BruceWG

My wife and I will be traveling to Australia in February, 2018. We plan to spend the first five night in the Gold Coast area and will book either the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort or Marriott Resort. I'm Marriott ( and now Sheraton) platinum.

We don't plan to do too much during this part of the trip, traveling from SFO and my wife needs a few days to shake out the jetlag. Looking for a comfortable room, and best property to basically hang out, visit the beach but not a lot of travel locally. We'll head back to Sydney after this for more extensive sightseeing, etc.

Both the Sheraton and Marriott look good, both seem to treat plats well (I'm assuming breakfast is provided at both from other posts) so if anyone has an opinion of one vs. the other I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Bruce

markis10

Both are good properties, if it’s beach you are after it’s hard to go past the Sheraton, as it’s pretty much on the beach with a gate leading to the sand. The Marriott is poorly located by comparison, with a good walk or tram ride required to anything, the beach being the closet thing across two roads and a five-ten minute walk.

The Sheraton has also got a shopping centre full of eating options across the road (and not much shopping unless you are into high end goods/brands) and Peters just past Versace for good old fish and chips.

The beach is quite well known for its rips, so please if your thinking of a dip please do so between the flags, we lose quite a few tourists along that stretch mostly swimming when/where the beach is not patrolled and getting caught by the false break.

BruceWG

Thanks for the info - we'll be careful for sure!

Bruce

chad75

Def. the Sheraton the only direct beachfront hotel on the Gold Coast. Nice quiet section of beach at the door or a short walk down to main beach if you want somewhere with a bit more action.

Obviously like all beaches in Australia the beach at the Sheraton is public property and the hotel doesn't provide lounges/chairs/umbrellas or anything like that.

Feb is a great time of year - nice weather and all the kids back at school.

BruceWG

Thank you!

DCF

Definitely the Sheraton.

BruceWG

Sounds like it will be the Sheraton - thanks for the input.

Fizzer

Further to this I have a trip planned for November and we are looking at 3 nights. The Sheraton is $266 the first night but then it jumps to $427 and $503 for subsequent nights. On the 4th night it drops to the $250 range. These are midweek and not a public holiday as far as I can see. The Marriott is in the mid $250's all three nights. The Sheraton looks nicer and the location seems better but the price jump from a Monday to a Tuesday seems steep. Is the Sheraton a convention centre ? I was wondering why it would jump so much, especially when the Marriott doesn't. I can find no events on that week . Or is it possible that it is a glitch and will come down again if I leave time and check back? Anybody out there in FT land have any ideas or suggestions as to whether the rates are somehow wrong and I should expect a better rate with patience? Thanks.

RafKa

I've had some luck here booking P50 rates (50% off rack against 1k pts). Might be an option for those two days, and you can always cancel nearer the time if the rate do indeed go down (rate is flexible, but requires a 1-night deposit).

BruceWG

I'm not sure if the Sheraton would be considered a convention center. When we were there in February I was chatting with the chef at the breakfast buffet I had commented on how nice and quiet it was at breakfast and she said that the next day the hotel would be full with a group. It's always possible a large group has a meeting planned. I'd suggest you call the hotel, get the front desk and ask, I found the associates to be very helpful and friendly.

We checked out the Marriott while in the area and I would agree that the Sheraton was in a better location if you want to chill out and walk to the beach. The Sheraton is right on the beach; there is not much else in the immediate area. The Marriott is in Surfer's Paradise and closer to shopping and dinning. But it's about a ten minute walk over to the beach and it's more of a "tradition hotel", the Sheraton feels much more like a resort. As a platinum, they took very good care of us.

Plumber

I stayed at the Marriott for 5 nights last month with 2 teenagers. I found the location to be good. 4-5 minute walk to the beach and 20 minute walk to main areas of Surfers Paradise with lots of restaurant and shopping choices. I did not find the location poor at all as was described above.

We drove over to the Sheraton and while there is some kind of a small mall across the street, it is otherwise quite isolated, Just past the hotel are massive parking lots for Seaworld.

It really depends on what you are looking for. We were gl;ad we stayed at the Marriott.

As for the difference in rates, i can only assume that there is some kind of conference or corporate meetings being held three those days. But a quick call to the hotel will confirm that.,

chad75

Not sure exactly what your dates are but Tuesday Nov 6th is Melbourne Cup Day. Not a holiday in Queensland but it is in Victoria - so extra demand from that with many hotels hosting Melbourne Cup Day functions etc. I stayed over Melbourne cup several years ago and the hotel was extremely busy.

Fizzer

Thanks. It''s Nov 20 - 23 2018. It's the 21 & 22 that are the higher rates.

markis10

BaldEmu

Agree - the Sheraton is very much a resort hotel. Apart from the connected shopping center, great fish and chips close by (and SeaWorld a 10 min walk) it's a little separated from stuff, but it's right on the beach, fantastic breakfast buffet, recently renovated - very much a relaxing vibe. They also generally treat platinums extremely well. We go every other year with family and every visit they have exceeded standard platinum benefits by far.