* This post is not sponsored but contains affiliate links. Meaning at no cost to you, we may receive a tiny referral commission when you book through our links. (Full Disclosure)
RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast is one of the most luxurious family-friendly resorts with Instagrammable pools to die for.
Our family chose RACV Royal Pines Resort as our first holiday destination on the Gold Coast after flying in from New Zealand on a quarantine-free flight. We wanted to treat our 1yo Covid baby who was born right before the first lockdown in New Zealand, so we were super excited to be out of the country for the first time in over a year.
In this post, we’ll review our family stay at RACV Royal Pines Resort over the Anzac long weekend. We’ll cover topics such as our first impressions of this 5-star resort in Gold Coast, our check-in process, the details of our room, restaurants and dining, kid’s pools and more. Hopefully, this review will help your family gain an insight into what it’s like staying at RACV Royal Pines Resort Gold Coast.
♡ save it, pin it, share it
Table of Contents:
About Our Stay
- Length of stay: 2 nights
- Travelling with: Family of four with 1&4yo
- Room type: Moutain View Room on level 7
- Average nightly rate: AU$200
- Why we chose here: Best pools for kids
- When did we stay: End of April 2021
- Buffet breakfast: Yes
- Would we stay again: Definitely
First impression
At a glance, RACV Royal Pines Resort is a massive luxury resort located away from the city centre but within a short distance to the hub of Gold Coast – Surfers Paradise.
As we drove in, a row of royal palm trees and fountains led the way to the main building of RACV Royal Pines Resort. We came across many hotels and apartments with little to no resort features that called themselves a ‘resort’. However, RACV is a true resort by definition – a destination with a range of top-notch facilities that can accommodate all your recreational needs in one location. The sheer size of this resort gave us a sense of luxury right from the start.
© Photos by Kida
Walking into the main building, we were impressed by the large light-filled lobby, which had an open-plan contemporary design with windows from ceiling to floor at one end.
© Photos by Kida
The chic Panorama Lounge was centrally located in the lobby with a beautiful backdrop of the fountain pools. The reception was along one side of the lobby, with giant bright red flower paintings on the wall. Also on this level was the Hydrate Bar and lifts to the conference rooms and undercover car park.
WiFi was complimentary, fast and unlimited throughout the lobby, as well as in the room and restaurants.
© Photos by Kida
You might be interested in
Sea World Resort Gold Coast family review, should you stay in a theme park resort?
Service
Bell desk: We expected porters at the forecourt to help guests with luggage and bags for a resort of this size. However, we had to lug the bags ourselves to the reception while juggling two young kids. That being said, we did see a porter helping another family with luggage up the lift. Perhaps this is a service you have to request prior to checking in?
Receptionist: It must’ve been a busy day at RACV Royal Pines Resort. There were 4 receptionists at the front desk, and we had to wait for quite some time to be assisted. However, the receptionist who checked us in was very friendly. She tried her best to be helpful and welcoming even though she looked tired and a little stressed.
Special requests: We made our reservations through Booking.com and were rewarded with a complimentary bottle of wine for being Genius Level 3. However, our family asked if we could swap the wine with non-alcoholic beverages for the kids or F&B credits of equivalent value. The receptionist checked with the senior supervisor next to her, who sternly shook her head. That took us by surprise as a couple of juices would value much less than a bottle of wine. Nevertheless, we took the wine and gifted it to our friends.
Breakfast request: We then requested to have breakfast added to our stay. The receptionist informed us if we were to add breakfast for the entire duration of our stay, we would get a discounted rate of $25pp/day. It would be $34pp on the day at the restaurant.
As we planned to check out early in the morning on our departure date, we only needed breakfast for 1 night. The receptionist again checked with the senior receptionist, who shook her head once again. This time, she advised the receptionist to check with the back office for an exemption, which she did.
While we were able to book breakfast for $25pp, note that Booking.com offered a $20pp add-on deal at the time of booking.
Hot Tips
If you’re booking your stay with breakfast via a booking site like Booking or Agoda and manage to find a rate cheaper than $25pp, book breakfast because it’s so worth it, and we will explain why in the next section.
