Intercontinental, Sanctuary Cove, QLD

Sanctuary Cove is about a 45-minute drive north of the Gold Coast airport.  Opening in 1986 with five days of celebrations that included performances from Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston, Sanctuary Cove was designed as a community where you could live in a resort-styled setting.

A beautiful resort

A beautiful resort

Sanctuary Cove features two 18-hole championship golf courses where you can finally show off your improvements because of equipment which may cost around $1399, a 300-berth marina and a Country Club with a fitness centre, tennis courts and 25mtr heated lap pool.  There is also the Marine Village that sits on the water’s edge and contains the Cove’s commercial, retail and dining precinct.

Entrance

Entrance

The 5-star hotel built within Sanctuary Cove is the Intercontinental, formally known as The Hyatt Sanctuary Cove.  I last stayed at the Intercontinental around 15 years ago when it was The Hyatt.  For this visit I was returning with my parents, my four sisters and eight of the 12 grandchildren.  In total we were booked into seven rooms.

Lounge near the entry foyer

Lounge near the entry foyer

Once you drive into Sanctuary Cove, the roads are paved with bricks and most residents beetle along in golf buggies.  Arriving at the Intercontinental is impressive.  The brick road leads to a grand and elegant building reminiscent of a Queensland estate from a bygone era. You can read the article to know the architecture of foyer, which has wooden flooring with in-laid Persian carpets, large sandstone fireplaces, a grand piano and tall vases of flowers.

The main building

The main building

The hotel has around 250 rooms and to get to them you leave the main house and walk through well-established tropical gardens to accommodation blocks that are no higher than the canopy of the gum trees.

Resort heated pool

Resort heated pool

The hotel has a lot of water features that lead from the main building to the resort pool and then beyond it to the one-acre salt-water beach pool.  If you don’t like to swim there is the golf course or you can attend the gym or play tennis at the country club.

Spa

Spa

The rooms have been upgraded since the resort opened and feature an entry foyer, parquetry flooring, a balcony and a bathroom with a separate bath and shower.  There is a good range of toiletries provided from San Francisco company, Agraria.  The lemon verbena soaps and shampoos have a very refreshing and calming scent.

Room 337 overlooking the lagoon pool

Room 337 overlooking the lagoon pool

Alfie and I shared a room that had two spacious and very comfortable double beds with white doonas.  We were on the middle floor with other rooms above us and below us and we found our room whisper quiet.  Our room opened onto a verandah with a wonderful view of the lagoon pool.

Bathroom has been modernised

Bathroom has been modernised

Bathroom products

Bathroom products

My sister, Lou, came with her three children and so she booked two interconnecting rooms on the ground floor.  If you are travelling with children I would recommend the ground floor rooms as they open onto a level lawn area where Alfie and his cousins spent many hours playing and looking for kangaroos while we sipped on champagne in Lou’s room.

View from Room 337

View from Room 337

Buffet breakfast was included in our tariff and that was served over in the Cove Restaurant in the main building.  The buffet was mostly western foods and there was an egg station where you could order your eggs cooked every which way however, eggs benedict isn’t on the menu.  Every day they make a choice of two types of freshly squeezed juice which was definitely a step up from the standard cylinders of juice you see at most other buffets.

The resort is set in landscaped tropical grounds

The resort is set in landscaped tropical grounds

My biggest fret with travel is wi-fi and at the Intercontinental wi-fi is complimentary if you become a member of the hotel.  Membership is free.  I found the process of connecting to the wi-fi painless and the speed of the connection was also pretty good.

Jumping off rocks

Jumping off rocks

When we arrived I took a walk around the resort and I noticed the resort pool and spa are both now surrounded with glass fencing.  I’m not sure why this has been done but I do think it’s a shame as having to go in and out of a gate to gain access to the water takes away from the resort ambience.

Lagoon pool

Lagoon pool

We spent our first day down at the lagoon pool.  There are lounges to sit on that are set in the white sand however they are very low to the ground and a little difficult to get in and out of.  Having done an intense workout at the gym the day before where I was left with sore and stiff muscles, I found the only way I could get into the chair was to fall into it.

Cousins

Cousins

What we did notice while at the lagoon is that the outdoor area is almost totally devoid of staff.  There was no one around for me to find out where we might get a few towels so I had to ask another guest.  She said they were in a locked cupboard and you had to use your room key to get the cupboard to unlock then help yourself.

Reuben sandwich

Reuben sandwich

There was a food and beverage bar between the resort pool and the lagoon pool however it wasn’t open on the Friday, but it did open on the weekend.  We would have liked it if there had been some staff around to offer us menus and ask if we would like to order a drink however there didn’t seem to be anyone employed to do those things.

Stone-baked pizza

Stone-baked pizza

I don’t think the staff-shortage issue is unique to the Intercontinental, but have increasingly noticed this problem in a lot of Australian hotels and resorts.  It’s become so expensive to employ people in this country that it seems when cost-cutting measures are implemented, the first thing on the chopping block are the staff.

Club sandwich with fries with sauce and aioli

Club sandwich with fries with sauce and aioli

On the Friday we ordered lunch from the Cove Restaurant and the staff brought it down to us at the lagoon pool.  On another occasion we ordered lunch from the pool bar.  I found lots of tempting options on both menus and both had a good selection of kid’s choices above the standard ‘chips and nuggets’.  I also found the portions to be very generous and sharing one club sandwich with fries between two people was just fine.

Not at all crowded in August!

Not at all crowded in August!

