Gold Coast - Q1 Resort and Spa

We stayed the infamous Q1 Resort and Spa on Surfers Paradise. If you are not sure which one it is,  this is the highest residential apartment in SP and has a Skypoint which allows visitors to do a climb or view Gold Coast at its observatory deck.  This was not our 1st choice coz it was pretty pricey at the I looked at it and decided on some other apartments instead. T came back again with this reccomendation stating his friend who has been using them highly reccomends this if we have young children.

Looked into it again and worked out my sums (I will link this post back to my full Itinerary + Costings). Booked it from their website and had some promo for weekdays and in the end worked out pretty well.

This is the view that we wake up to every morning. We were on the 27th floor and were comfortable with this height. Though if I was on a trip without the children I may pay for a higher floor. But you know us mummies, we think too much like children falling off etc. If you need to know, no human can fall out as the 1 window opens a 15% outwards , the rest are fixed.

Gold Coast has to have one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

It was a 5 mins walk from Surfers Paradise

Full kitchen

A service balcony or a chill out zone or in my case- a place to dry my swim gear.

Dining Area

The bedroom that sleeps us 4. We co-sleep so it was cosy and snug

The walk in wardrobe, they hav hangers on the other side

The apartment was seriously self contained! I didn't whip up a feast for we were exhausted each day with our activities. But it came in handy for our daily breakfast .

4 each

I took so that you mummies know what cooking utensils you have in your kitchen

I didn't get to use these

Self ignite gas stove. They provide pans and pots

Came in handy

Useful Lot

Simple and yet beautiful set of crockery

They lined it for you. Great for heating up stuff but baking and all.. eh didnt see baking trays

Chopping board and coasters.

Drawer of frying pans and pots

Dish Washer which I never liked using

Top Drawer hides an ironing board!

They were thoughful enough to provide tea cloth

Complimentary and the fridge has a small packet of cream

Please bring your own towels as they provide 2 only

Its a fixed shower head and so the babies bathe in the bath tub

you can see the other part of the walk in wardrobe

T spent many nights watching World Cup here. The view is amazing

There is a washing machine and dryer which btw was my no 1 electrical appliance of the trip. K kept messing up her clothes and I couldnt wait till I return to Singers to get them washed as the stain will end up permanent. So I washed the children clothes before packing them away. The dryer was just too useful especially for our towels. There was a extra charge for everything. Towels was $2.5 each, detergent was $1, housekeeping was $15(mini) or $60 for a proper clean up. We didn't want to spend that money and left to the the washer and dryers to ensure dry, warm towels.

The apartment was safe for the children and except for that one time K trip on the step going out to the service balcony. We were toying with the idea of extenting our stay coz we slept so well and CANNOT wake up.  Sleep was just good, T and I didn't play with our gadgets the whole trip except for 10 mins of checking email before we sleep just to ensure business was all okie. We paid for 5 days of wi-fi for about $50 (if I'm not wrong) just mainly for work purpose.

The children enjoyed the space they had. The bath tub was the daily highlight  and I brought water squirts and bubble which I bought from daiso. So bath time was like party.

Like a big girl

V drew the sunrise and the pacific ocean that was our view

1 plus point for staying this apartment was that we since we decided to drive and needed free parking.  You can read my review on the car rental company we chose here. Most hotel/apartment do charge $20-$25 for night parking which was not worth spending. You will have to park at selected lots marked orange and this Q1 residential towers has people staying in and we stay in rented apartments by managed by Q1 resorts and spa. You get a lift that goes up DIRECT to your floor, so there is no need to walk out of the building.

Secured Parking

you need an access card to go in and out

once you tap the card it opens up to allow the car to enter or exit

Tips :

Please book via a reputable website as I did read of those who book directly with the owners and got their plans cock up.

You can read reviews on Trip advisors here 

Q1 Resort and Spa 

Address: Hamilton Ave, Surfers Paradise, QLD, 4217

Tel: 07 5630 4500

ScootBiz - Gold Coast Business Class

We did a family trip to the Gold Coast in June and decided to Scoot it. It was our 1st experience with ScootBiz and it was definitely a pleasant one. I search around in googleland while I was doing my research if it was all worth flying on a non commercial airline with a child on a infant ticket but nothing came up. With a leap of faith, I decided that we will be the well equipped ones and not rely on the crew if we do need assistance for I do not think service does exist much (imoh) in budget airlines. But you did well Scoot .

