In December, 2021 I went and stayed at the Vibe Hotel in Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast in a double room. My mum went with me and we stayed on the 14th floor.
When we checked in we got a room keycard and the lady told us we would be staying on the 14th floor. We had to use the room keycard to make the lift move. It was a bit tricky to use and mum had to help me the first few times.
Our room was small and it had nice wallpaper and was neat but it was a bit musty and I didn't really like the smell. It had a table and two chairs and a TV but the TV was on the side wall and you couldn't really see it when you were in the bed.
The bathroom was small and had a bath over the shower and a toilet and basin.
There was a little balcony with a table and two chairs and the view was very nice. You could see the ocean and a lot of nice apartments and shops.
The Vibe Hotel in a very good spot in Surfers Paradise right across the road from the Chevron Renaissance shopping centre. There are lots of shops and restaurants nearby including the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, where we went for dessert. It only took us about 10 minutes to walk to the beach and into Cavill Mall in the center of Surfers Paradise.
The pool area at the Vibe is very nice! It has lots of sun lounges around it and a nice big deck and next to it is a lovely bar with lots of chairs and tables and stools to sit at. The bar was shut the day we stayed so we couldn't get any food or drinks from there but it was still a nice place to sit. The pool had some big floating flamingoes in it that we could use and I liked them very much. There were pool towels for us to use as well.
The beds at the Vibe Hotel were comfortable but it was very noisy in our room from the traffic noise on the Gold Coast Highway and even when the door to the balcony was shut it was still noisy and hard to sleep. There were a lot of noisy cars and sirens going past during the night. In the morning the sun came up very early and it was hard to sleep because the room was very light.
When we tried to have a shower we couldn't get the water to come out of the shower because it was coming out of the bath tap instead. It was difficult to use and we couldn't get it to work.
We had breakfast in the morning at the Curve Cafe. There were some very nice things on the menu that you could order and I had bacon, two poached eggs, tomatoes, homemade hashbrowns and toast. It was very delicious and I also had some juice and tea. The view of the canal was very nice from the restaurant and it was very modern and nice there.
I also liked the foyer of the Vibe Hotel. They had nice Christmas decorations and lights and couches. The lifts had very nice pictures on the doors too.
I enjoyed staying there and think the best part was the pool area.
Tips from my travelling companion -
The Vibe Hotel is in a very central position at Surfer's Paradise and is easy to walk to lots of restaurants, cafes, bars, tourist attractions and the beach. It is also in a lovely position on the canal but it was very noisy being on the Gold Coast Highway and very close to the Police Station, hence the sirens we heard many times in the night. If you have trouble sleeping, like myself, or if you are sensitive to noise you might like to ask for a room on the other side of the building away from the Gold Coast Highway so it is not so loud with the traffic noise.
The room we had was east facing and the curtains did little to block the sun so it was very light in our room by 5am and we couldn't get back to sleep.
The pool area was lovely as was the foyer and the restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely breakfast, as they were nicely renovated. Our room was a little dated though, especially the bathroom and was not as clean as I would expect. It was musty also and therefore prompted us to open the door to the balcony for some fresh air but due to the volume of the traffic we had to shut it and put up with the stale smell.
The staff at reception were polite but not overly friendly. They did not really explain things well, in particular that you had to use the keycard once inside the lift by putting it into the slot to get it to move. We also contacted them in relation to getting the shower over the bath to work. They advised to push in the button, which we had been doing, as we have had experience with this type of bath/shower arrangement before but it still wouldn't work. They were reluctant to help with this and just told us to try again.
Due to these issues and the noise factor I would be reluctant to stay at the Vibe Hotel again or to recommend it to others.
By Flynn's mum, Jenni