If you are business traveller, you probably don’t get too excited about your hotel room. You might only be there for one or two nights and chances are you don’t even open the curtains. The room is a place toeat sleep, shower and change clothes.

But when it comes to the family Gold Coast holiday the situation is very different . For a start, if you are staying in a 4 star plus Gold Coast resort or apartment you’ll be paying a significent amount of money. So the last thing you want is to find your apartment has not been renovated since Adam was a boy , its on the ground floor without any views at all and instead of the sound of the ocean all you can hear is the traffic . The holiday your family was so excited about has just gone pear shaped.

Every high season on the Gold Coast,  when demand exceeds supply, scenarios just like this are played out. Most reputable property managers will advise a potential guest when the only available accommodation is the one described above. But allocating available accommodation is a juggling act for property managers. If you book into the latest, contemporary new high rise because of its fantasic sweeping views across the Gold Coast , only to find yourself on the third floor with just glimpses of the ocean through the trees on the nature strip, then you are obviously going to be disappointed. But someone had to be allocated the low level apartment, so how do you make sure its’ not you ?

Nowdays, most Gold Coast apartments and resorts are booked online. Bookings are often through a booking merchant or some other third party web site. You enter your dates, number of bedrooms , check the availability and confirm the booking with your credit card . The process is   quick, simple and caters to the needs of the majority. BUT….. automated booking systems are intended to be just that.. automatic. They keep you at arms length from the reservations desk until the money has been paid.

When you receive confirmation of the booking , you’ll get the contact details for the front desk.  It’s a good idea to immediately call them and request an apartment on a particular level, whether it be as high as possible for views or as low as possible because of small children on balconies. Whatever your individual circumstances, it’s strongly recommended that you follow up and clearly advise your needs and expectations.  

One other way to go about making your booking is to decide on the preferred Gold Coast apartment property, then find their own website, call them and make the booking direct with the reservations desk. It can make a big difference when you can establish a rapport with a real person who is able to answer all of your questions BEFORE you book and will add a note to your booking that gets seen and acted on when apartment allocations are done.

The bottom line is that if you just jump online, make an automated booking and leave it at that, then the reservations desk has no way of knowing what’s important for you. Don’t expect the reservations desk to be able to find you another apartment at the time you check in. During high season and school holiday periods there won’t be another apartment!