Surfers Paradise 1-bed With Stunning Views & Pool

We paid $2,700 for four days in a really dirty apartment. The whole floor smelled of old rubbish, and with only two lifts working, getting out meant waiting 15-20 minutes in that smell. Check-in was bad too: although we arrived early, they took over an hour to get the apartment ready, then gave us access 25 minutes after the official check-in time, and it still hadn't been cleaned. A horrible stay. If you want somewhere clean and comfortable, avoid Ruby.

The rooms are nice and the location is good, but the lifts feel a bit unreliable. The curtains need replacing, and the TVs are old and badly need an update. There's no Netflix or anything like that, which is a real downside.

The apartments were beautiful, though as someone who cleans Airbnb places for a living, I'm fussy and had issues with how clean ours was. We tried to extend our stay, but the owners didn't reply until the day after we'd left, when they said there had been availability. That was disappointing since we'd already settled in. The pool closing at 9 was also a bit frustrating, with so many kids still wanting to play and not much else to do at the hotel.

The bed was very comfortable, and with the windows shut it was quiet, though that meant keeping the air conditioning on. The balcony table and chairs hadn't been wiped down, and two chairs seems a bit stingy for a two-bedroom room. There was a phone in the room, but it couldn't even reach reception; no ice, no amenities on site, and the fridge tray was empty. Check-in was also slow with just one person at reception for the four staffed hours, so the line was sparse from where I was, third in queue. The sheets weren't queen-sized, though it can't be that hard to find some.