A resident of the southern end of the Coast, SCN’s Shirley Sinclair enjoyed an overnight stay in our new city heart
A tingle of excitement always accompanies the knowledge that you’re on the ground floor of something big.
I wasn’t involved with a start-up. I wasn’t creating a new share portfolio. I wasn’t even a partner in a new restaurant.
It was my inaugural overnight stay in Maroochydore’s new city centre, emerging from the fairways of the former Horton Park golf course in the heart of the Sunshine Coast.
Other “first” milestones have already been ticked off – first residential towers heading skyward, the first businesses moving into office spaces in the first commercial tower, the first new-build hotel in the region for decades.
And though the city centre completion is still another 10 to 15 years away, I could feel part of something extraordinary.
Make no mistake: Australia’s largest greenfield CBD development is taking shape on the 53-hectare site that will include our new City Hall.
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There may be more construction workers’ utes and trucks than people on South Sea Islander Way, Fairway Drive, First Avenue and Future Way during the day.
But by 5pm any night of the week, those streets come alive as couples and party groups gather around the tables of the Tony Kelly-backed European-style Market Bistro – the first restaurant to open in the CBD on the ground floor of the first commercial building, Foundation Place – and neighbouring Giddy Geisha, modelled on his crowd-pleasing Rice Boi in Mooloolaba.
Stage one of the CBD was opened to the public in August 2019 but the real acknowledgement that the city centre is “going places” came when the joint partnership between Pro-invest Hotels and IHG Hotels & Resorts opened its doors in May this year.
Australia’s first Holiday Inn Express and Suites Sunshine Coast boasts 41 self-contained suites among its total 181 rooms and is a major show of confidence in the tourism industry recovery on the Sunshine Coast.
As a resident on the southern end of the Coast, I had my own modus operandi for making a booking: a night of wining and dining.
With only a leisurely stroll back to my comfortable King Bed Suite with Sofa Bed after dinner, the promise of a sleep in and the free and hearty Express Start Breakfast with hot and cold selections before work in Maroochydore – less than five minutes’ drive away – was too good to pass up.
First stop on arrival is the bar in the Great Hall to grab an Aperol and soda for sunset on the Level 8 rooftop pool deck – another first for a Holiday Inn Express brand in Australia and New Zealand.
Even on a blustery winter’s day, the heated pool looks inviting but the wow factor is the sweeping panoramas – over the rooftops of Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland to Point Cartwright and over the Big Top Shopping Centre to Mt Coolum and further west to Mt Ninderry.
That leaves plenty of time to make the most of the lounge area in the suite, rainhead shower and great makeup lighting in the ensuite, plus space around the bed, to get ready for dinner.
On two previous occasions, I have had the pleasure of the delightful vegan yellow curry at modern Asian street food restaurant Giddy Geisha. But Market Bistro is a celebration of the paddock-to-plate philosophy using the freshest local artisan produce, and offering a modern twist on many classic dishes.
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The grilled flatbread with the dip of the day and king prawn tagliolini main dish were flavoursome and filling, matched with the 2020 Howard Park Miamup Chardonnay from Western Australia’s Margaret River.
And that highlights the beauty of the new city centre: it makes the most of our live, work and play lifestyle on the Coast.
Even if some of us do have to work for a living, we can still connect with the people and places we love, enjoy some downtime in the sunshine and surf, and celebrate the good things in life.
The Holiday Inn Express and Suites Sunshine Coast complements that as a hotel for all seasons and occasions – the easy business trip, the big music gig in Ocean Street’s Solbar, a festive get-together, an overnight girls’ shopping trip, or perhaps a weekend getaway with the extended family.
Joe Olds, head of marketing for Pro-invest Hotels, says the hotel opened a few days earlier than expected on May 30, welcoming guests to 25 mostly single-occupancy rooms that first night to accommodate a conference.
Even before the opening, an encouraging 80 rooms had been booked for the first month.
Three months on, the nine-storey hotel is starting to hit its stride in bookings – especially striking a chord with business clients who are expected to make up a large percentage of guests.
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“Maroochydore CBD is rapidly growing, A lot more businesses are coming to this part of the Sunshine Coast and we hope to be the preferred hotel to stay in due to its close proximity (to the CBD) and the fact we do have all these facilities and essentials at their fingertips,” Mr Olds says.
“It’s so well designed for business stays. If you’re doing smart travel for work, you’ve got power sockets everywhere, incredibly fast Wi-Fi, a free breakfast in the Great Hall, blackout blinds in the room that really give you a great night’s sleep, a choice of pillows, and a ‘power shower’.”
Business travellers appreciate the convenient conference and function facilities and flexible workspaces, while The Great Hall provides a common area and “chill-out zones” which can be used as relaxing work spaces or to mingle with newfound friends.
With rooms with a view, heavenly beds, 50’ Smart TVs with Chromecast ability, and oodles of PowerPoints and USB ports, this hotel is certainly a place to recharge.
But this Holiday Inn’s location – close to family-friendly Cotton Tree and world-class Maroochydore Beach, the Ocean Street Dining and Entertainment Precinct as well as other popular cafes and bars and our major regional shopping centre at Sunshine Plaza – also is likely to be a welcome bonus for holidaymakers in the serious business of pleasure and leisure.
- The writer was a guest of Holiday Inn Express and Suites Sunshine Coast for one night but paid all other expenses.
HOTEL FOR ALL SEASONS
