voco Gold Coast

voco Gold Coast opened in November 2018 as the first voco hotel anywhere in the world, five months after IHG launched the brand — a conversion of the former Watermark Hotel and Spa by owner Salter Brothers. The 389-room oceanfront property in Surfers Paradise runs three restaurants, two pools and L'Aqua Day Spa.

The place

The hotel sits oceanfront in Surfers Paradise, with rooms looking out over either the Pacific or the Gold Coast hinterland, in the same beachfront position it held as the Watermark Hotel and Spa.

The concept

voco Gold Coast is a conversion of the former Watermark Hotel and Spa, acquired and repositioned by investment firm Salter Brothers as the launch property for IHG's then-new voco brand, opening just five months after voco's global launch in June 2018 — making this the first voco hotel to open anywhere in the world. The brand sits between IHG's mainstream and luxury tiers, built around individual character within standardised service, and the Gold Coast debut leans into sustainability touches such as onsite beehives, refillable bathroom-amenity dispensers and a food-waste recycling programme run with Gold Coast City Council.

Dining & wellness

The hotel runs three food and beverage venues — Waves, Clifford's Grill & Lounge and Social House Café — plus a bar and lounge, two swimming pools, a gym and L'Aqua Day Spa, alongside roughly 800 square metres of meeting space.