As an attractive seaside destination, it was close to both Perth and Fremantle and offered a convenient resting point to travels further south.
The hotel and post office are all that remain of a thriving social and retail precinct and destination for visitors, holiday makers and the Coogee community from the 1900s to the 1920s. The precinct comprised a railway station, two racecourses, the popular family beach and the hotel, with the adjacent post office and store built in the 1920s.
For nearly 40 years, the former hotel was run by the Anglican Church, firstly as a children’s holiday camp during the depression years, and later, as a children’s home after World War I until 1968.