2018 – Part 46 – Sunshine Coast Timeshare

2018 – Part 46 – Hotel Review – Alexandra on the Pacific Mooloolaba

The rest of Friday was uneventful, as being stuck in long weekend traffic to a popular weekend resort area isn’t unique to Australia.  Most importantly though we arrived at our (temporary) home in time to check-in and get our keys.

Trip Plan

After landing in Brisbane, finding lunch, we then headed north to the Sunshine Coast.  This was because a visit to Fraser Island and the Australia Zoo was on our list.  If traffic was reasonable, it’s an hour from Brisbane to Mooloolaba, one of the towns that form the Sunshine Coast area.  Thanks to construction, weekend traffic, and other drivers playing bumper cars somewhere in front of us on the highway, it took us just under three.

Check-in

This is not your typical hotel.  It’s an apartment style building, either a condo where owners rent them out, or it’s a timeshare.  Regardless, check-in time is available during business hours, something like 9am-4pm or 5pm.  With the slow drive, we arrived just ahead of property management’s closing time.  With the apartment pre-paid, check-in was simple and quick.  Keys, location of the parking spot in the garage and wifi passwords were received and I was off to park the car.  Once parked in the parking garage we headed upstairs to see what our new home would be.

Apartment

Before I get to the pictures, it’s important to note that this was the start of our third week of travelling, and this location would be a new record for duration of stay during our vacation.  Yes, we would be staying three nights.  Up until this time we had stayed no more than two nights in any hotel.  Little did I know that this pace of travel was going to catch up to me (yes, foreshadowing).

Okay, back to the apartment.  As I booked this on the Monday of the same week, one bedroom apartments were not available, and I selected the next available one, being a two bedroom apartment.

Upon entering, we quickly realized that my procrastination had paid off.  Suddenly we had a space that was greater than our place back in Toronto, and being a full apartment it came with a kitchen, and a washer & dryer.  A domesticated life, while on vacation, is now possible. 😉

Layout of the apartment was good.  If this were used by a family it would also work, as the master bedroom had its own ensuite.  The second bedroom was down the hall and had its own bathroom, albeit there was a room with a toilet, and then a second room had the shower/laundry and a sink.

Master bedroom

Living, Dining & Kitchen

In one combined space was a living and dining area, and the u-shaped kitchen was open to this space.

Kitchen

Living & Dining Area

Balcony!

A great feature of the apartment was that it had a large balcony.  From the pictures there was plenty of space for a patio table, and a couple of lounge chairs.  Given the orientation of the building we did have a view to the ocean.

Sadly, even though we stayed for 3 nights we only used the balcony to dry our bathing suits and didn’t spend anytime using it.

View from the balcony

Large balcony

Second bedroom & bathroom

We quickly turned the second bedroom into our luggage room as the bed helped to elevate them to the proper height so that we could easily access everything we needed.  That, and we weren’t cramped for lack of space — so let’s enjoy it.

Hallway from kitchen to second bedroom

Second bedroom

Second bath with laundry

Overall, this was a great place for us to stay.  There was a grocery store a few minutes down the road, and I was spoiled by her cooking dinner on two of the evenings.  In my attempt to contribute to domesticated life in Australia I did the laundry.

Just like the balcony, our time here didn’t give us the chance to try the pool (pictured above) nor hot tub.  Supposedly there was a games room on the main floor, but we didn’t set foot in there.

Check-out was just as quick as check-in and we were on our way after three nights here.  If you plan to stay in the area for a week, this type of accommodation is highly recommended.

Why not Noosa or Hervey Bay?

Finally, I’ll end with this item.  From the map at the top, either Hervey Bay or Noosa are closer to Fraser Island, and most rational people would ask “why didn’t you stay there”.  Hervey Bay was another two hour drive.  I ruled it out because I was initially uncertain when and what we’d be doing during our time in the Brisbane area.

As for Noosa, well of the places that remained for this long weekend, their nightly rates were eye-wateringly high.

Read more about our trip by clicking here.