Lowanna Beach Resort by Direct Collective

The location made everything easy, with the beach and restaurants a short walk away and shopping and the cinema just across the road. The staff were lovely, and our apartment was modern, clean and spacious, with a good-sized balcony. We had an amazing stay.

The beach is nearby, and the shops are just across the street, so the location suited us really well. My partner and I enjoyed our stay at Lowana Beach Resort. The room was clean and modern, and we had an amazing visit. Thanks to Lowana for accommodating us. Highly recommended.

We were a family of four and spent a week at Lowanna Beach Resort in January in a two-bedroom ocean-view apartment. Staff were often cleaning the common areas, and the resort was well maintained and clean. Kawana shopping centre is across the road, with a patrolled beach a short walk away. A few things could be better: the sun woke us very early, so blackout curtains would help; a second TV would be handy for a family; and the queen bed in our room was two single beds pushed together, with single doonas and a queen sheet over them, but no topper. The pool only gets sun for a few hours, so heating it would be nice. We still really enjoyed our stay and would come back.

I was disappointed by the service and extra charges at Lowanna Beach Resort. I know reception isn’t open 24 hours, and that itself was fine, but the communication and follow-through weren’t good. I asked for clean towels after hours and was told they’d be brought first thing when staff arrived at 8:00am. Nothing had arrived by 8:35am. I called twice and was assured they’d be sent shortly, but by 9:05am there were still no towels. I went to reception, where I was told staff were only just arriving for work. After checkout, I was contacted and charged an additional $60 cleaning fee because the room supposedly needed “double time cleaning.” That was unexpected. We left it clean and tidy, as you’d expect with normal accommodation use. Rubbish was in the bins and there was no damage or mess. An unmade bed after use is standard at hotels and resorts and shouldn’t count as extra cleaning. There was also a $23.02 processing fee at check-in, added on top of the rate booked through Booking.com, which hadn’t been clearly disclosed before we arrived. The property calls itself a resort, but guests are expected to handle things like taking out their own rubbish, which didn’t match what I’d expect from resort-style service. The poor communication, delayed help and unexpected charges made for an unsatisfactory stay. I wouldn’t stay here again.