We were lucky enough as a family of 5 to get the chance to visit Paradise Resort on the Gold Coast to write a review for School Mum to let you know what we thought.
We were not paid to write this review however we did not incur any expense during our stay at the resort.
Below is my review of what we thought was great and what we thought was not so great!!!
What was great!!
– Seeing my kids play together for hours with only a few minor moments of bickering.
– Not having to get in and out of the car to go to different activities with the kids and having them excited, amused and not nagging about being bored all day.
– Deciding to get my fun mum (and togs) on and spending the morning going on slides and the water park with my 2 older girls. This was my best highlight as it was so nice to laugh, smile and have heaps of fun for a few hours with the girls without having to be the nagging parent.
– It was great to have so many activities and facilities for the kids in such close proximity to our room. It is hard of times doing the holiday thing when you have children of all different ages due to day naps and daily routines being different. What was great about Paradise Resort is we could be out with the bigger kids and when baby Ellis fell asleep I could zip back to our room which was only 2 minutes away to put him down (and have a rest myself) while the bigger kids kept playing with dad. #winning
– Another great thing about the rooms being so close to all of the activities for kids is after a few hours of hard core play it was only a 2 minute walk back to our room for the kids to have a rest before they were at it again. They were pretty excited to have a TV in their room (not something we have at home) and we didn’t mind them watching it when they came back for a rest and snack. Despite the fact that there were lots of people at the resort and lots of loud fun happening in the main water park area our room was very peaceful and quiet so it a great and relaxing escape from the activities when we all needed it.
– The food was way better than expected. In my experience of “family food”, options are often limited and quite greasy. Chicken nuggets, pizza, chips and cheeseburgers were still on the menu but there were also salad, steak and fresh food options. There was a fresh juice bar and 100% fruit ice cream options for the kids so it didn’t have to be back to back junk food.
– Not having to carry cash and a purse around with me for 3 days was great! Everything you do within the resort including food, coffee, extra activities etc etc can be added to your bill upon checkout so it was great to be able to be handbag free (one less thing to think about) when out and about with the kids during the day.
What was not so great!
– The check in time took a bit longer than was expected. Once I personally checked in I realised there was a bit of info they have to go through which is why is takes some time. There were 2 rather big lines for check in so it took a while. On the upside check it is right beside the indoor playground so the two big girls were able to be amused in there while we waited.
– Friday night was taco night for dinner (one of many options) and we decided to get them as both the kiddos love tacos. Unfortunately the taco mince was a lot spicier than my kids were use to so that was a bit painful as miss 4 was refusing to eat them. On the upside they did let us make another one which consisted of carrot and cheese (one of her lunchtime favourites) so it all got resolved in the end.
– Our room was very basic. We had two bedrooms with storage for clothes and a large bathroom to share. My first reaction was it was kind of smallish for a family of 5 however after being here for an hour I realised we were not going to be spending much time in our room haha as there were sooo many facilities within the resort. The room was very clean and nice it was just smaller than what I am use to for family space. In the end I kind of liked that we were not having a holiday locked in a big apartment watching TV. We were out in the sunshine swimming and playing and having a blast and the room size was never an issue.
– The ice skating in itself was great and a fab activity to have only 50 meters away from where we were staying. What was not so great was that we did not know that you had to have fully enclosed shoes for the little kids (Miss 4) as they use strap on devices for the littlies to be able to ice skate. The device in itself was great but due to it being summer we only brought sandals for the girls so Miss 4 had to wear 3 pairs of thick socks we bought from the shop in order for her to fit in the older kids ice skates. So just a heads up, if you want to go ice skating you need to remember to bring some enclosed shoes if you have little kids 🙂
OVERALL
I felt like this was a great family holiday as we got to actually spend time together as a family rather than split up all the time to manage multiple children’s needs so it didn’t spiral into tired crazyness.
Also just to note there is a kids club available at the resort which allows you to put your kids in for one session a day which is either 10am-2pm or 4pm-8pm. We personally have lots of grandparent support which gives us nights off regularly however for those who don’t get the chance to have some kids free time this is a great opportunity to do so.
Would I Go Back
Absolutely
Would I recommend this as a great place to holiday with your family
Absolutely
Review By Sam Shazzam aka School Mum
