This was my second visit to the Gold Coast in QLD in the past 10 years. This time, I actually…read morestayed in Benowa at Royal Pines Resort. It's deceiving at first when you drive into the property. The entrance is separated by a lower section of outdoor and indoor parking. Access is relatively easy from the parking garage to the elevator and takes you directly to the lobby level for check-in. Check-in was relatively easy and the front desk staff is friendly as well as helpful towards answering questions I had of the facility. The fitness center is not 24 hours but from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. still works in my schedule. The fitness area is separately divided from the cardio space, free weights, a group exercise room with punching/kicking stands, and a room for sport performance drills. Housekeeping does a fabulous job and the food service is excellent. The only issue is when outside groups show up as they did on a Wednesday evening (local high school prom) and the lobby section/bar area was a madhouse, where you couldn't even get through to other areas of the lobby due to the sheer volume of people and the lack of organization to create space safely. The rooms are very clean, modern, and the beds are comfortable. Overall, I would highly consider staying here if given another opportunity in this area of the Gold Coast region in the Queensland.

Ahhh what a great weekend to book a relaxing night away here, same time as the V8 Supercars …read more.. not! Funnily enough, it wasn't too bad because the resort is a while away from the main part of Surfers were all the hooligans were. The resort is currently renovating the Spa so for you spa-goers it will be re-opening in December this year 2013 and from what I've seen, is going to be pretty damn nice. The rooms are big, we got a golf course view, saw a few weddings happening and the place was packed for a Saturday night. Some sort of school formal was on too, which was exciting to weave my kids through. The lobby is very open and almost looks funny, but there were no line-ups or delays. The only thing I could fault this resort with was the parking. Although we were lucky enough to find ourselves some parks with all the events happening, there is only a small undercover area and outdoor area to park so many times on the weekend hotel guests may not even be able to get a park there. This is a very popular resort, and it's a nice one too, for RACQ members it's only $166 a night for a room with 2 double beds... which is a bit of a steal for a place like this.