A few years ago I suggested that we have a family holiday at the Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast. It was one of the best holidays we have had and I thought that I should definitely do a post on our week at the resort.
Accommodation: Mercure Apartments
The resort is home to the Novotel hotel on one side of the man made lagoon, and the Mercure Aparments on the opposite side. It means that the resort accommodation is slightly separated but still part of the same lagoon resort. If you stay for a wedding or have a large family, it means that everyone can stay in all different types of accommodation depending on their invididual needs.
Our family chose to stay in the two storey, Mercure Apartements. The bedrooms were on the top floor, and the living area was situated on the bottom. The rooms were spacious and had lots of wardrobe and hanging space.
The main bedroom had a balcony that overlooked the lagoon. We were definitely in the best positioned apartement on the lagoon side as we had a fantastic view each day when the sun set. You can also get beach view apartments which look pretty good as well.
The apartments had a huge kitchen and living area, six person dining table, outdoor bbq on the covered deck, and multiple bathrooms. I would definitely recommend families or groups of people to stay in one of these apartments as there is plenty of space, plenty of bathrooms and a lot of room for entertaining or coming together as a group.
There is plenty of information on the different room types on the Twin Waters website, and there are even apartment layouts so you can easily decide on which apartment is right for you.
Price per night was between $250 and $400 per night. The rate does vary based on demand and availability, so some nights will be cheaper to stay than others. Unfortunately this was a few years ago (and my parents paid for the accommodation) so I am unsure what the rate was at that time. However, I would assume it would have been a medium price rate as it was the time of the year when some families choose to go for holidays, but not the peak time of summer.
The resort is right next to the beach. At first it was a bit confusing on how to actually get onto the beach from the resort – there are hidden walking tracks between the road and the beach. But the tracks are only a couple of minutes walk until you are smack bang in the middle of the beach.
The beaches were unpatrolled at that time of year, but I assume they are patrolled with lifeguards in the warmer months. The sea looked quite rough and become deep very quickly. As a girl who grew up on the coast, I know a little bit about beaches. I wouldn’t recommend swimming here if it is unpatrolled as there were plenty of rips that would be ridden to the untrained eye.
Facilities and Activities
There’s plenty to do at this resort. You could stay an entire week inside the confines of the resort if you wanted to.
Mini Golf: there is a fun little mini golf pitch-and-putt course near the entrance to the Novotel side of the resort. A lot of children seemed to be playing around here, so it is family friendly and good for some light hearted fun. We had a good time playing around and missing many putts in the greens!
If you want to play a full course of golf, there are golf clubs near by, with the closest being Twin Waters Country Club.
Sailing: we decided to try out sailing. It was a lot more difficult than we thought! The friendly staff give you a crash course on what to do, and they will come to your rescue if you capsize or get stuck up against a wooden bridge (that may have been us…) They give you life jackets as well, so it is completely safe.
Day Spa: there is a day spa at the resort offering the standard luxuries from massage to manicures to facials and so on. I did not use the day spa for this visit but my mum got a manicure there and said it was very relaxing. They did a nice job on her nails too. Next time I go I would definitely like to check out this relaxing spa that overlooks the pretty lagoon.
Pool: There is a pool at the main part of the resort next to the Novotel rooms and the restaurant. There is also a semi secret pool at Mercure for Mercure guests and residents.
The Mercure pool is secluded from the view of the rest of the resort, as well as from the public, so you could almost miss it if you didn’t see it when you checked in. There’s an undercover BBQ, as well as sunchairs for guests to relax on. There are also residents who live full time at this resort, so I believe that they may use the pool as well.
The main pool is large but right in the view of the restaurant. There would not be privacy to relax as there are frequently children and families around that area. There is a spa off to the side, but I would often see families with their young ones in there. Whilst it’s not a kiddie pool, you would probably start to think otherwise!
Floating Playground: there is often a large inflatable “playground” – I’m not entirely sure what it is called but it is jumping castle size, kind of like an obstacle course, and with a slide at the end into the water. It wasn’t up when we were there but I know they phase it in the warmer months. It would be suitable for kids (and big kids like me!) who are reasonable swimmers. Next time I would definitely be keen to go on it!
Games Room: think of all the arcade games from the 80s and 90s in one small room, and that’s what you have! It was fun, but as always, these things cost money. We spent all we had on us in this room. It’s a great way to spend a rainy day, but it is an expensive way too.
Bike Hire: we hired bikes for a day, but Unfortunately I can’t remember the cost. It was around $15 from memory, but it very well could have changed by now. We choose to bike around the walking track of the resort, which meant that was done in 10 mins… But we eventually found some tracks just outside the resort. You will see lots of families riding their bikes in and out of the resort.
Beach: As I said earlier the beach is literally across the road. It is a long beach though so you could definitely go for a nice long walk, like my parents did.
Walking track: there is a lovely walking track which takes you all the way around the lagoon and the resort. There are small little tracks off to the side, but it really isn’t much to get too excited about. It’s nice to go for a walk around the resort though.
Boardwalk the boardwalk is slightly hidden as it is off the resort itself. However there are various forms and routes of the boardwalk to take. Just be weary that at low tide the trees and sand around the boardwalk develop a smell that most people will not enjoy.
Fishing: whilst you can not fish at the lagoon itself, there are plenty of fishing charters, boat hire, fishing hire places you can go to. We didn’t do any fishing on this trip but I definitely would next time.
Interaction with Staff
Watersports Staff Member: friendly and very helpful. Even when she was busy, she didn’t let this effect her customer service.
Reception Staff: I did not deal directly with the person who checked in my family, but they appeared to do so with ease and My family had no complaints about the customer service.
Bar Staff: Friendly but not overly helpful. It was not overly busy so there isn’t really an excuse to slack off on customer service.
Restaurant Staff: we didn’t have food in the restaurant and it don’t think they have room service, so unfortunately I cannot comment on this aspect.
Housekeeping: I honestly can’t remember any interaction with housekeeping staff, so I assume that it was all good if I did!
Overall Thoughts
I really liked this resort. You could just stay in the resort all week, and you can easily go to other activities along Queensland Sunshine Coast or even the Gold Coast. I would definitely stay here again, but I would also like to see what the accommodation is in the Novotel side of the resort. I would also like to eat at the restaurant so I could give a more complete review of the resort.
Disclaimer: I worked for the chain that looks after the Twin Waters resort at the time I went on this family holiday. However this has not influenced this post. I have not been paid for this post. All opinions in this post are my own.
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