HOTEL REVIEW - Accor Hotels - IBIS Mackay Hotel - Mackay Airport

An awesomely convenient hotel for travellers and aviation enthusiasts alike has opened in Central Queensland with Accor Hotels launching the IBIS Mackay Hotel at Mackay Airport - and I couldn't wait to give it a try!

The IBIS Mackay Hotel is a mere four minute walk from the Mackay Airport terminal and offers a premium experience with comfort and convenience at an economy price.  Despite being located beside the Mackay Airport terminal, each window is double glazed and core filled block walls ensure rooms are very quiet.

The Hotel also has a 24-hour reception and friendly team members, all at a reasonable price.

The IBIS Mackay Hotel advertises that every room features 'IBIS Sweet Beds' - they have a multi-density mattress and 7cm topper to ensure comfort.  Top floor rooms offer a mix of Queen and King bed configurations - our room on the Northern side of the top floor was a King room.

The view out of the room was over the Mackay Airport carpark, terminal building, Northern parking apron, Western General Aviation Apron (WGA) and further to the runway and Eastern side of the Airport.  There are also nice views towards the Mackay CBD.

Queen rooms on the top floor with a Southern view have more limited views towards Paget and further to the coal loading terminals at Hay Point.

The hallway on the top floor also has a nice view window with more views over Mackay Airport terminal building, parking apron and runway.

For guests, rooms have an in-room safe, and tea and coffee making facilities, plus there is complimentary car parking, complimentary WiFi, a fully equipped gymnasium and modern restaurant/tavern named 'TurBARlence' which offers gastro pub food and craft beverage offerings with a great outdoor beer garden.  'TurBARlence' is also open during the week for all-day dining and coffees.

We really enjoyed staying here - I especially enjoyed the plane spotting opportunities from the conveniently located hotel - and my wife enjoyed the comfort of the 'Sweet Bed'.

HOTEL REVIEW - Accor Hotels - The Mercure Townsville

The Mercure Townsville is a resort style hotel located on Woolcock Street, and is close to Townsville city and 2km from Townsville Airport. It is positioned beside a large lake, amidst 11 acres of lush tropical gardens. The hotel offers 144 rooms, with views across the lake or pool or through the gardens. The Mercure Townsville boasts the largest hotel freeform swimming pool in Townsville, with a spa and an area for children, as well as tennis courts, a newly refurbished restaurant and conference facilities. The Mercure Townsville is an Accor Hotel.


The hotel is not to be confused with the Grand Mercure Apartments which is near the Townsville Harbour. The Mercure features a large, open-air check-in area, with Internet café, and the restaurant and bar nearby.


I was to stay at The Mercure Townsville for cricket - I flew up to Townsville with Virgin Australia - you can read a TRIP REPORT HERE! I was one of three umpires that were part of a group of around 50 people. For two of the nights, I was in a triple-share room which featured a queen bed and two single beds - so essentially this was a family room.




The room was quite nice and well-appointed with a large screen plasma television with a large good selection of complimentary pay-television and commercial television channels, as well as in-house movies.

There is also tea and coffee making facilities, as well as a mini-bar. There is also a microwave in the room and a sink. The bathroom is quite nice and spacious with a large walk-in shower.


Outside the ‘rear’ of the room is an outdoor sitting area that overlooks the lake that backs onto the hotel. This area is quite nice and it is certainly relaxing to sit in this area and enjoy a quite beer after a hard days umpiring! The upstairs rooms in the blocks feature balconies that also overlook the lagoon.

The restaurant looks nice - we only had a buffet breakfast each day - and this was a fantastic spread - and the bar was open most times with plenty of motel guests noted enjoying a drink and watching the televisions at the bar. As would be expected, prices did seem a little expensive.

As mentioned, the hotel features a large pool area - also very attractive - and the rooms at the hotel are structured in 'blocks' of two storeys of rooms with about 30 or so rooms in each block.


Outside the hotel, there is a large carpark and a tennis court, which during my visit was still being repaired following the damage inflicted by cyclone Yasi earlier in the year.

Also outside, fast-food outlets and a restaurant are within walking distance of the hotel, along with convenience shops and other specialty shops.