Check-in: RACV Royal Pines Resort has a lot to offer. There were flyers and posters around the lobby, and we had some brief ideas about the facilities that were available there. But because the resort spans over 100 hectares of land, we expected a detailed introduction and directions of the amenities upon check-in. Instead, we had to ask half a dozen questions to have some idea of the services available at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
On a positive note, although the receptionist seemed new on the job, she did make an effort to answer all of our questions.
Room service: The next day, we requested to have our room serviced in the afternoon. We mentioned to the housekeeping staff that we moved one of the beds against the wall to prevent our baby from falling off the bed. We asked if they could leave the bed as is when servicing the room in the afternoon.
When we returned that evening, our room was not serviced at all. We rang the front desk and went out for dinner. This time, we came back to a clean room that smelled really fresh. To our disappointment, the bed was moved back to its original configuration in spite of our request earlier.
Check out: Our check-out experience was much better than our check-in experience. For one, we didn’t have to wait at all. And second, there was a mix-up on our breakfast bill. The receptionist asked the manager on duty for assistance and everything was resolved quickly.
The manager asked us about our stay and joked with us when we apologised for the mess left by our baby. He told us many staff were parents themselves and could totally understand. We left RACV Royal Pines Resort feeling comforted and very spoiled.
Overall: Our overall impression of the staff was excellent throughout our stay at RACV Royal Pines Resort. Most staff were happy to help and respond to our requests when asked. But it was the managers who went above and beyond to provide guests with the 5-star service we had expected, it would’ve been better if all staff were trained to standard.
Parking
There was ample complimentary parking on the street, as well as undercover parking at RACV Royal Pines Resort. The undercover parking was numbered, so you can find your car easily at night.
There were no issues with parking during our stay.
Covid-19 Protocols
We were required to scan the Covid QR code at every restaurant. The staff checked and made sure everyone had signed in before allowing entry.
There weren’t many people wearing masks in the resort, but most people followed the social distancing rule.
There was a slideshow on the wall at the front desk where they had information on Covid hygiene guidelines. We felt pretty safe at the RACV Royal Pines Resort throughout our stay.
Coming from New Zealand, we weren’t used to this level of Covid-19 precautions, but we were okay with this considering the strict protocols were for the safety of everyone.
Mountain View Room
Our room: The room we booked at RACV Royal Pines Resort was a basic Mountain View Room with two double beds located on level 7. The decors were modern classics with a couple of wall mirrors and minimalist artworks.
© Photos by Kida
Amenities: The room had all the basic amenities you’d expect from a 4-star hotel – a study desk, a table lamp, a wardrobe with hangers, an ironing board, a luggage bench, a mini-fridge, a small kettle and a TV.
© Photos by Kida
TV: In all honesty, we couldn’t relate our room to the standard of a 5-star resort. We were surprised to find the TV was not a smart TV and had no sky channels either. It looked so basic that we didn’t even bother trying to figure out how to tune into the standard channels. Being able to entertain the kids with movie nights is something we look forward to on our family vacations, so that was a big disappointment for us.
AC: The AC worked fine and we had no noise issues during our 2-night stay at the RACV Royal Pines Resort.
Room view: We could see mountain silhouettes out the window in the distance. The expansive and unobstructed view was actually quite nice for a basic room type like this.
Looking down, we could see partial views of the fountain pool and the rooftop of the main building.
Our baby was so fascinated watching people playing sports on the fields and walking around the water. He loved standing on the chair, pressing his nose against the window and looking out to the world beneath.
© Photos by Kida
Bathroom
The bathroom at RACV Resort was somewhat mixed with traditional and contemporary designs that were simple yet functional.
Let’s cover the small details first: Personally, I loved the smell of the soap from RACV Resort. It was a wattleseed soap with a delightful faint aroma that lingered on my hands.
The shower was spacious with a contemporary single-panel frameless design. There was a single showerhead with average water pressure. If you’re like my partner who’s obsessed with having strong water pressures from hotel showers, then lower your expectation so you won’t be disappointed.