There were a few worries before booking, I may have all the experience as a ex crew but flying with 1 child and a toddler has to be my very FIRST. 10 years of watching how parents suffered is still very much etched in my mind, I have taken over the duties of mummies+ daddies who was dying to get some sleep, on the brink of breakdown and wonder sliently to myself on why do they do this to themselves?  A few other times n days where parents come to me for milk and got me to add packets of sugar sachets or pour coke or add coffee into their children's milk got me riled up. Trust me when I say I have been through much.

The main concern is time is that although we have flown enough with V, is that K is a different ball game altogether. Have you seen her? Altough her ticket is a INFANT (hurhur) She is as tall as a 3 year old and how do I carry her to sleep without a bassinet (not that she can use coz she is over the maximum weight).  The thing about budget airlines is if you chose to change dates - the prices are EXORBITANT . Scoot was all about fun, value and empowerment to choose the no frills you value, including baggage, meals, in-flight entertainment and comfort kits. Which means  no free flow food, no free flow of drinks, no TV.

Now, if I fly into Brisbane, time spent travelling to and fro is another factor. So with a leap of faith, I ensured my dates are FIXED, I equipped myself of all things I can carry and not, got all the iPads  loaded, prepared blankets/pillows and I booked. Here is my survival tips for those planing to fly Gold Coast with Scoot.

Booking: We never usually book early. For this, I started planning in December when I insisted on a family trip together. Dates on our business/school calender was blocked out. Tip: We got ourselves a good deal on Scoot business class and I'm sure you can if you know what you want early.

Check In:

Singapore Check In

Gold Coast

Queues: There was no Q in Singapore but ex Gold Coast was full.

Scoot Ex Gold Coast - Chockablock

We had 1 family in front of us

Priority for ScootBiz: Tip: There are 2 more Q inside of Gold Coast Airport and they DO NOT have Priority Lane. The 2nd check has officers who are very anal about water. I mean they are for milk and I have difficulties bringing it in. Be warned.

Baggage ScootBiz allows up to 10kg vs economy of 7kg. If you are looking for a new luggage, may I reccomend you this Tumi bag. I have Rimowa, Louis Vuitton, Samsonite but this is my ultimate favourite! You can read it here .

We couldn't handle 2 carry ons, so I brought the Coach carry on as a double up bag.

Areobridge: One of the reason why we cannot handle so many bags. In Gold Coast, we land in remote bay and we have to walk to the airport. If you are bringing elderly, I saw that they have assistance till the aircraft but no lifts up. They will have to climb up and down the stairs for this sector. In Singapore we got a connected areobridge.

Welcome Drink: Each of us got a passcode card and water once we boarded. and Immigration cards for entry. Tip: Please remember to fill in the green exit card as I saw alot of people who were asked to re-Q immigration for failing to produce filled cards. I mean the queues were LONG and to re-Q was seriously not worth the time.

Seats Feature: ScootBiz has a configuration of 2-4-2 with a total of 32 seats in the cabin. The seats are okie though a better recline will be ideal but we are really pleased with the leg space that it came with. The cabin temperature on the return sector was slightly warm as leather seats traps heat more than canvas. Sometimes crew forget this little details especially when you depart from a winter station that the body has been trained to trap heat for the last few days and that we are all dressed warmer.

The ScootBiz Seat

11 DEFG we got and the bulkhead space

In built tray table

Wide space

The seats come with inseat power

Seat Space:

My legs gets a full stretch

3/4 stretch in seat 11 E/F

Reading materials:

Ipads: There was free streaming that came with our seats, we did download Foxtube (an app to dowload/store all youtube videos). Guess what? The app had an update and refused to work onboard. Murphy's law! Thank goodness for loaded game apps and few movies that we prepared. But that GogoTv that Scoot offered helped entertained K a little. Tip: If you must know, there is only ONE child program, and thats' Hi 5 (30mins).

