BreakFree Grand Pacific Resort

The location was great, but the rooms weren’t. The description says there’s air conditioning in the rooms, yet the unit only reaches two rooms if you’re lucky. My children couldn’t sleep in their room because it was like an oven, so we had to move their mattresses onto the lounge floor to get them some air conditioning. The ensuite has a large spa bath that you have to climb into to shower. If your knees cause you trouble, getting in and out would be extremely difficult.

The apartment was a little dated, with green bathroom tiles, blue carpets and an old, dark-brown leather sofa, but it was clean. For a budget brand from Accor, it was OK. We stayed as a family in an ocean-side apartment on the 6th floor and loved the views. Since another building stands in front, I’d suggest booking the 5th floor or higher if you’re after a good view. BreakFree Caloundra is right along the Caloundra Esplanade, with beautiful beaches and boardwalks easy to reach. Dinner at Amici Italian, just 500 metres up the same street, was a highlight. The food was great, and we enjoyed it so much that we got takeaway from there twice.

The balcony view was great, and so was the pool. There was a lot included for such a reasonable price, though there’s definitely room for improvement: bathroom supplies were empty, several lights and fans didn’t work, and the bathroom, especially the shower, was very dated. Still, I was very happy overall and would stay again just for that view and balcony.

We were in unit 40, and it was dirty. The air-conditioning filter in the second bedroom was packed with dust and crap, and even set to 17 degrees the air-conditioning wasn’t very cold. The worst problem was the fridge. The freezer worked, but the fridge wouldn’t keep food cold. We told centre management, who lent us a small bar fridge for two days. When they took it back, they said they’d send maintenance. The maintenance guy looked at it and said that with these old fridges, we should empty it and defrost it overnight and it ought to be fine. Right, but what were we supposed to do with our food? It had been warm, over 30 degrees, and we ended up throwing out two 1-litre yogurts, milk, chicken, dips and more. For the money we paid, it definitely wasn’t worth it.