There was a small glass shelf neatly installed under the showerhead stocked with shampoos and conditioners. The towel/clothing rack on the other side of the shower was away from wet areas, and there was a grab bar beneath it. I believe the bathroom was wheelchair accessible.
The sink was a little small for my expectation of a 5-star resort, but there was plenty of space on the bench around the sink for toiletries. In addition, there was a big mirror on top of the sink that lit up the bathroom and made it seem a little bigger.
There was a single-layer bathroom shelf under the sink for towels and a small drawer with a rubbish bin next to the shelf. Next to the vanity, a few glass shelves were conveniently placed on the wall for storage space.
© Photos by Kida
What we liked the most was the standalone night light that allowed us to leave on during the night. This small feature added a touch of luxury to our stay. It was dim enough for us to sleep but bright enough for us to see at night. As a bonus, the night light wasn’t connected to the exhaust fan, so we were able to sleep in peace.
Overall, we were happy with the bathroom. It had everything we needed – simple, clean and relatively modern.
Restaurants and Dining
There were many restaurants and dining options at RACV Royal Pines Resort. We had to skip the bars and fancy restaurants this time as we didn’t want to make a scene with our two little monkeys.
However, you could try Trattoria Amici, the Italian restaurant, or Arakawa for a cultural culinary experience. Or check out the list of restaurants and bars on RACV Royal Pines Resort’s website here.
© Photos by Kida
I remember enjoying a finger-licking good pizza at a restaurant high up on one of the top levels back in 2016. I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant as we didn’t stay at RACV Resort at that time. But my most vivid memory of that dining experience was the amazing aerial view of the pools.
© Photos by Kida
Breakfast at Kalinda Restaurant
The Kalinda Restaurant was a highlight of our stay at the RACV Royal Pines Resort. The restaurant opened out to the kids’ pools and water play area, which was a spectacular way to start the morning sipping a cup of coffee soaking in the beautiful tropical pool lifestyle that absolutely deserved a 5-star.
© Photos by Kida
Due to Covid, the buffet breakfast was served by staff instead of self-serving, which caused a slight delay in getting hot food. However, the selections were good, and the food was fresh. The outdoor seating and the ambience compensated for the variety and quality of food, so no complaints from us there.
© Photos by Kida
In saying that, if you were expecting a 5-star buffet breakfast, you might be a little disappointed at RACV Royal Pines Resort. We would compare the selection and variety of the food with 4-star hotel breakfasts. However, the setting and overall ambience of Kalinda Restaurant were luxurious and family-friendly, which deserved its 5-star.
© Photos by Kida
The staff were very prompt in collecting empty plates to avoid birds feeding on food scraps. They were friendly, helpful and very approachable.
We had to cut our breakfast short with two noisy kids, but we loved it so much that we decided to have breakfast on the day of checking out in spite of our original plan to check out early in the morning.
The second morning, we were up early and went down for breakfast around 7 am. Unfortunately, we had to wait for a long time for someone to check us in, which was a bit of a nuisance as the kids were getting a bit cranky waiting.
The selection of food was a little different to the previous day. The pancake was swapped with waffles, and the pastry section changed its varieties.
© Photos by Kida
Hotel breakfasts have always been a highlight of our family holidays, and overall, RACV Royal Pines Resort delivered an unforgettable breakfast experience with its setting near the pools.
© Photos by Kida
Tees’ Clubhouse
Tees’ Clubhouse at RACV Royal Pines Resort was located adjacent to the tennis court. It was a nice little bar that opened out to a beautiful golf course.
© Photos by Kida
The food here at Tees’ Clubhouse was delicious and generous in portion sizes. We enjoyed our club sandwich and steak burger.
© Photos by Kida
This was the lunch menu at Tees’ Clubhouse during our stay.
© Photos by Kida
Surprisingly, there was no table water and the staff suggested buying bottled water instead. As a courtesy, the staff filled our baby bottle with filtered water.
Upon request, our preschooler was given a goodie bag with an activity book and crayons that kept her busy.
