[This is my 2nd review. The first one, which took me an hour to write, was irretrievable after I pressed ‘Submit’ and was faced with a site maintenance page saying I couldn’t upload anything for a short while, and I couldn’t go back to save what I wrote. Lesson learnt: for less heartache, write long reviews in Word then cut-and-paste into review text box.]

I booked this 3-bedroom apartment from Mariners website after seeing it on lastminute.com.au. I went for a weekend with my wife and 2 boys (5yo & 11-month-old) and my spritely 80yo parents.

Mariners Resort is a short walk from King’s Beach with its large public swimming pool, children’s play areas and BBQs, and a minute’s drive (or several minutes’ walk over hilly terrain) to many good quality restaurants and cafes on and around The Esplanade and Bulcock St. We recommend Alfie's Mooo Char & Bar and Tides Waterfront Dining.

First, some basic geography of Mariners for when you arrive. The reception entrance on the 1st floor faces Saltair St, while the underground (basement) car park entry for some apartments (including ours) is on Arthur St, one street south of and parallel to Saltair. Go to the reception first (for the initial entry, you will be let in by the courteous reception staff) and get your electronic tag with key. The tag is needed to get into the car park as well as into the reception entrance and the lifts (you must beep first before pressing your floor).

Apartment 22 is one of only two apartments on the 5th floor, easily accessed by lift. It has a master bedroom with a queen bed and ensuite, and shares a large oceanview verandah with the lounge area. In the middle of the apartment sits the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen has a large, high quality fridge, dishwasher, and all the pots, crockery, cutlery and cups you could need. Unfortunately our insinkerator was blocked by a previous tenant, but the helpful lady from reception attended to the matter promptly and efficiently.

Behind the kitchen was an enclosed area for the washing machine and dryer. Opposite this area were the other two bedrooms, one with a queen bed and the other with twin singles (I could feel my springs which also made for a squeaky sleep, but the others seemed to sleep ok), and the 1.5 bathrooms. These 2 bedrooms opened onto another large verandah, which had a clothesline down one end. All the rooms were clean and well kept. We really appreciated the aircons. There are widescreen LCD TVs in the lounge and master bedrooms, and a DVD player which had to be operated by the buttons on the front rather than remote control.

Mariners have a cosy pool in which we happily splashed around; there are also 2 BBQs in that area. We didn’t have time to try the gym and sauna.

Overall, we would probably consider staying at Mariners again the next time we’re in Caloundra.