The marketing of IHG's newest brand promises great things. Almost every picture of voco Gold Coast features sharply dressed staff, young couples having a great time in various settings beside the pool or over dinner. 

There is so much potential with the voco brand, and the staff at their first Australian property were a real highlight of this trip; but there is still a long way to go for voco to grow into the brand it sells itself to be.

Check In

We were checked in by a team member who we actually recognised from the IHG website. She was very good at orienting us to the hotel, our IHG plat upgrade had been processed before we arrived. She also went through our profile and ensured we had all fo our preferences. What was possibly most accomodating is that we were given our room for this six night stay at 11am, allowin us to get straight intp the important work of getting to the beach.

The usual IHG amenties were offered, but we were also handed a small bag of lavender and honey shortbread, and told tha tthe honey came from native bees that live on the roof of the hotel.

Room

Rooms from the 17th floor and up are fully renovated. Our floor (16) consisted of semi-renovated rooms. The room was a mix of new furniture (bed, table TV and lamps) but old carpets left over from the previous brand (Watermark Hotel), as well as older bathroom fittings. Everything was ok, but we would have of course preferred a newer room.

The room came with a mini fridge (not stocked) and tea/coffee making facilities. I was disappointed to be in possibly the first IHG property (for me) that does not have a coffee maker in the room. You will have to walk but do not fear, there are some excellent coffee options nearby which i'll mention below. I would expect that a hotel brand at this level would include nespresso facilities in room.

We particularly enjoyed the Aveda Rosemary-Mint amenities provided by the hotel. That is a high quality product and worthy of note (It usually goes for around $75/bottle). There was a slight lack of refinement within the room itself. There were no robes or slippers (something that is explicitly promised on their website).

Pool

This is where things might get a bit confusing if, like me, you think voco is an oasis of serene, child free holidaying. It isn't. This is Surfers Paradise, there are familes everywhere.

The two pools, one on level one and the other on level two, have not changed since their former days of Watermark. Voco have just added some new loungers which are nice, but there is a lack of shade at the level one pool and it can be a bit of a fight for a lounger on level two in the afternoons.

As for the pools themselves? You need to know that there are not many beautiful 20 somethings on pink flamingos bobbing around. In fact, for much of the day they are rammed with children. I don't actually have a problem with that but this is not what I think the marketing sells its patrons. I was particularly amused watching children dive bomb the spa which also contained a solo male traveller who did his best to be patient. I could see the voco marketing dream slowly die with every splash of tepid water in his face.

Beside the pool was this slightly strange area filed with chairs. I think it was used for private functions, but there is a lot of potential here for something better such as a bar for sundowners etc. IHG hosted a group of corporates during our stay to woo them in to the voco brand. They went to town on decorating this area for a brunch for them. It would be nice if the same effort could be made for paying guests, but this may already be on the cards.

Service

The service at this hotel is fantastic. Really, the staff (most of whom are ex-Watermark) are attentive, caring and proud of their new voco identity.

The service level matches what I would expect from Crowne Plaza levels of attentiveness; Concierge, Room Serivce, Special Requests.

The hotel was very accomodating to us with one particular dining request and we were impressed with the staff, who went above and beyond. IHG status is clearly valued amongst staff.

Dining

I almost don't want to write this part because the dining was so good and I wouldn't want them to compromise to cope with bigger crowds.

The two on site eateries; Social House (casual) and Cliffords (smart casual) are served by a fantastic teram of chefs who cook almost everything from scratch. Everything. Let me just emphasise that, they made the bread, the ice cream and even the oatcakes on the cheeseboard from scratch.

We had two eveing meals (one in each venue) and one lunch (Cliffords) throughout our week at voco. It was all excellent.

A particular highlight was Cliffords, who serve up tomahawk steaks (roughly $10/100gr, most over 1.2kg). We ordered one and it came with black garlic, truffle mash and vanilla jus. It was excellent.

Dining was a real plus for this hotel, and we would say that although the ambience is more casual, the food hands down beats the nearby Hilton and Peppers (Seaduction), both of which aim for fine dining and do a good job. They just can't compete at this point with the very hard working and talented chefs at voco,

Location

You are literally 2 minutes from the beach. And not just 'the beach', but the slightly quieter part of a usually tourist-packed Surfers Paradise Beach. This is a great location and you would be silly not to make the most of it.

All other attractions (if you're a couple in your 20s without kids) such as bars and restaurants are a short walk. I'd recommend the following things for this location:

• Skip hotel breakfast at waves, walk 10 minutes along the beach to ESPL coffee. Its really good, and although their service is perhaps...unhurried... they will set you up right.
• For lunch, head to Salt Meats Cheese or The Island, the latter of which also does good early evening drinks. No view but good atmosphere.
• Since the Surfers Paradise tram stop is directly outside the hotel, consider investing in a transport card ($10) to see more of the city, including the much trendier broadbeach.
• If you want to go outlet shopping, there is a daily shuttle that leaves from the Novotel, 500m walk from voco.

Overall

Here is what the voco Gold Coast official werbsite has to say for itself about this property:

Voco, you promise great things. I fell in love with your marketing. But just like the tinder-date-esque promises you make on your website and in postewrs throughout the property, the reality at this point at least, is a bit 'blah'. I'll come see you again in a year, maybe you will have matured a bit and we can start afresh.

I've worked in brand management. The person who came up with voco is genious, really. I think the IHG makreting team and brand designers have done a great job. But I think IHG needs to either temper the expectations of those who fall for the beautiful marketing, or put another few million dollars into this property to lift it to where it thinks it is.