The Criterion is a striking art deco building in a fantastic location - only 2 minutes walk to the Hay St mall. The room was as to be expected for 3 star; whilst the furnishings were a little dated, I could not fault the cleanliness, and the in-room safe and large flat screen TV were a plus. I feared I would have difficulty sleeping as outside the window, just a couple of metres from the bed were 5 or 6 air-conditioning units; although these were in fact very quiet and unobtrusive, and the comfortable bed meant I slept soundly. On the other hand, noise from the corridors could easily travel in, with a large gap under the door, quite close to the beds. Service was generally good - helpful & friendly at both check-in (I was able to check in early) and check-out; but not ALL the staff were helpful... e,g. listening to an MP3 player when you are on reception duty is hardly giving an impression of being ready to attend to the needs of your guests!
Perth hotels tend to be pricier than other major Australian cities - this makes the Criterion very good value.
PS. The lift has been renovated and is now back in operation.

Yep I pretty much agree with the majority of the comments below. The only reason this hotel wasn't terrible was because of the location which is excellent. My room was tiny, smelt bad and wasn't very clean. The staff were unfriendly and unhelpful and was far too expensive for the standard. Saying that Perth is really expensive and you may not find a cheaper hotel. My advice, pay a little more and stay down the road at the Rydges hotel (you can get cheap deals if you book in advance) or pay less and stay at a nice youth hostel in the city.

Cons:

1) Very rude staff
Stayed for 3 nights, only 1 night that we had minimum room service (rubbish empty, change of towel). The other 2 nights without service. When we complaint, all we got was 'I don't know' and 'it's a cheap hotel, what do you expect'. We paid $135 a night, the hotel rated as 3 star but I think it can barely make it to a 3 stars.

2) No room service in the weekends and public holidays

3) Very old hotel, mold in bath room

Pros:

Location is good, close to CBD. However, there are other cheap hotels around that you can try i.e. IBIS, Holiday Inn, Country Comfort, Kings Mercure.

Perth City is good but if you are there for work. However, if for leisure stay I suggest Fremental is the best area.

Not a cheap hotel. Paid $140 just room. Lift was not working. Free Internet never works. Only the location was great.