Amaroo at Trinity
Amaroo at Trinity is situated on a grassy hilltop with uninterrupted ocean views, gentle sea breezes and the sound of waves lapping on the shores of Trinity Beach.
Mike and Cathy Costello have managed Amaroo at Trinity for just over seven years. Since Resort News first featured Amaroo in April 2007, Mike and Cathy have gradually improved the building and its facilities, including a recent refurbishment of guest rooms. Other improvements include landscaping, external painting of the building and barbeque area, and new outdoor furniture pool-side, and on all balconies.
The majority of rooms were extensively refurbished this year. They have new furniture, including contemporary-style triple sheeted beds with bed runners and cushions that feature a coral design.
The matching dining tables, coffee tables and media units are in dark wood that contrasts with the newly painted white walls and moss green chairs. Timber framed mirrors bring the stunning ocean view right into the room. The queen size sofa beds are also in natural tones that give a modern and spacious feel to the rooms. The rooms also have new blinds, new digital flat-screen TVs and the door frames on the balconies were repainted.
“The natural hues and tones of the new furnishings were inspired by the new art pieces that we put up – they feature shells and neutral beach colours,” Cathy says. “We were looking for value for money with the improvements, and the kitchens have not been refurbished at present, so it was essential to blend the colour of the kitchen bench tops with the new furniture and decor.”
Cairns-based Posh LIFEstyle sourced and installed all the new furnishings. “They gave us some storyboard options to choose from, and the rainforest colours were attractive and the furnishings provided value and quality,” Mike says. “We have new art pieces that are photos on canvas in the hallways as well as consoles and mirrors opposite the lifts.” The foyer has also been repainted, and features new mirrors and art pieces, also supplied by Posh LIFEstyles.
Mike and Cathy commissioned Brad Newton as the photographer to capture images of the improvements to Amaroo. “This was quite a challenge as it is hard to capture the character of the rooms and our location and views in one shot,” Mike says. “Brad has done a great job in achieving this!”
Views from most of the large, 5m² balconies face east over the ocean and south towards Yorkey’s Knob headland and harbour. Views from the western side of the building are of the full-size tennis court, tropical plants in the gardens and rain-forested mountains in the distance. The palm-fringed pool that also looks towards the mountains, has a heated jacuzzi and there is also a spa. The undercover area by the pool provides guests with a relaxed area to enjoy a drink and a casual meal prepared on the guest barbeques.
Trinity Beach is growing in popularity as a tourist destination. It is situated about 20 minutes north of Cairns and 10 minutes south of Palm Cove. The beach is a small, palm fringed cove about 1km long, with facilities that include stinger nets for safe swimming in the summer and many electric barbeques that are free to use and popular with locals and tourists.
“It is time for Trinity Beach to grow its own identity, similar to that of Palm Cove,” Mike says.
“Trinity has a strong tourism element and its own features and facilities, while the beaches nearer to the Cairns CBD mainly cater for residents.”
“Accommodation providers would like to see Trinity Beach recognised as a stand-alone tourism destination in the same way as Palm Cove and Port Douglas. Trinity Beach has excellent restaurants and a new modern tavern with top-class facilities and ocean views.”
April 2007’s edition of Resort News reported that Mike and Cathy were concentrating on gradually building trade with the British and North American tourism markets through their partnership with the team at Parker Travel Collection. A look through the guest book reveals that this marketing has been successful. “Trade with the international markets of Ireland, the UK, Europe, Canada and the US has increased by about 50% since 2007,” Mike says.
“Parker Travel Collection has been largely responsible for our success with the overseas markets and has also helped us to maintain the domestic market, even during the downturn when our occupancy levels remained consistent and even improved at certain times.”
Mike & Cathy, as part of their desire to grow their international business, have worked with tourism marketing company Parker Travel Collection for the past several years. This company has an excellent reputation in marketing in all major international countries and has been pleased with how Amaroo has been accepted by some of the world’s leading wholesale companies.
International director of sales, Robbie Bastion remarked, “Overseas marketing of any product is no easy or quick project and Mike and Cathy should be congratulated on their perseverance that, I am happy to say, is starting to deliver results from several key markets including Europe (especially Scandinavia), UK and New Zealand. But one of the mitigating factors in their success has been their willingness to participate in promotions and make modifications to keep the property up to international standards. The recent refurb is an example of this and Amaroo is ready for another several years of pleasing their international visitors.”
Robbie went on to say that Mike’s assertion that Trinity Beach is ready to ‘stand alone’ as a destination in its own right is completely correct and recent additions to the infrastructure of Trinity Beach have not gone unnoticed by visiting agents from Australia and overseas. Trinity Beach is rightly poised to take its place among the Tropical North’s iconic destinations.
Amaroo at Trinity’s one bedroom studio rooms are ideal for couples. There is a large bedroom area, which is separate from the kitchenette and lounge. The lounge area opens out onto the private balcony. Families are accommodated in the dual-key family suites that have one double and one twin room with a common entry area. These are situated on the corners of the building and have two balconies facing the ocean and the other balcony has views of the hinterland. All rooms are self-catering and have a large refrigerator, two hot plates and a microwave.
Having spent three weeks staying at Amaroo in January this year, this past-guest is pleased to report that Mike and Cathy are excellent hosts, who go out of their way to help!
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