Getting out and about around Sanctuary Cove is very easy.  From the resort it’s just a five-minute walk to the Marine Village or if you’re already worn out from walking all over the resort, the staff at the concierge desk can drop you off and pick you up in either a buggy or mini-van.  While fairly thin on the ground, we did find the staff at the concierge desk to be working at a very fast pace, be incredibly hard-working and very willing to accommodate our requests.

Hours of fun

Hours of fun

The Intercontinental is a five-star hotel that’s now around 30-years old.  While there is evidence of a slightly dated feel to the resort (a lot of the hard landscaping is terracotta tiles), this is a resort that is well-suited to golf enthusiasts, those who like to relax by a swimming pool, energetic people who enjoy going for walks and playing sports, those wanting a bit of romance, or, if you’re like us, a family reunion.

Lots of water features

Lots of water features

Currently you can get excellent packages that include sparkling wine and chocolates on arrival together with breakfast in the Cove Restaurant for $270.00 per night and for a resort of this standard I think that’s very good value.  I understand the new owners of the hotel have a plan to renovate the resort but it’s not really necessary to wait until then.  As my little guy asked me, ‘Next time can we come for a whole week?’

The lagoon pool isn't heated

The lagoon pool isn’t heated

Verdict:  A great winter escape

Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove:  Manor Circle, Sanctuary Cove, Australia 4212
Resort Direct: +61 7 5530 1234

Comments

  1. You should have dropped in Charlie :)). We are only 45 mins from there !

  2. Great review! At $270 a night that’s good value for a lovely resort hotel I’m not surprised Alfie wanted to stay longer.

  3. Nice review…! I didn’t realise how old it was… I remembered when it opened! Wow that makes me feel really old now 🙂 Liz xxx

  4. That looks a bit better than our accommodation, actually $270 a night, I thought sounded quite reasonable. Maybe next time we go, we should spend a couple nights there before we head home…….. nice way to relax and wind down, might even have a go at golf, been a few years – hmmm wonder if they disabled clubs for people with stuffed wrists lol

    • Hi Jackie, they definitely have some very lovely disabled suites so next time you come to the Gold Coast, do see if you can spend a couple of nights here – it’s such a unique and beautiful resort.

  5. Finally a retreat that I would sign up for. Beautiful pictures Charlie. Love the review.

  6. What a gorgeous retreat!

  7. Boy, that looks like some swanky resort! Such a fun place for a family gathering 🙂

  8. What a fab review of this cool lovely hotel! The foods look very appealing too! 🙂 Yum!

  9. I stayed here for a conference when it was the Hyatt (I know, what a great conference location) 😀 My room looked just like yours and I loved seeing the views of the outdoor areas again!

  10. Wow – what a trip down memory lane for me!
    The Bloke & I stayed here (he was attending a conference) about a million years ago. It was the first time we ever left our kids at home, who were all quite small – the youngest was just on 12 months old.
    Dear friends offered to move in to care for them, and they were truly wonderful – especially given that our eldest broke out with Chicken pox almost immediately and I spent the entire 2 1/2 days fielding emergency phone calls about doctors, medicines etc.
    Not the most relaxing break I’ve ever had.

  11. What a lovely place for a getaway! I could use that right now 😉

  12. I love staying here Charlie and what a great place indeed! This looks to be and is the perfect place to escape for a winter getaway! I will look forward to our next visit!

  13. Do they offer transfers from Coolongatta airport Charlie?

  14. That is a massive club sandwich. The Reuben is a little small and doesn’t quite remind me of a Reuben 🙂 It really is so hard for Australian resorts to compete with overseas ones especially when it comes to staff costs.

  15. What a pity about the staff – a sad reality the world over. Lovely review Charlie.
    Have a wonderful day.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  16. Looks great and no sharks!!

  17. Another one feeling old as I too remember it being unveiled! Lack of staff at upmarket hotels is a real turn-off – it seems to only be in Oz as most places overseas have plenty of staff.

  18. Looks terrific! I love the fireplace.

  19. Sounds like a great place to stay (must have been nice after Orange). It is sad that staff are the first casualties of cost cutting. Machines just can’t replace them and I was talking recently with friends about there being less and less jobs for high school kids looking for work. And while I am whinging, I am surprised they use a San Fran company for the toiletries rather than a local company. I think these things mean more to me than whether it is dated or not – I think it is nice to have places (not people) that are situated in a particular time.

  20. I would love to spend a week in that resort, sounds unique. Thanks for the honest review.

  21. So aptly named “Sanctuary Cove” – your photos show the property as a true sanctuary. That was a nice and quiet vacay, Charlie :). Thanks for sharing your getaways 🙂

    Julie & Alesah
    Gourmet Getaways xx

  22. Sounds like a wonderful stay at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove – that entrance is indeed grand – and the grounds are gorgeous! Love the fountains and the columns all around!

  23. What a beautiful place, Alfie looks like he was having a grand time.

  24. What a beautiful place! It looks like a great place to relax, visit and be in the sun. Perfect.

  25. Absolutely gorgeous!! And that water, breathtaking. What a lovely time and place for a family get together. It truly looks like a sanctuary!

  26. everything looks absolutely FABULOUS}}!!! wow

  27. What a lovely place. The old-fashioned look of it appeals to me at every possible level. And as I love family gatherings, the thought of so many cousins and family, in general, enjoying the space is just wonderful. Looks like a lovely choice for a reunion.

  28. You guys go to some of the most beautiful places! This is lovely and that pizza – I’d have to swim a few extra laps, but it would be worth it.

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  1. […] a recent mini-break, we were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel which is about a 10-minute drive from Dreamworld.  Dreamworld sits on 85-hectares of land and […]

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