We took a short break to Queensland for 5 days, it was supposed to be over our March long weekend as the kids get the Thursday and Friday off school as well as the Monday public holiday.  I booked the flights last May but unfortunately I somehow managed to book the wrong weekend! Last year we visited Airlie Beach and this year was Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Having a family of 5, we now need a find reasonably priced holiday apartments Gold Coast location and the Mantra Sun City Hotel fit the description perfectly.
As I said I booked the wrong weekend and had it been the right weekend we would have spent it with some friends that were also going that weekend. They had booked the Sun City Mantra so we decided that we would also stay at the same hotel. I am very glad we did as we were very happy with this choice. There are so many places to stay in Gold Coast but I was happy with my choice so was happy we didn’t have to change.
Our flight was very early into Brisbane, we picked up our hire car, booked through vroomvroom.com, and drove down to the Gold Coast. We took a bit of a scenic route but it still had us arriving at the hotel at 11.30am. We thought we’d drop by the hotel and totally expected that our room would not be ready. It was lovely when the lady at reception said ‘Your room is ready’! Bingo, super happy with that! Winning already in my book!
Contents
The Room
I also hadn’t advised the hotel that we would have a car and I was pleasantly surprised to be told that it wasn’t an issue and even better, no extra charge. Needless to say I’m pretty impressed at this stage! The receptionist hands me the room card and says ‘Mrs Lucas, your room is on the 32nd floor in room number 3!’ KNOCK ME OUT NOW…….! I excitedly ran out to Craig in the car and squeal like the kids at christmas, WE’RE ON THE 32ND FLOOR HUN!.
We went and parked the car underneath and took the elevator right up to the 32nd floor, I was unbelievably excited. Our room was right next to the elevators. We swipe our card to enter the room and it happened, my jaw hit the floor. To start with the apartment was massive! We had a 2 bedroom apartment and an extra bed in the master room for one of the kids, on this occasion it was Caelan sleeping with us. Our ensuite had a spa with a window above it looking out over the bed to the view. Our room also had a balcony looking straight out to the esplanade. The view was pristine, crystal clear waters of the ocean, being on the 32nd floor there was nothing restricting our view.
I walked back out to the living room and saw the full size kitchen with a large window to look at the ocean while I do the washing up! Now that’s a job I don’t mind doing when I have a view like that to keep me entertained. Then, there was the largest most amazing lounge room! Larger than my lounge room at home but with a 50 inch flat screen right in the corner. The room was surrounded by windows with breath taking views on either side. This view is priceless, this is the kind of view where you are happy to sit and look at it all day long!
Beside the lounge was the meals area with a 6 seat dining table where we could sit as a family and eat. As we had a full size kitchen with fridge, oven, cook top and dishwasher, we were able to save costs by having some of our meals at the apartment. While I was getting organised Craig took the car and did a bit of shopping, including cereal for breakfast, some rolls and cold meat to take with us for a day out and we bought some meat for dinner. Our hotel package did not include breakfast so I found this a very economical way to avoid the high costs of eating out.
The 2nd bedroom was to the right when you walk in, it had 2 single beds with a balcony that looked down the coast towards Surfers Paradise. The balcony had 2 entries, one from the kids room and one from the dining room. The other balcony also had 2 entries, one from the master bedroom and one from the lounge room. Plenty of opportunity to take in the views of the ocean or the strip.
Just inside the door there was laundry with sink, washing machine and dryer. This would be great for longer stays but on this occasion I didn’t need to do any washing. I did however use the dryer to dry the towels when they hadn’t dried overnight and we needed them for the pool. This was handy as the weather was very muggy and I was finding it very difficult to get anything dry.
The Resort Facilities
So it’s fair to say I’m pretty impressed with the room but as we all know the room is only half of a resort. The kids were itching to go for a swim so after getting our togs on we headed down to the pool area.  The kids were excited to see that there was not only one pool but three pools and two spas. Can you imagine, they didn’t know where to go first! The main pool with two waterslides won out! There was a sandy beach area attached to the pool for little ones to make sandcastles and a safe area for little ones to get in.  There were enough pool lounges around the pool for people to sit and bathrooms handy so that you didn’t have to go too far.
Hidden away behind the main resort pool was another smaller, deeper pool and spa surrounded by tropical landscaped gardens. This area was a little bit secluded and didn’t have any pool lounges, the kids enjoyed hiding around there and playing in the water features attached to the deeper pool. My kids are strong swimmers so I had no issue with them being around there where the lifeguard couldn’t see them, although I would regularly check as you can never be too careful with kids around water.
The third pool is an indoor pool with separate spa, one afternoon it started to rain so the kids and Craig went in to the indoor pool and I headed up to enjoy a sunset by myself in the room. I enjoyed some time to myself and was lucky enough to witness a double rainbow over the ocean from our balcony! The pool is lightly heated which was good for the kids as it had cooled down a little that afternoon and the outdoor pool is not heated at all.
The resort has a restaurant called the Koastal Kitchen and while we meant to have a meal there, we actually never got a chance to do it. There are two bars located at the resort, one in the restaurant that opened at 5pm and a pool side bar that was only open on weekends. The reason for this is that March is low season for the Gold Coast and you could see that the resort was not at full capacity. The weather was very humid and as its a tropical climate and the end of the wet season we did get a little bit of rain in the afternoons. It didn’t impact on any of our plans though which was perfect.
The resort also has a gym (for those inclined to have a little jog), a games room for kids, a sauna and steam room near the bathrooms and two courts for a friendly game of tennis. The gardens were manicured and as beautiful as any other resorts I have seen in Asia. The hotel lobby was large and spacious, with plenty of room for sitting and taking in the lovely grounds and pool area.
The Costs
The Sun City Mantra is rated as a 4 star resort. I have provided the costs below, for a 2 bedroom apartment with ocean view, sleeping 5 people which is exactly what we had:
- $285 per night mid week
- $323 per night on weekend
The costs provided below, are for a 1 bedroom apartment with ocean view, sleeping 3 people:
- $215 per night mid week
- $264 per night on weekend
The above prices are correct as at 10 March 2016 (please note these prices are during low season). For up to date information on current costs, please click here.
Our Verdict
I can highly recommend this hotel for a family friendly resort, its location is great, placed one block back from the Surfers Paradise Esplanade and 1.4kms walk from Cavill Avenue Mall. Being one of the higher hotels and the location at the northern end of the strip provided uninterrupted views along the strip and the world famous Surfers Paradise Beach.
Be prepared that the resort is older, it was built around 1992 but for an older hotel you sure wouldn’t know it. The rooms  are massive and well appointed. Its very clean and well kept and the staff are attentive and approachable. As far as the resort goes, I really couldn’t fault it. We would definitely return another time.
The Gold Coast is a great place visit and very much to Australian’s what California is to American’s. Most of our theme parks are on the Gold Coast but there is plenty to do other than theme parks. We visited the Gold Coast Hinterland this trip which was a nice change and often overlooked. There’s some lovely walks in the Hinterland along with a rainforest to explore. We took the kids snorkelling at Tangalooma Wrecks off Moreton Island and saw a wobbegong and some lovely tropical fish.
Safe Travels,
Sal & Co.
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