The first thing to take notice of is that the City of the Gold Coast is made up of several suburbs, mostly positioned along the coastline and some spreading inland to whats called the Hinterland region.

So there's a choice of being near to the ocean and beach, some that are inland in amongst surburbia, and some in amongst the natural settings of rain forests. So, if your looking for serenity, or a green eco-holiday look towards the Hinterland area and if your trying to save some bucks the inland places maybe a little cheaper.

The bulk of accommodation options are located along the coastline, if your looking for somewhere very close to the beach check the suburbs of Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Miami, Burleigh Heads, Tugun, and Coolangatta. The last four of those suburbs will probably offer the cheapest accommodation next to the beach.

Also consider how close would like to be to all the nightlife. Surfers Paradise is the center of all the action being packed with clubs and bars. Theres also a casino and a couple of nightclubs at Broadbeach. If you want to go out every night then one of those suburbs would be my choice. It can be tough to get taxis late at night (or early morning!) on the Gold Coast.

If your looking for something out of the way and a little more exclusive check out Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove. They also have golf courses. Theres more golf resorts located in and between the suburbs of Parkwood and Robina.

Once you have a rough idea of the suburb thats going to best suit your style of holiday then you can go about finding the best deal. Gold Coast accommodation isnt renowned for being cheap, but if you hunt around and plan ahead great deals can be found.

As you'd expect prices go up during peak periods such as school holidays and during major events such as the GC600, formerly the Indy Carnival, although prices for accommodation during the four day car racing event have come down dramatically in recent years prices for a place next to the track can be much higher than normal rack rates.

Budget accommodation on the Gold Coast will start around 60AUD and mid-range places close to the beach will go for between 90 to 160AUD. Many of the discount accommodation brokers such as hotelclub and roamfree can provide rates well below normal rack rates see goldcoastinfo.net for a full list of discount accommodation brokerages, also check wotif.com.

It also worth noting that a lot of the accommodation on the Gold Coast is self-contained apartment style, most having kitchens and fridges. The buildings themselves are resort style with many featuring pools, spas, gyms and more. There are actually only a handful of hotels in the region mostly located around Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.