Hotel or Apartment In Gold Coast Australia

Hello!  Welcome to the Gold Coast Australia and the sunshine state of Queensland!

Annie Rettie Gold Coast Australia Travel Tips - Owner

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I guarantee you will find real information on this website and I promise no endless lists of accommodation!

You'll find hints and tips from my own experiences and those of my family and friends who visit or live here. I've lived in and around Gold Coast since 2004. I'm here to help.

Use this website to get all the information you need to plan your perfect Gold Coast holiday, or simply click here to get planning cheat sheets, tips & tools to make it easier!

AND, to make it super easy here are our main booking partners for hotels and for tours, tickets, theme parks and activities with all the latest deals & up-to-date information.

Choosing a Hotel or Apartment in the Gold Coast. What's The Difference?.

Hotels and apartments are side by side in Surfers Paradise. Sometimes it is hard to know which is which. Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Surfers Paradise with Q1 in the background. Q1 has holiday apartments but isn't a hotel. To confuse you more hotels don't always have accommodation in Australia! How can that be? Read on to find out more.

Hotels, Hotel or Apartment Hotel?

What do I mean? Hotel has several meanings in Australia. For starters in Australia hotel also means pub or bar. If you are searching for accommodation, you might end up in pub accommodation over a noisy bar! And these days many hotels (pubs) in cities don't even have accommodation!

To further add to the confusion over the use of the term hotel, many Gold Coast apartments call themselves resort apartments or an apartment hotel.

I'm going to try to demystify the question:

Should I choose a hotel or apartment for my Gold Coast holiday?

About Hotels

I like to keep it simple, so the way I see it hotels have distinguishing features! Some familiar terms in a hotel are:

About Holiday Apartments

Apartments get called holiday apartments, apartment resorts or apartment hotels. They are geared towards self-catering and self-service.

By that I mean, there are usually facilities to cook, wash and space to eat at table. Sometimes these resort style apartments have facilities similar to hotels. Children's play areas, bar, restaurant, coffee shop, swimming pool, tennis course and more.

But what you miss out on often, is the service. No room service, no daily cleaning nor bed making, no laundry service!

Apartments are often offered as a lower cost alternative to hotels, but you are not really comparing apples to apples.

Apartments are good for families, for longer stays or if you want the flexibility of being able to prepare your own food.

The privacy you get as a family in an apartment with a separate bedrooms and bathrooms is something we as a family often choose.

The downside to apartment holidays is, that as a Mum, I am the one who is still organising meals, shopping and washing. Where's my holiday?

That is certainly a consideration when trying to choose between a hotel or apartment.

Hotel or Apartment - The Verdict!

Apartments can be a good alternative to hotels. They are often less expensive upfront especially for families and if you cook for yourself even some of the time you can often save money on eating out.

Does this mean that hotels are the only real holiday option?

Hotels offer a level of comfort for travellers who are unfamiliar with an area. Overseas visitors often prefer sticking with an international hotel chain they know. That way you know what kind of room and service you can expect.

Now here's the thing! There are some hotels in the Gold Coast that have both hotel faciltiies with hotel style rooms and apartments! Wow, best of both worlds!

I hope that clears up some of the confusion in choosing hotel or apartment.

Best Deals On Hotel or Apartment Accommodation

How do you get the best deal on Hotel or Apartment Accommodation in Gold Coast?

It can be quite time consuming trawling the internet for the different deals! I know, I have done it myself.

I have incorporated this amazing tool into this website that enables you to search the top online booking engines so you can compare online rates for Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast accommodation.

Before you jump there, I suggest you check out the specific accommodation pages in this website as I think you will find they might save you some time trying to work out where to stay!

Once you have selected an area, type of accommodation and you know your travel dates then you can use the comparison tool to find a great deal for you from the top online booking engines.

More Tips for Selecting Holiday Accommodation

I found that when I was planning a Gold Coast holiday I was overwhelmed by the choices. Even when you have narrowed down your choice to the suburb there is still quite a bit to choose! Surfers Paradise has the most accommodation choices.

No need to be overwhelmed, a bit of planning and thought may help save you time by narrowing down your search. Check out my guide to selecting holiday accommodation which gives you some ideas about things to consider to help narrow down your search.

I also blow the lid on some common assumptions that with a bit more research can make a big difference to your comfort in your chosen accommodation.

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