Hope Island Stays

If you are off to the Gold Coast, congratulations! This is the perfect getaway for anyone! Hope Island is full of great attractions, beaches, surfing and restaurants. In order to get the most out of your trip, it is imperative to choose the perfect accommodations for your adventure. Luckily, there are several ways to stay on Hope Island.

Bed and Breakfasts:

Without a doubt, the B&B is the cozy way to stay on vacation. If you prefer a charming getaway with the personal touch, check out some of the Island's bed and breakfasts. One that has a touch of a resort feel is A Lighthouse on Hammersley. It's spacious, themed rooms are kept by a couple who ensure you a great stay. There are several high end amenities such as brilliant fireplaces, theater rooms, and private Adirondack chairs to watch the sunset with your loved ones. A Lighthouse on Hammersley has not missed a single detail and with reasonable prices, is a great choice for a relaxing getaway.

Apartments:

If staying on the Gold Coast for a longer trip, try renting an apartment. The Azzura resort boasts large fully furnished apartments along with great poolside features, golf and tennis courts. The beaches are right there ready to explore. This is a great accommodation for a large family or group looking to stay at Hope Island for an extended stay.

Hotels:

For a more luxurious vacation, there are several exclusive hotels to accommodate your private vacation. Club Watermark, a five star hotel, is certainly on the high end of most budgets, but is much more exclusive. Guests must be over 21 and children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. The large, spacious rooms and suites have great amenities, and the location of the hotel, right in Surfer's Paradise, is ideal for beach lovers. For an even grander experience, book at Donatella Versace's new luxurious resort, The Palazzo Versace. The rooms are breathtaking and are designed to accommodate different needs. There is even a "What's Kickin'" room for expectant parents on their Babymoon. Another suite, the Lagoon Suite even has a private lagoon to enjoy. This hotel is certainly a slice of Australia paradise.

All Inclusive:

While Australian all-inclusive resorts usually imply that you will get a kitchen to cook in, there are some resorts on the Gold Coast that will include activities, drinks, and food with your accommodations. Hope island accommodation is ideal for the person who wants to have minimal worries and focus on exploration and relaxation. Lizard Island, located nearer to Queensland does offer a restaurant; Osprey's offers a rotating menu for variety. Activities such as snorkeling and surfing are included and available. There a large villas for more private excursions.

Hostels:

On the other end of the luxury spectrum is the economic hostel. Since Hope Island and the Gold Coast cater to backpackers and surfers, there is a plethora of hostels for the low budget traveller. Islander Backpacker Resort is a little more expensive than a typical resort, but allows some luxuries such as a pool, bar and suite bathrooms. The bare minimum can be found at hostels like Backpackers in Paradise, located near the bus station for easy mobility.

No matter how you stay, it will be worth it to experience this one-of-a-kind island!

Five Great Travel Apps for the iPad

One of the best reasons to get an ipad (as if you need to justify it) is for just how useful it is when you travel a lot. If you’re anything like me and move around a lot for business, but always found a laptop a bit too heavy to lug around then the iPad is a godsend. Light enough not to be noticed and powerful enough to handle any word office tasks you might need to do while en route, it also acts as an entertainment console and an e-reader all in one. But best of all are the apps designed specifically for travelling in this article we’ll look at the five best iPad apps for when you’re on the road:

AllSubway – A personal favourite this one, it does one job and does it well. Allsubway will bring up high quality and well laid out subway and underground maps for over 100 major cities across the planet. Not only does it allow you to browse these maps offline and in the underground or metro trains themselves it also stops you looking like a lost tourist with the traditional underground maps. Wonderful.

Kayak: Known as ‘the most popular iPad travel app’ for good reason. Kayak offers a one-stop-shop for seamless searches of hotels, flights and car rental deals. From within the app you can book your hotel room direct as well as following your flight’s status and organizing the itinerary of your trip.

XE – Regular travellers will know just how useful XE currency converter is when heading abroad. Again, XE have become the number one currency conversion place by doing one thing and doing it well. Their new currency conversion app carries on this quality and what’s more it’s free!

Weatherbug Elite – This app has saved me on countless occasions from going out with the wrong clothes or packing the wrong stuff in my suitcase. A decent and reliable weather app offering free and constantly updated weather forecasts.

iBooks – I took some convincing to read books on the iPad but when you factor in how much weight you save by having them all on one iPad and reading them electronically, it becomes a no-brainer for the regular traveller. Throw in Apple’s high quality software and an easy to use interface that offers both bookshelf and reader, as well as syncing your last page across all your ios devices and this is an indispensable piece of software.

Alex is a regular traveller and travel blogger. He would love to be reviewing hot and faraway exotic places but mostly ends up reviewing English B&B’s and Travelodge discount codes .