Review: JW Marriott Gold Coast

To kick off our three-week trip to Australia, we decided to spend two nights at the JW Marriott Gold Coast in Surfers Paradise. Knowing that we’d be adjusting to the 18-hour time difference, my partner Ashley and I decided that relaxing in a nice hotel by the ocean would be the best way to overcome the jet lag quickly.

The hotel has only been open as a JW Marriott since December 2020, which is when the nine-month renovation from what was previously the Surfers Paradise Marriott Hotel was completed. The JW Marriott occupies the uppermost floors of the building, while the Marriott Vacation Club at Surfers Paradise fills the rest of the lower floors.

I’d heard some great word-of-mouth reviews about the property from family, and I was elated to spend a few days in style as we adjusted to the warmer weather and longer days on Australia’s east coast.

JW Marriott Gold Coast – Booking

In the lead-up to our stay, I kept an eye out for favourable travel agent rates at the hotel, which I am fortunate to have access to with an IATA card. It turns out that there was only one night available at a discounted rate, and I had to weigh out the options for the second night.

Cash rates for this property tend to hover around $350–450 (AUD) outside of holiday periods, and rise to $700–850 (AUD) during school breaks and the Australian summer months. A booking made with Marriott Bonvoy points can cost as few as 45,000 points and as much as 60,000 points, with some pockets of dates unavailable for redemptions.

With our valuation of Bonvoy points at 0.9 cents per point (CAD), there is a case to be made for reward bookings if the cost of your stay is on the higher side. For example, during the month of December, when cash rates reach up to $1,130 (CAD) per night, you can net a very satisfying 1.9 cents per point (CAD) by redeeming 60,000 points. 

You can likewise get good value out of a Free Night Award for your booking, as long as you can top it up to the redemption value for your dates. Keep in mind that the Australian dollar tends to lag a bit behind the Canadian dollar, and even more so behind the American dollar, so your money goes a bit further in Australia than it does at home.

In the end, we opted to redeem 59,000 Bonvoy points for our second night, and while we didn’t necessarily get outstanding value from the redemption, we felt that it was a good use of the tidy sum of points…