Rainbow Commodore Holiday Apartments: A pot of gold
Coolangatta is often described as the gateway to the Gold Coast thanks to its proximity to the airport and position as the southernmost suburb. It is one of the earliest settlements on the Gold Coast; occupied from 1823, it was named after a shipwrecked schooner.
A small population helps Coolangatta maintain its laid-back atmosphere and it is a hugely popular beach holiday destination for families and couples.
Close to Point Danger, Coolangatta offers its resorts magnificent panoramic views and Kirra, Greenmount, Duranbah, Rainbow Bay and Snapper Rocks (home to the Quicksilver and Roxy Pro surfing competition). This beautiful destination inspires with its pristine sandy beaches, water sports, walking trails, parklands, botanical gardens, restaurants, shopping centres and quirky weekend markets. This location provides guests with plenty of activities to enjoy in a peaceful atmosphere with the Gold Coast, and all its added high octane benefits, just down the road.
Coolangatta has all the key ingredients for a perfect vacation, which explain why hotels and resorts find it such an appealing location.
Situated on arguably the most beautiful bay in the world, Coolangatta’s Rainbow Bay, is the 15 storey Rainbow Commodore Holiday Apartments. The complex boasts one of Queensland’s most alluring swimming beaches; it has 43 apartments, 29 in the letting pool, and these very spacious two bedroom two bathroom apartments are just a short stroll from the beach. Plus the resort is about a 500m walk to the Twin Towns Club, Centro Mall and main shopping district in Coolangatta.
Rainbow Commodore is an older style building; the fact that it was built in 1983 means that it has very large apartments, of the size that you no longer find in newer Gold Coast accommodation! They also have wondrous, sweeping views across the water and out to Surfer’s Paradise.
These apartments are well serviced with facilities such as a heated pool and spa, a half court tennis, a games room and even an in house library. Many guests return here year after year because it is such a special place for families and during the winter months Rainbow Commodore sees numerous couples return for longer periods of time to get away from the southern cold weather or chilly New Zealand.
Brian and Chris Heap purchased the management rights to Rainbow Commodore in April 2011. They are originally from Cobar a small mining town in far west New South Wales, where they both worked in administration for Cobar Mines. After some time, Brian moved to Cobar Shire Council where he took up a career in local government. While working for the Council they moved from town to town for a few years until they eventually settled in Forbes, Central New South Wales.
Chris explains, “This was a good move for us as our two boys attended Red Bend Catholic College where they completed their school years.”
Here, Brian was employed by Forbes Shire Council and Chris and worked with Westpac then with a local business in their accounting department. In 1999 they purchased the Ben Hall Motor Inn establishment in Forbes; a very run down, 29 room bed and breakfast motel, about which Chris says: “We really had our work cut out here, it was very hard work, seven days a week, 24 hours a day and we did this for seven years.”
The hard work was well worth it though as they are now very proud of their achievements. Chris continues, “We built this Motel from practically nothing up to a very nice 3½ star property.”
In 2007 they had an offer to buy the freehold of the motel, which they accepted and subsequently they moved to settle in Bilambil Heights. However, in 2011 they decided to buy another business and with the much appreciated assistance of their broker, Jake Clark from MA Sales and Tim O’Donnell from BOQ Burleigh Heads, they found Rainbow Commodore. When they purchased this property they were aware that it was an older property and they immediately recognised an incredible effort would be required on their part, to build the business up. Chris notes, “We thought, we have done this before and we had the confidence that we would be able to do it again.”
They were very happy and fortunate to find that the body corporate had full confidence in their ability to make a success of the property. Life is much easier, Chris explains, when you have the support of your body corporate. “Whenever we have mentioned that some improvement would be beneficial to the building the committee has always supported us and there have been a number of changes that have taken place.”
In this way, many refurbishments and improvements have taken place throughout the building; its lifts have been refurbished, manual entrance doors have been replaced with automatic doors, security system and cameras have been installed and new fire doors have been fixed to all units. They have even replaced all the signage and repainted the entrances and lobbies with lighter, fresher, more modern and welcoming tones.
In addition to all this, most of the units have had major renovations and are now not only presentable but impressive. Chris says, “In the two and a half years that we have been here we feel that we have the support and confidence of all owners and during this time we have increased the business substantially, which is of benefit to all parties.”
Once again, their hard work has certainly begun to pay off and already guests have been leaving glowing online reviews. Visitors most frequently praise the property’s superb location, incredible views, surprisingly spacious accommodation and friendly customer service. One TripAdvisor reviewer, “angela g” from Hervey Bay, even commented that, “The rooms were terrific and the view even better. We spent every morning watching humpbacks breaching from our balcony. The managers were so incredibly helpful and made us feel very welcome.” Another reviewer, “Ian M” from Adelaide, insisted, “We were very pleased with our stay here and will definitely return here next year. Great prices, very spacious and comfortable room. Owners were very helpful and did everything they could to make our stay enjoyable. Thank you Brian and Chris for a great stay and see you next winter.”
Rainbow Commodore is a great resort, positioned in an ideal location for a balance of excitement and relaxation on the Gold Coast. Its fabulous views and spacious apartments sell themselves and guarantee returning guests. The hard working, welcoming managers Brian and Chris Heap are adept at bringing life and soul back into tired resorts and with Rainbow Commodore, have cemented themselves a proven track record.
There is no stopping them… The ever-increasing level of success this resort attains only goes to show that hard work most certainly pays dividends.
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