The best family-friendly accommodation on the Gold Coast

A laid back lifestyle, barefoot bounties, year-round sun and a surf culture to boot – there’s a reason the Gold Coast has been synonymous with the quintessential Australian beach holiday for decades.

Family fun on the Gold Coast starts with good accommodation. We all know this can make or break your experience, particularly when you’ve got temperamental toddlers or fussy teenagers in tow.

Explore everything the iconic Gold Coast has to offer from the comfort of one of our top stays for families below.

1. Paradise Beach Resort

This family-friendly property makes it very difficult for smart mums and dads to consider booking anywhere else.

The million-dollar Zone 4 Kids Club is like a day-care centre on steroids, with themed rooms (Space, Egypt, Coral, Magic Garden, and Underwater World), pyjama parties, mini-Olympics, and a walled-pit containing 50,000 plastic balls.

The TVs and PlayStation in the Junior Bunkhouse Rooms are the icing on the cake.

Paradise Beach Resort.

2. Sea World Resort

We needn’t really explain the one major drawcard for booking here – but we will.

This low-rise, family accommodation puts you smack bang in the middle of Main Beach – and in the middle of one of Australia’s most iconic theme parks.

Enjoy unlimited access to Sea World Resort, or the on-site water park set amongst lush tropical gardens. Families can choose between double family rooms to executive spa suites – which are equipped with cots, cable TV, balconies or patios, and free Wi-Fi.

When the kids get hangry, there are four restaurants to keep you sane. Hatsuhana is the celebrated Japanese restaurant, the Shoreline serves buffet meals and there is the Waterfall cafe and the Lobby Lounge Bar to round out the offering.

Seaworld Resort.

3. Turtle Beach Resort

With four swimming pools, a cinema, waterslide and water park your children may think they have stumbled into their accommodation dreams.

Choose between one, two, three, or four-bedroom self-contained apartments that feature fully equipped kitchens, private balconies or patios, air conditioning and heating, TVs and DVD players and complimentary safes.

Turtle Beach Resort.

4. Treasure Island Holiday Park

Treasure Island Holiday Park should be top of any family’s list, especially those with very young kids.

They’ll be kept busy in the Kids Club rooms, swimming in the three pools, riding the hire buggies, the bouncy pillow and playing mini-golf, tennis, in the games room and loads more.

Your kids will lose it when they see what’s in store for them – allowing adults ample opportunity to slink off and do their own thing in peace.

Treasure Island Holiday Park.

5. RACV Royal Pines

A week, a month, a year – who knows how long you’ll want to park the family at this place once you get a good look at it.

From the waterslide and playground to the multiple swimming pools, this park punches above its weight when it comes to the variety of incredible offerings to choose from.

Come school holidays, send the little ones off to the kids club, while adults sit back and enjoy the amenities. Or, if you fancy, take a drive to the beach which is only 12 minutes away.

RACV Royal Pines.

6. Sanctuary Lake Apartments

Designed to accommodate the upscale family traveller, Sanctuary Lake Apartments is a natural oasis just minutes from the sand.

The tropical gardens and saltwater pool provide tranquil opportunities for relaxation onsite and its close proximity to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is also a drawcard for guests.

Wander through the grounds and you’ll see mammals, birdlife, amphibians and some exotic animals. Then, hop into the Kangaroo paddock for feeding, line up to cuddle a koala and of course, feed a lorikeet.

Sanctuary Lake Apartments.

7. 2nd Avenue Burleigh Heads Beachside Apartments

Escape to a paradise just moments from the sand in the laid-back locale of Burleigh Heads.

If the kids aren’t drooling over the addition of a PlayStation in every room, then the choice of indoor and outdoor pool facilities should do the trick. There’s also free Wi-Fi and private wrap-around balconies.

Part of the allure of staying here is the charm of the location. Burleigh’s low-rise streetscape with throwback architecture, abundance of green spaces, quiet pockets of beach, and its unpretentious vibe offers the perfect summer holiday setting.

If you’d like to know more, check out where to eat, stay and play in Burleigh Heads here.

2nd Avenue Burleigh Heads Beachside Apartments.

8. Mantra Crown Towers

If holiday bliss amounts to being right in the heart of the action then Mantra Crown Towers has your name on it.

Located within spitting distance of the famous Cavill Avenue and about 100 metres from the beach, these self-contained apartments are prime Surfers Paradise real estate.

There’s a lagoon pool (with a pirate ship) on site in addition to two more, so the kids will never want for options. Venture offsite to explore the shops, restaurants and entertainment at your doorstep – you name it, and you can probably walk there.

Mantra Crown Towers.

9. Cedar Lake Country Resort

For many, a family holiday provides the chance to escape from the dramas of day-to-day life. It’s a chance to reconnect with each other, as well as the simple things in life.

Hidden in the hills of the Gold Coast Hinterland is a place that lets you do just that: Cedar Lake Country Resort.

A little further from the action, yes, but packed with its own tranquil drawcards that will quickly make this huge haven a home away from home.

The resort offers bike hire, a heated swimming pool, two spas, a sauna, tennis courts, mini-golf, children’s playground, a nine-hole pitch and putt golf course, paddle boards, kayaks and a games room.

Cedar Lake Country Resort.