JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa
This Gold Coast hospitality icon has been rebranded and boasts a slick new look, but some things remain the same.
Dawn breaks bright and clear over the cerulean waters of the Gold Coastas surfers, appearing small as sardines from my 27th floor eyrie, paddle out to meet the break.
It’s impossible to miss a thing from room 2715 of the newly refurbished and rebranded JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa. There are views up and down the coast, from the bed, the stylish living room and the corner bathtub, which is the size of a small plunge pool. Meanwhile, the balcony affords a drone’s-eye view of the resort’s famous lagoon complex, with its palm trees, waterfalls and fishy coves.
As part of a $35m makeover unveiled in December, the lagoon was drained, and 300 tropical fish sent to holiday at SeaWorld while the grottoes and white sand beaches were given a bit of a spring clean.
The refurb was central to the rebranding of the three-decade-old, family-friendly Surfers Paradise Marriot Resort. By becoming a JW Marriott, the first in the South Pacific, the hotel joins a stable of 100 properties worldwide, offering “elevated” facilities and services. The day spa is the last piece of the puzzle and will close at the end of July for refurbishment and expansion, reopening in December.
Management went back to the original architects and designers, DBI, to zhuzh up the 223-room resort. In the cavernous lobby, they unearthed and reinstalled the old rattan punkah fans (a lovely touch), rubbed back the handsome sandstone floors and rezoned the space to include the signature JW “concierge library” alongside the Chapter & Verse bar, inspired by Judith Wright’s poem Lyrebirds. The signature cocktail is served in a vessel shaped like a bird, but the hirsute mixologists also make a mean cuppa, which I enjoy in a highbacked cane chair, a contemporary version of the sort favoured by Jonathan Quayle Higgins III in the original Magnum PI, if you’re old enough to remember him. (High tea is also available; I’m sure Higgins would approve.)
DBI has taken the Gold Coast’s beaches and lush hinterland as its inspiration, so there’s lots of greenery and potted palms plus natural finishes including timber, stone and cane.
The sun-drenched guestrooms, offering coastal or hinterland views, feel very Miami, all soft sand whites and sea blues with pale timber floors. In the junior suites there’s a separate living room, king bed and giant TVs in each room. A sleek credenza houses a minibar with coffee-pod machine and proper milk (from a farmer-owned dairy). In lieu of bottled water, guests are supplied with a glass flask with a water refilling station (with ice) on every floor. It’s a brilliant idea.
Breakfast, served in the all-day dining Citrique, is an enormous buffet almost as large as that lagoon, with everything from full English to waffles with ice cream (in these Covid times, dishes are behind glass and guests are served rather than helping themselves). Next door, a small cafe sells picnic fare, courtesy local providores, and fresh produce from a rapidly developing kitchen garden at the rear of the resort where the chefs tend the vegetables, worm farm and native beehives. As part of the signature Family by JW program, Critique hosts cooking classes for children, who are welcome to forage in the veg garden first.
Also new is the signature Teppan restaurant Misono, on this Saturday night frantically busy and unbelievably noisy as diners shriek with delight at the chefs’ antics. A private, quieter dining room is available for adults (and a whisky bar with outdoor terrace). Better yet is the sushi bar where I retreat to enjoy a quiet evening watching the talented chefs at work.
But the heart of this well-loved resort, reimagined to cater not only to families but travellers of all ages, remains that magical lagoon, complete with sand and living coral. There are plenty of quiet, leafy nooks to hide away in and pools of various depths plus secret grottoes and waterfalls. A brilliant water slide winds through a “mountain” (fish are fed daily at 9.30am in the saltwater lagoon). A bar, food truck and 11 private cabanas (for rent from $95 a day) complete the picture, while an adjoining 10-berth marina on the river offers jet ski and paddleboard hire.
Although the hotel is less than a five-minute walk from the beach, most guests find little need to leave the lagoon. And why would they?
In the know
JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa is on Ferny Ave, Surfers Paradise. Almost all guestroom categories have balconies; from $329 a night.
Christine McCabe was a guest of JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa and Tourism and Events Queensland.