For the final night at the hotel I was in a standard room with one queen bed. It was a smaller room, however it was still well appointed with facilities comparable with the family room talked about above.





The Mercure is a little more expensive than most other places in Townsville, but in my opinion, this little bit extra is well worth it! A very well appointed room and very friendly and professional service made my stay thoroughly enjoyable. In future I will certainly be looking at staying at the Mercure Townsville again!

UPDATED HOTEL REVIEW – Accor Hotels Formule One Hotel – Sydney Airport

This recent plane spotting trip was for a weekend - 2 nights all up - unfortunately it came with a lot of bad weather in Sydney. I flew with Virgin Blue and a Trip Report can be found HERE.

I again stayed near the Airport at the Formula 1 Hotel (read a previous Review HERE), and again requested a room on the 6th floor. I was given room 632 - which is in the new wing of the hotel - and at the end of the corridor which has the large window that overlooks the NSW Air Ambulance and the General Aviation apron as shown below.

The room itself didn't have the best views of the airport due to the fire escape staircase being right outside and next to this room - this was disappointing. I could only see the GA Apron - as can be seen in the picture below - and the nearby fast food outlets.

I am thinking that Room 633 which is opposite 632 could be a much better room where a lot more action would be seen.

The hotel was very busy during this weekend stay - the reception desk is open 24-hours a day - and from what I could see and experienced, the staff were very patient and handled everyone (including me) in a very friendly and helpful way.

Facilities at the Hotel are basic – it is officially a 2-star hotel – and their market is for transit passengers who need a bed for a day or a night. The room is small – mine is pictured below – this room features only double bed with a closet style bathroom/toilet, which unfortunately floods when guests take showers. There is also a small TV and desk and chair. The windows are double glazed and keep out the aircraft noise! On-site parking is available for a fee.

Breakfast is available daily in a sitting area on the ground floor of the hotel, and vending machines also provide ample selection of food and drinks for other times of the day. There are also nearby fast food outlets which also offer in-store free wireless internet connections!

Overall, for the enthusiast, this hotel is perfect for a one or two night stay, at most. For a longer stay near the airport, there are other airport hotels nearby that range from three-star to five-star. These offer better facilities, and some enthusiasts report that views of the airport are comparable to the Formula One Hotel.

HOTEL REVIEW – Accor Hotels Formule One Hotel – Sydney Airport

During a couple of recent plane spotting trips to Sydney, my wife and I stayed at Formula One Hotel which is located at Sydney Airport. During our most recent trip in June 2010, we requested and were given a room on the top level (six) of the building, and overlooking the Airport.

Incidentally, we flew with Virgin Blue, and a Trip Report can be found HERE.

The hotel staff have always been very friendly and understanding of this request – they indicated to me that they do have a lot of enthusiasts as guests. Incidentally, the reception is open 24 hours a day.

The hotel itself has always had good views over the General Aviation area of the airport, but these have been enhanced with the recent opening the hotel’s new accommodation wing. Several new rooms were added – and the walkway to the end of the Southern end of the rooms now provides even better views over the corporate jet parking area of the GA apron – see photo below.


There are also distant views over to the main Runway 16R/34L, and fantastic views of all aircraft and departing from the smaller parallel runway 16L/34R.

Facilities at the Hotel are basic – it is officially a 2-star hotel – and their market is for transit passengers who need a bed for a day or a night. The room is small – ours is pictured below – double bed and bunk bed with a closet style bathroom/toilet, which unfortunately floods when guests take showers. There is also a small TV and desk and chair. The windows are double glazed and keep out the aircraft noise!


On-site parking is available for a fee.

Breakfast is available daily in a sitting area on the ground floor of the hotel, and vending machines also provide ample selection of food and drinks for other times of the day. There are also nearby fast food outlets which also offer in-store free wireless internet connections!

Overall, for the enthusiast, this hotel is perfect for a one or two night stay, at most. For a longer stay near the airport, there are other airport hotels nearby that range from three-star to five-star. These offer better facilities, and some enthusiasts report that views of the airport are comparable to the Formula One.