I’m Back!
Did you miss me? ;)
The Sunshine coast certainly lived up to its name..8 carefree days of blue skies and pure sunshine! My 'ray' reserve is overflowing, so be prepared to get so much sunshine from me you may just need some 30+ ...
This post is my report on our resort, the Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast.
All the good stuff, the things I believe they could improve on and what you need to know before you visit, if you were thinking of doing so. Which of course if you are not planning a visit, then stay tuned for a regular post very soon as this is a loooong one, purely about the resort...
So this lovely family resort lived up to its claims and our family had a blast.
The other thing that had a blast was our bank account....this place is not cheap to ‘experience’.
I am about to give you lots of info because I always find if you can learn from others beforehand, then you can make your stay/experience more enjoyable and at least a little more cost effective.
Would I recommend this resort?
Absolutely! Do they need to address a few things?
Absolutely!Here is my report on each category..
Accommodation: We stayed in a Garden View King Suite. Sounds expensive but this are what they recommend for families and I now know why. The room consisted of a King Size Bed in the main bedroom, a sofa bed in the lounge room for the kids, a very spacious bathroom with separate toilet & shower, corner spa bath and a wardrobe (which sounds weird but it works within the layout), a kitchenette with a (bigger than bar) fridge, microwave & crockery etc
You could not cook a full meal in there but could certainly heat things up etc.
We also had a TV in our bedroom, a TV for the kids and a lovely patio with outdoor setting overlooking the Garden.
You can get the same room type overlooking the lagoon which is more expensive but they are far less private so my tip is to keep your money for other things and enjoy the kangaroos & bush turkeys wandering around in your garden (or from the room if you’re scared of all things non-human like I am).
Facilities: OK so this resort has only ONE pool. With NO SHADE WHATSOEVER!
This is definitely a down side and something I believe they really need to address. The other option for swimming is the saltwater lagoon which is flat and great for those who want more of a beach feel for their swimming (They have direct access to the Surf Beach too).
The lagoon is home to canoes, catamarans and 2 giant water trampolines. As excited as we all were for the aqua tramps, they were quite a distance out in the water (granted they need the depth) so our kiddies didn’t use them once, simply because they didn’t feel comfortable swimming so far out. They also they seemed to be the ‘place to lounge’ for the teenagers (understandable, I’d be there too if I was their age!) so we just didn’t put that on our to-do list.
There are plenty of things to do on land also such as bike riding (the kids bikes are free, you have to hire the adults), a games room (you pay), putt putt (free) and lots of other things you pay for like circus school and surf school etc.
There is also a kids club on site and it is FABULOUS!
Ron and Helen are the owners and have such a passion for the kids (as well as their staff) that you feel like you are dropping them off at Nan and Pops to play with the 20 other grandkids. My hot tip is to buy the 3 session pass straight up, you save money and once you get a taste of having some child free time you will wish you had bought the 3. Also, if you send them in the evening, you have the choice of adding on dinner for just $4.50 per child which is a lot cheaper than feeding them in the resort restaurants (I will get to food in a minute).
Other facilities worth mentioning are the on site gym and day spa. I did book a massage which was lovely but in my opinion it is a ‘token’ day spa, kind of there just to say they have one (it could do with an upgrade as could the gym).
Food & Drinks:When it comes to eating and drinking at this place, you need to know a few things so you can come prepared. Let’s start with
breakfast...
We added this to our package. You were spoilt for choice and I would be hard pressed to come up with an item that didn’t feature on their menu. However, if I did it again, I would not include breakfast.
It is not cheap and you get sick of eating so much after a few days.... Yes I know I could have chosen to just have fruit and cereal (believe me everyday I told myself the next day I would!) but when you are faced with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, sauteed mushrooms and that’s just the savoury, then there is the pancakes and waffles...are you REALLY going to tuck into a bowl of muesli? I rest my case.
Still, having said all of that, next time I would take cereal and toast and just treat ourselves to 1 or 2 big brekkies, this way you save money for other things and don’t have to get up & think of getting to breakfast on time (yes I slept in ;).
Lunch:
You have the choice of take-away where you grab it and go (which is actually what it is called) or take-away sandwiches, sausage rolls etc from the deli.
The Aqua Bar which is table service on the terrace overlooking the pool or the a-la-carte restaurant which does a lunch buffet and another themed one at dinner.
I will cut to the chase, DO NOT order hot chips from 'grab it and go' unless you are happy to pay $5.50 for a small cup of chips placed in a BIG box!
