You won’t find a better spot for a holiday apartment in Australia

The venue

Kirra Point Holiday Apartments

Check-in

Kirra Point is so close to the beach, you’ll feel like you’re on a boat.Credit:

Anyone arriving by air will be amazed at how close their accommodation is to Gold Coast Airport. It’s less than five minutes’ drive from arrivals. There’s secure underground parking below, while reception is located on the ground floor. Kirra is an easy-to-navigate beach community with one main road, which runs beachside, offering stunning views over the water. Cots, high-chairs, beach carts, beach umbrellas, bikes, charcuterie boards and picnic hampers can be pre-arranged.

The look

The third-floor pool deck provides uninterrupted views over the sea.Credit:

Along with the new beach club and pub on-site, the apartments lend Kirra a sleek new look of glinting windows, smooth timber finishes and the no-expense-spared landscaping. Developers KTQ Group insisted they wanted an indoors-outdoors mix to be the primary focus of their design, and it shows. Views over the beach, ocean and all the way north to Surfers Paradise take your breath away on first entering your apartment. There are floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, as well as wrap-around balconies with barbecue and outdoor dining options. The third-floor pool deck (with 25-metre heated pool, barbecue area and alcoves for entertaining) provides uninterrupted views over the sea.

The room

Views over the beach, ocean and all the way north to Surfers Paradise take your breath away.

All the interiors have been carefully curated – with bespoke furniture and beach-inspired art to boot – to reflect the southern Gold Coast beach lifestyle, but the highlight is the emphasis on glass and the views from every corner of every room. The comfort factor also resonates: the huge kitchen is fitted with European appliances; the laundry is bigger than the one you have at home; there’s a 165-centimetre TV with Chromecast, king-size beds and enough wardrobes for even the heaviest packer.

Food + drink

You get direct access to two of the southern Gold Coast’s best new food and drink options, which are just downstairs. The Kirra Beach House offers 1200 square metres of absolute beachfront dining for up to 750 people, with a wine bar and two cocktail bars, plus an indoor restaurant and a more casual outdoor dining terrace. It’s trendy; with cabanas on the deck and DJs playing. While downstairs the Kirra Beach Hotel is a more casual beach pub with a bistro and beer garden looking over the waves, there are also a public and sports bar inside.

Out + about

Kirra is really coming of age. Always charming in a “locals enjoying a beach life” sort of way, rapid-fire high-rise development threatened its special qualities, but new bar and restaurant openings have injected some class. Great cafes sit next to the apartments (check out Cotton Living – part-furniture store/part-pastries and coffee), and there’s the best new restaurant on the southern Gold Coast: Billy Chow. For the best views, Siblings has one of the Gold Coast’s closest-to-the-water settings. You can also walk around the corner to Coolangatta, which offers plenty more venues.

The verdict

You won’t find a better spot for a holiday apartment in Australia. You won’t need a car here – so you can have the ultimate short beach holiday, with nothing to worry about except turning the sausages on your barbecue. It’s perfect for a family with young kids as well as couples or groups. The apartments are enormous – so you’ll never feel cramped.

Essentials

A one-bedroom superior apartment starts at $395 a night. 4 Miles St, Coolangatta. See kirrapoint.com.au/accommodation

Our rating out of five

★★★★

Highlight

Even if you’re not a fan of waking early, do yourself a favour and catch sunrise over Kirra Point (or just leave the blinds open). You’ll feel like you’re on a boat.

Lowlight

If you prefer the back-up of 24-hour hotel reception, you might find 7am to 7pm frustrating. Make sure you have all your questions answered by the first evening.

The writer was a guest of Kirra Point.