The Sebel Twin Waters

Twin Waters is very well positioned on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. It is located just north of the mouth of the Maroochy River - in other words, just north of the popular Mooloolaba - Alexandra Headlands - Maroochydore strip. And from Twin Waters you can drive north to Mudjimba, Marcoola and all the way north along the coastal drive to Sunshine Beach and then across to Noosa. The Sunshine Coast airport is also quite close. The Sebel Twin Waters is located a short walk (along a pleasant path and a bridge across a man made lake) from the Novotel Twin Waters, and Sebel guests can use all their facilities. The Novotel is a far bigger and more spread out hotel than the Sebel, with a definite family/ resort style vibe. The Novotel has a pool bar, a restaurant serving a buffet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings (and every night during school holidays) and a very small deli selling a limited range of food and drinks. The Sebel by contrast seemed quieter and more relaxed, and consists of a series of apartments and beach houses. Many seem to be privately owned and occupied by permanent residents, and others - like the one we stayed in - are holiday rented. We stayed in a 3 bedroom beach house with a pool. It was a good layout for a group of friends with lots of separate spaces for people to relax. We particularly enjoyed the private pool in our beach house (although not every beach house had one of these, we noticed) and the pleasant outlook over quite a large expanse of trees and mangroves towards the Maroochy River to Maroochydore in the distance beyond. The beach house was a little tired in places but overall we thought it was good value particularly when we spilt the cost three ways for the 6 people - 3 groups of friends - we had staying. There are no restaurants or places to purchase food or drinks on site at the Sebel, so you either need to walk across to the Novotel for every meal or self cater. However, it’s only a short drive into the small Twin Waters shopping complex, where you will find a Foodworks grocery store, a cafe and restaurant, and a pharmacy. And it’s only about a 10 minute drive inland to the town of Bli Bli which has a much larger supermarket and lots of shops.

Initially I thought that these apartments were quite good. They are very spacious and well located but then I started to see where they had not been maintained. On top of a LOT of wear and tear we then found a major mould problem above the dining room table. Then went to put some stuff in the bin and found a major maggot infestation. Blinds were tattered. The view out the kitchen window was some rusting old satellite dish. The basin in the bathroom was loose. Drain pipes were rusted through making it impossible to leave the apartment when it was raining without getting soaked. (see photos). Problems started at check in. Demanded an extra payment despite everything having been paid in full. Tried to claim it was a booking on ******* which they hadn’t received payment from. Had to get the travel agent American Express involved to reverse it. They refused to record my Accor membership against the booking, despite the fact that I wasn’t expecting any points as it was an external booking. Definitely not the standard that I would expect from an Accor property. Probably should have read the other reviews before booking as it would seem this experience is quite common.

This place is a real disappointment. Not only is it old, dated and falling apart, but it’s also dirty (spider webs, cockroaches etc). I do a lot of travel for work and personally, and always stay in 4-5 star resorts & hotels. Expected better for Sebel branded resort. Very disappointing and would recommend you book elsewhere. Sebel should remove their branding if not ensuring properties meet a certain standard. It’s that bad I’m actually looking forward to heading home & would do so if it wasn’t for the rest of our family meeting here for our annual holiday. Embarrassing as I’m the one who recommended it to everyone (currently 5 plus apartments booked in here at the moment).

Fantastic couple of weeks at the Sebel Twin Waters. We had a wonderful fully equipped apartment overlooking the lagoon that had everything we needed. Good beach access the road. Great location but you need a car for an extended stay. We would stay again.

We enjoyed three lovely nights here. We had a 2 bedroom apartment overlooking the lake. The setting was beautiful and the apartment was spacious, clean and all requirements för our stay. There is a pool on the Sebel site and a pleasant walk across to the pool, bar and facilities at the novotel on the other side of the lake

Stayed in a two bedroom unit for a few days over Easter. Great stay facilities and location second to none with beach two minutes away and use of Novotel food and beverage offerings a huge plus. Resort pools are clean and more than one to choose from if needed. Unit was a little tired. There were a few broken items, but these were minor, and the overall unit was clean and comfortable for family. Underground parking and BBQ on the balcony were also bonuses. Will be back.