside this 1868 building looks at a different chapter of local history: when the island's salt lakes provided all of WA's…

5. Holy Trinity Church

0.08 MILES

Rottnest's Catholic church is a Spanish Mission–style beauty, with mass at 9am daily.

6. Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground

0.13 MILES

Adjacent to the Quod is a hushed, shady woodland area where hundreds of Aboriginal prisoners were buried in unmarked graves. Until relatively recently,…

7. Vlamingh Lookout

0.2 MILES

Not far away from Thomson Bay (wander up past the old European cemetery), this unsigned vantage point offers panoramic views of the island, including its…

8. Bathurst Lighthouse

0.49 MILES

Historic landmark out on the point near Pinky Beach. It was built in 1900 after the wreck of the City of York nearby in 1899, just shy of Fremantle after…