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I didn’t know what to expect from the Gold Coast, and I loved it. Much fanfare has been made about Byron Bay with its incredible vistas and hidden hollywood star sightings. However…we weren’t scheduled to stay there, and my girlfriend had work to do in the Broadbeach area which is how we ended up at the Sofitel. If you’re looking for easy beach access, lots of tourist attractions, and a solid hotel…this is a very solid option.
One of my favorite features of the hotel was the small balcony our room had overlooking the beach. It made a great place to watch these wonderful sunsets.
Stay Details:
- When: April 2018
- Where: Broadbeach, Gold Coast Australia
- Room: Superior Ocean View Room
- Loyalty: Le Club Accor
Lobby/Check in
The hotel and the general area of Broadbeach reminded me so much of Miami – in fact, I felt like I’d hopped into Miami vice a bit with the neon accents and white background. The lobby had a massive Eiffel Tower piece of artwork, leather accented benches, and marble.
Around the corner from the front desk is a small business center. It always surprises me how many people leave PDFs they’ve downloaded in the document folder…DELETE THEM PEOPLE. So much personal info. I deleted the contents of folder.
Our Room:
As I mentioned above, we had a Superior Ocean View Room
Again the view…the hotel is attached to shopping complex which is under those tennis courts, pool etc. It connects to an apartment building which is ocean front.
The Bathroom was nice, a bit dated, but typically the hotel is in the $150-200 range, which for the proximity to the beach and touristy things…a very solid deal.
Our room came with breakfast
It was served in Bistro on 3 and had a wide variety of typical buffet fare.
The gym was ridiculous.
That first picture is a mirror. So there is 1 treadmill, eliptical, bike, and an all in one machine. The gym is also tucked into a hallway with no outside windows. Australia is so health conscious and it seemed odd to me that a hotel this near the beach wouldn’t have a great gym with either a cool city view, or one that takes advantage of the beach proximity. Not the case though.
The Pool:
I should have woken up early and nipped by the pool to take pictures, but in looking back I obviously just forgot. My apologies, but there are two pools, one heated, and when I did nip out see them, they were packed.
Overall:
I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again, but it’s a big convention hotel so understand that before booking. There are bars and restaurants literally outside the front door, the beach is minutes away on foot, and there is a shopping complex attached in case you’ve forgotten anything.
The hotel is also within close proximity to the convention center so you can attend meetings while still having beach access. Speaking of the beach…it’s wide and the waves are uber impressive. Be very careful of undertow which you’ll see signs very explicitly advising against swimming in certain areas because of how dangerous it can be.
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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