The best item on their menu are the pizzas and I say go for your life with these as they are YUMMO! The deli is overpriced like many resorts I guess and sells a little of everything including magazines and alcohol. The coffee is VERY GOOD so grab your hit from there each morning as the buffet coffee machine is always busy although I don’t know why because the coffee was ALWAYS cold every time I tried and I can’t do hotel tea (can anyone tell me why hotel tea always tastes so gross?).
Dinner: You have the same choices as above with the addition of a resort BBQ , which in my opinion is not worth the $28 they charge per head and Lily’s, the beautiful 5 star restaurant overlooking the lagoon. I recommend visiting here if you want to splurge one night.
Things to consider with Dinner are to order early or expect a LONG wait as they get very busy. My absolute fave menu item was the Tiffins which are traditional lunch tins from India, filled with curry, rice, naan bread, chutney and yogurt. If you like Indian food, these were to die for and a bargain at $18.
There is also a kids menu with a pretty good selection (read: not just nuggets)of meals for $9.95.
Now with regards to food, the lovely staff do a run at 12pm each day down to Bi-lo where you can stock up on supplies. We purchased all of our snacks down there and pretty much nibbled around the pool all day rather than buy lunch. You can also purchase your alcohol from the bottle shop and the staff are very accommodating, they will supply glasses and buckets of ice etc.
Doing this saves you ALOT of money...
OK so whilst we are on the topic of drinking, obviously you cannot take glass into the pool area or onto the lagoon. One of my concerns was that NO-ONE policed this during our time there and there were ALOT of people taking glass into the pool area. I am not a party pooper but if that glass broke, then fun time is OVER for everyone and with only 1 pool, there would be no alternative available.
There is no swim up bar but there is a poolside bar. However they may as well not have had one as this was only open weekends and even then only between 2 and 4pm. The drinks were very expensive and happy hour only catered to beer & wine drinkers. They definitely need a cocktail happy hour as the cocktails are priced between $12-$16. Naturally the yummy ones are $16!
OK with food and drink out the way, these are the things I believe need to be addressed:
• There is no shade over the pool. There needs to be, the sun is just too hot & dangerous to be in directly at any time of the day & you know I like the Sun!
• There is no lighting in the pool at night, apparently there was an electrical fault and they would have to drain the pool to fix it. Do what you need to do; it was outright dangerous to have swimmers in the pool until all hours with no lights whatsoever.
• There are stairs everywhere in this place, which I didn’t notice until we met some lovely parents (A BIG hello to Jayme, Matt, Kelly and Jamie ) who pointed out how difficult it is to get around with prams. Ditto for people in wheelchairs etc
• This one is quite simple but it would be nice if they could provide correct information. The resort had a great schedule of events planned (such a wine tasting, sushi making etc) but they were listed on the wrong days at the wrong times so we often missed things we would have liked to experience and to be honest I am not even sure they were on as advertised anyway :(
• Another simple one, inform people when booking & again when checking in, that paying by credit card attracts a surcharge. Furthermore, the ATM in the lobby only allows $200 per transaction. This allows you to better prepare your cash flow and avoidable, unnecessary charges.
OK so there you have my experience of the Novotel Twin Waters resort on the Sunshine coast
http://www.twinwatersresort.com.au/ Overall I would definitely recommend you go. Be warned though, they will offer you a $150 credit to your account in exchange for sitting through a preview to buy into their vacation club (priced between $10-$30k I am told by others who attended)so this may or may not appeal to you but at least you will know when they approach you in the bar!
We absolutely loved our time at Twin Waters, we met some lovely people(another hello to a beautiful family we had the pleasure of spending time with... Peter, Kerry, Will & Jack!)and enjoyed just hanging out together with no routine.
I just had to share a photo of our
'sonshine' who rocked the bar last night on Karoke singing 'Little Black Box' by Stan Walker, all by himself!
He won some sunnies which he thinks are very cool, won't take off and now today I have had to listen how he thinks he might like to have "fame and reality!"
I asked him what does he mean by fame & reality? He responded with "FAME is getting to be famous for something and I'm not sure about REALITY" to which his almost 5 yr old sister replies "Fame is when people get your food for you, reality is when you have to get it yourself!"
So there you have it, fame and reality according to my kids. The same ones who invented 'Sunshine Resort' in the backyard :) So until our next holiday, we will keep playing 'Sunshine Resort' together where there is plenty to do and the cocktails are free!
Keep Shining,
Stace x
