Behind the scenes at our girl’s weekend in Broadbeach, Gold Coast

By Ash

Ladies, are you in need of a girls’ weekend away? I’m looking at all you busy women out there! Of course the answer is yes, and before you start listing the reasons why it can’t happen, let me drop some facts on you.

Many studies have now come out singing the virtues of a ‘girls getaway’. It’s all about dropping the guilt, leaving behind your long list of responsibilities, picking up your besties, and enjoying yourself! This not only benefits you, but everyone around you because they get a refreshed you when you return.

So, if you are planning a girls’ weekend or are in desperate NEED of one, I have a recommendation for you that’s the business. Head to Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. Bars, shopping, restaurants, Pacific Fair and one amazing beach at your fingertips. You literally park your car as you arrive and you’ll only see it at the end of the weekend when you leave again. I did it, it was awesome, let me show you how we did it from start to finish.

Accommodation

On Friday, we checked in to Peppers Broadbeach - https://www.peppers.com.au/broadbeach/.

This place was luuuush. Three-bedroom luxury accommodation, really spacious, three ensuites (two with baths) and floor to ceiling glass throughout with panoramic views of the Gold Coast and Hinterland, a well-equipped kitchen with Miele appliances (if you plan on cooking), a generous balcony, and aircon.

The hotel itself had great facilities: two pools, zen gardens, spa, sauna, steam room, and parking. Base camp was sorted.

Friday lunch

Pan Asian yumminess in gorgeous surroundings. This was all about celebrating in style that we’d made it out of the house with a change of clean underwear and a toothbrush, and no-one to take care of but ourselves. We got to experience all that carefree wining and dining we keep seeing on our social media feeds!

Mamasan - https://www.mamasanbroadbeach.com/

Settle into hotel

The pure, undiluted joy we felt at being in clean accommodation where we don’t have to tidy up was tangible. Sprawling out on crumb-free couches, enjoying our views, drinks and nibbles with friends… it was perfection

Bars and dinner

Then it was time for fun. You can’t help but smile when you go into Aloha! Head down an alleyway and spot the fluro pineapple! We loved the Hawaiian Tropicana inspired décor, drinks served in tiki-themed tumblers or hollowed-out pineapples, and the eclectic upbeat tunes; it was just what we needed to get the night started with lots of laughs and colourful cocktails.

We finished the night off with a night cap at The Loose Moose – with a name like that what’s not to love?

Aloha - https://www.alohabaranddining.com.au/

The Loose Moose - https://www.theloosemoose.com.au/

Saturday breakfast

Emerging from our woman cave on Saturday morning was actually not as tragic as you might think! I think we were just so buzzed with having a lie in in a beautiful location and looking forward to having someone else cook us breakfast. We ended up in Elk which is a lovely café across from the beach, and all our breakfast fantasies were realised! Delish iced vovo waffles, breakfast burgers, fancy fruit salads, and excellent coffee!

Elk – https://elkespresso.net/

Beach

Eventually we made it to the beach, and it was like something magical had happened to the time. It not only slowed down but it got… lighter? It just felt less heavy, less pushy. We swam, chatted, and managed to lay back and relax without a worry in the world. No demands, screaming or grizzling (if you know what we mean?) and for the first time in years I managed to keep large amounts of the beach off my towel ;).

Pool

Not yet satisfied with our lounging time, we went back to the hotel and hit the pool. Truth be told, we mostly just sat in our recliners (in our Lilly & Lime swimsuits!) and enjoyed more chats and read trashy magazines. I’d forgotten how fun it is to just talk with my friends while floating in a pool – it was pretty awesome lets just put it that way!

Saturday lunch

Here’s where the real decadence kicked in. We picked up a good ol’ Woollies chook, made a lovely salad, and drank rosé back in our apartment. Full disclosure: we then watched an episode of the Bachelorette and painted our nails while drinking more rosé – it was after all a girls weekend, right?

My rosé recommendations:

Bird in Hand Rosé – http://www.birdinhand.com.au/2018-bird-in-hand-pinot-rose.html
Follow these guys on Instagram, their feed is drool-worthy! https://www.instagram.com/birdinhandwine/

La Boheme Pino Noir Rosé – http://www.debortoli.com.au/we-love-wine/discover-our-wines/la-boheme/

Drinks

The Island – https://www.theislandgoldcoast.com.au/tag/rooftop-bar/

The evening was approaching and in true girls weekend style we got dressed up, curled our hair, did our make up and called an uber…to The Island. This place was epic. The décor was amazing, music was pumping and the drinks were flowing. We did what we do best…sat, drank, chatted and got louder by the minute until eventually…we took our after party back to the apartment where, yes of course, we stayed up dancing and singing until 4am.

Sunday breakfast

Ok, I’m not going to lie, this was a little bit slow mo. Definitely more of a brunch, but hell, it’s Sunday, we were in no rush to get back to our normal lives even if we were feeling a little bit crusty! We need breakfast and coffee stat – something had to ease our hangovers. We headed to No Name Lane and it was impressive! Panacotta with watermelon, peaches ‘n cream buckwheat hotcake stack, golden potato hash, and iced coffees all round. Do we have to go home, mum???

No Name Lane - https://www.facebook.com/nonamelanebroadbeach/

Beach

A swim can cure a late night in a second so we hit the beach for one last session. The water was perfect and did just the trick. We were doing our best to delay the inevitable trip home so we lay in the sun and had one last smoothie before we hit the road home back to our babies ;)

Broadbeach, we thank you

Sometimes it’s not until you do something for yourself that you realise how badly you needed it. We all agreed that as much as we thought we needed this girls’ weekend, it wasn’t until we got to the Gold Coast that we understood how wound up and frazzled we were. Being on call 24/7 with our families had taken the bounce from our bungy, and we got some of it back by getting some distance from them. It’s nothing to feel guilty about! It was joyful, restful, and blissful, and we deserved it.

I hope this has inspired you to plan your own girls’ getaway, so grab your gals, grab your Lilly & Limes, and get some fun into you!