Head sets was our own, I let K use my B&O headsets as it fits children well

Watching her Hi 5 that was streamed to our iPads

Sleep: I packed my children's blankies (Thanks to Emirates children amenities) V brought her pink travel U shaped pillow and K had her favourite Mickey Mouse pillow. Tip: you can lift the arm rest for the middle seats. 

We were able to lift the center armrest to relieve our aching arms and lie the children to drink milk + sleep

Didn't I tell you that she is really tall?

Seat Upright

A full recline

Food: Milk and biscuits on the way up. (Note Food and Arigcultural restrictions into Australia)  Milk, chips, grapes, yogurt, cheese, chocolate on the way back.  Our tickets comes with pre ordered food but seriously not very worth the calories. Tip: Take the instant noodles instead.

Meal comes with 1 drink with ice (nice touch) and chips

We didn't take our chicken/rice and croissant but opted for 1 cup noodle instead. It was da bomb!

The chips came in handy

Our Verdict: We enjoyed the experience and was impressed with the safety of the crew. I saw the strictness of SQ standard when it came to safety and security that we are famous for. Scootees were really friendly and encompasses of few traits of the SQ girls who are famous for looking after young kids. Ex Sin, the boarding was great and purser was jovial who took time to explain what was to expect in our flight.  Scootees were a fun loving bunch who was so silent for the 7 hours that I was wondering what they were doing. I mean most will be chatting  right? Scootee offered to wash my bottles when I went to the galley but I did it myself so as not to trouble them. Ex Ool The scootees were relaxed and came to play with the girls and  the purser came with chocolates before landing.  Scootee in Biz class didn't reject my request  for not serving my meal after take off which to me is a service. Purser came forth to check on the well being of K as she was cranky in the middle of the flight. In the end we requested of a cup of ice that she played with to cool down. It was only after I changed to a romper that she finally settled and slept. Toilets were really clean with dry sink and toilet paper were folded 90% of the time which was a nice touch in a LCC.

 We are definitely going to fly with Scoot as we realized we do not need the frills that commercial airline offers. I mean with 2 children, we didn't get to finish 1 show on our iPad. I was comfortable with my outfit and didn't miss the smelly blankets and not so happening pillows.

With the exception of free flow of drinks that me & T miss but Scoot can offer a buffet of drinks for a nominal sum and we will be 1st to take that up. Food wise, I will stick to instant noodles for now. A final note,  they arrive early for both sectors which is a plus point isn't it?

Please feel free to ask me questions regarding my flight as I know its daunting to travel LCC with the young ones.

*Disclosure: We paid full fare for our trip and all opinions are from our family. No monetary compensation was given. I'm very keen on the Sydney and Toyko destinations and the Dreamliners that Scoot will be getting soon.

Hurricane's Grill - Surfers Paradise

We were reccomended to have dinners at Hurraicane's Grill which was located at Surfers Paradise. It is an easy restaurant to spot as it faces the main entrance to the beach. Located on the 2nd floor of the building that I believe shares some sort of entrance/exit to The Soul

photo source: Hurricane's website gallery

Please make reservations  coz it gets full

The place was tasteful set up and has a full bar for those who like to hang around before their meal. We were brought over to sit before our meal but there was burning flames at a corner which made me jittery coz K is at that stage of touching everything that she sees.  Thank goodness, we didn't have to wait long before they got our table ready.

Bar Area

 

Main dining hall

Like all restaurants in Australia, they are always so equipped with tools for the kids! I didn't need to whip out any gadgets throughout my Gold Coast trip.

Colouring tools to excite V

We had some drinks while waiting for the food, I had a good old Australian Shiraz and T had a aussie beer. Sorry no photos coz I drank it up pretty fast. *slurps . The food arrived at a moderate timing but the kiddos were well entertained.

Garlic bread always works well for our children

Chicken wings and Rosemary Infused rice

Beef Ribs

Pork Ribs

Please disregard my horrible food photos but their ribs are really great. Meats in australia are always to die for! *psst I was told their steaks are awesome too! Drop by here if you are in Gold Coast or that you are following my Gold Coast itinerary! Hurricane’s Grill Surfers Paradise Queensland Steakhouse Restaurant Soul, 4-14 The Esplanade, Level 1 Surfers Paradise, QLD 4217, Australia Website: https://surfers.hurricanesgrill.com.au