Overall, we enjoyed our lunch and the beautiful golf course views.
© Photos by Kida
RACV Royal Pines Resort Pools
The kids’ pools were the favourite part of our stay here at RACV Royal Pines Resort. Before we dive into the details, you may be interested to know the only stroller-friendly path to the pools was through Kalinda Restaurant.
We tried following the sign to the pools on the lobby ground, which led us to a long set of stairs. We had to turn back and were greeted by a friendly man in suit – presumably the manager of Kalinda Restaurant, who led us through the restaurant to the pools.
© Photos by Kida
There were loungers around the pools and free towels for in-house guests. The main pool was up to 1.8m deep and was probably the warmest of all the pools. There was a small pool bar where you can order drinks. On the far side, there was a small spa pool and 3 children’s pools – a pool with slides up to 1.2m deep, a fun water park with sprinklers and a toddler’s pool with splashes and a mini beach.
© Photos by Kida
Spending half a day lazing by the pools after a scrumptious buffet breakfast was the dream resort life we had worked hard for. So if you’re looking for the most family-friendly resort in Gold Coast with the best pools, RACV Royal Pines Resort wins our vote on this one.
© Photos by Kida
Tennis Court & Golf Course
The tennis court at RACV Royal Pines Resort was available for hire for $18 per hour. In addition, we saw a sign advertising private tennis lessons with a coach at around $100 per hour.
© Photos by Kida
You may have already heard that RACV Royal Pines Resort is known for its fabulous Golf Course. It’s located adjacent to Tees’ Treehouse outside the main building. Golfing isn’t really on our family’s bucket list, so we couldn’t share much more than that. However, there were many golf carts around, and the Golf Course looked beautiful.
Other facilities
Since we only stayed for 2 nights with kids in tow, we couldn’t experience RACV Royal Pines Resort much more than we had shared in this review.
We were tempted to find a babysitter during our stay to use the One Spa, but our guilt caught up and we decided to be responsible parents as our 1yo was still recovering from a tummy bug.
There is a luxury health club and gym for RACV in-house guests and members. It’s fair to say you can almost stay at RACV long-term and still be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle with the range of facilities available here.
© Photos by Kida
Final Verdict
To sum it up, we booked our stay at the RACV Royal Pines Resort for a little over $200 per night and found incredible value in what we had paid for.
The highlights of RACV for our family were the pools, the view from our room and the comfort. Some aspects can be improved but none of them were major concerns or stopped us from enjoying our stay at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
We would recommend staying here for at least 3-4 nights to truly experience everything RACV Royal Pines Resort has to offer.
I hope you find the insights of our stay at RACV useful and we wish you a memorable holiday at the RACV Royal Pines Resort with or without kids.
© Photos by Kida
Accommodation Booking Sites & Apps
Hot Tips
- If your destination is underdeveloped, on an island or you only travel occasionally, consider booking with the hotel or guesthouses directly. In some cases, you’ll receive much better rates plus you’ll support local businesses and provide an opportunity to connect with them for better services.
- If you’re a frequent traveller that stays in hotels often, we recommend sticking with one hotel booking site/app to reap the benefits of its loyalty program.
- Always do your price comparisons as some sites like Hotels.com may have already priced your loyalty discounts in the room rates.
* This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no cost to you, we receive a small commission for purchases made through our links. Your support allows us to continue delivering free content to help families just like yours. Thank you. (Full Disclosure)
The loyalty program offers lifetime memberships and there are many accommodations that participate in the Genius program which gives out perks & discounts as you level up.
May of the listings on Airbnb can also be found on Booking.com. But Airbnb is a good alternative to try your luck on finding that gem.
You can see the rates on all the hotel booking sites at a glance and compare the prices from there.
How to plan a trip in 30 minutes
I used to use Trivago, Kayak, Kiwi etc but nowadays, Google does such a good job finding the latest rates, I no longer use hotel comparison sites.
Don’t Be A Stranger!
We’d love to get to know our readers. Leave your thoughts below!
Connect with us on Youtube!
What are your plans while in Gold Coast?
