There are Sunshine Coast hotels lining the entire coast of the region from north to south, but the largest concentration of Sunshine Coast accommodations will be found clustered around the towns of Caloundra to the south and Marooochydore to the north and Noosa even further north. Most of these are on or quite close to the area’s many beaches. You have a number of choices for beach resorts in both places including around Mooloolaba Beach (in Maroochydore), one of the area’s most popular surfing beaches.

A substantial percentage of these resorts are beach rentals and self-catering apartments, as is true in almost all of the popular coastal regions in Australia. Nonetheless, this kind of lodging on the Sunshine Coast still provides many of the facilities you would normally expect of resorts. The Landmark Resort (pictured) is a good example. This four-star property offers a lovely tropical lagoon swimming pool, spa and sauna, fitness center, games and entertainment room, and a children’s play and pool area. The resort complex has a number of excellent dining spots and cafés that will provide in-room services, and there are plenty of boutiques and other shopping venues. The only difference between this kind of property and luxury Sunshine Coast hotels is that the “rooms” consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments, each with a full kitchen or studio type cooking facilities.

Most of these apartment-style properties also have tour desks that can assist you with sailing and scuba diving trips, tours to attractions like the world-famous Steve Irwin Australia Zoo, as well as excursions into the several nearby national parks. It is difficult to find true luxury hotels in this area, but the apartment-style Sunshine Coast accommodations do offer most of the services and amenities of typical hotels. What Australians normally mean by “self-catering” is that you can cook for yourself, and you take care of making the beds, although you can generally pay an additional fee for daily housekeeping.

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If you want your lodging on the Sunshine Coast to be more like traditional luxury hotels, you might look at the Novotel Twin Waters on its own stretch of private beach in Maroochydore and with the Maroochy River on one side. North of this, on Coolum Beach, is the beautiful Hyatt Regency, set almost on the border of Noosa National Park. Families with children will appreciate the proximity to the Australia Zoo as well as the property’s Camp Hyatt for Kids. The Sheraton Noosa Head provides lodging on the Sunshine Coast at the region’s most northern point—Noosa Heads. All three of these Sunshine Coast hotels are five-star properties, with the Sheraton being the most extensive and luxurious of the resort complexes. This little community has both north and east facing beaches. The north-facing beaches are wonderful for families with children and those learning to surf because the waters are calmer. The east-facing beaches are great for experienced surfers.

If you want Sunshine Coast accommodations that are a bit more unique, you might try the Apollonian Hotel in Boreen Point. While only a few miles inland from the ocean, this unusual property is set in the bush and provides a bit of the atmosphere of an outback station ranch. The pub is one of the most famous in the region, offering everything from crocodile to a full scale Sunday pig and beef bush barbie (barbecue). This is actually a pub and restaurant that is full of the history of the original hardy bush settlers, ranchers, and gold miners. But there is accommodation here in bunkhouses, just like the old roadhouses of United States during the 1940s and 50s that had little cabins in the back. What is meant by “hotel” in the hinterland of Australia is often a roadhouse inn with rooms above the bar or bunkhouse in the back. The historic Appollonian itself dates to 1879.