Marriott Vacation Club at Surfers Paradise

The pool area is much better than at the surrounding hotels, and the staff are friendly. There’s also a small garden with a native bee house, where you can watch tiny bees coming and going.

Had the best weekend staycation with my little man. The service from the staff was 10 out of 10, and the pool temperature was so nice. The fish were incredible: we saw around 40, and if you swam five metres, you could see about 200. You can hire snorkelling gear. Highly recommend!

Chanel and Sofia at the front desk were amazing, and the hotel is very nice and well maintained indoors. The lagoon and pool areas outside could use a bit more care. There were lots of kids, so it might not suit you if you’re after a quieter adult vacation.

The property itself is great, well located, and has a very nicely designed pool area. Still, this Marriott was worse than the one in central Las Vegas, the only other Marriott I’ve stayed at that I can compare it with. Management needs to sort out the staff. Things were disorganised and unprofessional, and it wasn’t even clean. I’ve stayed a couple of times and also attended a conference there. They ran out of everything. The F&B manager and 2IC must have been away or completely unaware. Without the company’s own staff, the conference would have fallen apart. The takings should have been double, but people had to go elsewhere for food and drinks, even though they didn’t want to. It was an utter shambles. The food was vin ordinaire, too. Don’t host here, do stay here. Stay at Dorsett for half the rack rate, or choose Sheraton, Langham, or the Darling until they pull their socks up. A note to the GM and S.EA GM: this is a disgrace to the brand. You’re charging more than far better properties in other parts of the world that face the same cost pressures. There’s no excuse.