Which BNE Airport Hotel?

[garybatz]

Hi Brains Trust,

In July my sister is landing in Brisbane from an overnight flight from Doha. She will overnight at one of the airport hotels before heading down to the Gold Coast the next morning on the train from the airport.

I've looked at the three closest options (Ibis, Pullman, Novotel) and it's not obvious to me which one would be the most convenient. The main considerations are not to have to schlep her bags around too much and having a room that is clean and comfortable (basic is fine). The prices for each are all within her budget.

Does anyone have any advice/recommendations from experience?

Many thanks.

 

[The Flying Schwartz]

For what it's worth, we haven't stayed at any of them but have booked the Ibis for our overnight stay prior to departing for Europe the next morning. I chose it because it seems to be the most convenient to the domestic terminal, from there you can get the train to/from the international pretty easy. At both the domestic and the international (it's the same line) you have good access to the train network into Brisbane and beyond. Hope it helps

 

[Human]

I've only ever stayed at the Ibis. I was very happy with my stay there. The rooms are small and basic, but quiet, clean and modern. The bed was comfortable. I had a nice view of the airport. The restaurant is likewise pretty good. It's a convenient location and the staff were friendly and helpful. It's probably the best Ibis I've stayed at -- almost the quality of an Ibis Styles. However, like every Ibis I've stayed at, there's no armchair or couch in the room, just a small desk and chair.

If money were no object then of course I'd choose the Pullman or Novotel over an Ibis. But for an overnight stay, the Ibis is perfectly fine and I'd happily stay there again, especially if the price is right.

 

[henrus]

I've looked at the three closest options (Ibis, Pullman, Novotel) and it's not obvious to me which one would be the most convenient. The main considerations are not to have to schlep her bags around too much and having a room that is clean and comfortable (basic is fine). The prices for each are all within her budget.

There is no hotel attached to the international terminal where they'd arrive from Doha.

Ibis and Pullman are basically two hotels in the same building (ok not quite they're two separate towers but very close) but both are an identical and well signed walk from the domestic terminal. The Pullman is the nicer "5 Star" one so that'd be the best pick if they can get it. BNE operates a terminal transfer bus (for free) until 1:30am so it's as simple as walking out of international arrivals and getting on the transfer bus, and once dropped of at domestic it's a short 450m walk from the bus stop at the domestic terminal. Whilst the hotel do have a shuttle bus it's $8 per person and only operates in the mornings (3am-9am) so not useful in this case.

The Ibis/Pullman actually have a video showing the walking route, at the 20 sec mark is about the location where the transfer bus from international will drop off. You can catch the train between terminals but it's less frequent and also costs $5.

The Novotel however is located near the DFO so would require a shuttle bus from the international terminal to the hotel and then another shuttle bus back in the morning. For this reason and the hassle of getting over there and back to the airport I'd say it's not worth it, I've done these busses before and it's not fun with bags.

Personally I'd actually avoid all three airport hotels (none are that amazing) and head directly to the city. The Doha flight lands around 5pm where there are still very frequent trains every 15 mins until 6pm (then every 30mins) into the City, this only takes 20 minutes (the process to get on the bus and drive/walk to the domestic hotels is likely to also take this long). Get off the train at central station and stay at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, it's located directly above central station, and from the platform you can take a lift to the concourse then another lift outside the ticket gates to the Sofitel lobby. It's a similar price to the airport hotels plus in the morning you can catch the same lift back down into the train station and then a train directly to the gold coast.

 

[jase05]

Pullman is easily the better hotel and our preference if only a short overnight stay but if we have a slightly longer stay we prefer the Novotel thanks to its location right across the road from the DFO shopping centre

 

[gaz0303]

Personally I'd actually avoid all three airport hotels (none are that amazing) and head directly to the city. The Doha flight lands around 5pm where there are still very frequent trains every 15 mins until 6pm (then every 30mins) into the City, this only takes 20 minutes (the process to get on the bus and drive/walk to the domestic hotels is likely to also take this long). Get off the train at central station and stay at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, it's located directly above central station, and from the platform you can take a lift to the concourse then another lift outside the ticket gates to the Sofitel lobby. It's a similar price to the airport hotels plus in the morning you can catch the same lift back down into the train station and then a train directly to the gold coast.

This! Other hotels about the area for all budgets.

 

[garybatz]

Thanks for all of the replies, lots of helpful information there

 

[Scash]

As pointed out you would need to shuttle / taxi / uber to any of the abovementioned hotels. We have stayed at the Brisbane Airport Ibis an number of times and found it to be very good. The rooms are clean, modern and quiet and I've always had a good sleep. It's also quite a bit cheaper than the Pullman. Only down side is limited eating options. If you stay at the Ibis it's only a short walk to the Airtrain station at the domestic terminal.

 

[pippen_2k]

For anyone with a Latitude 28 degrees card you can book Brisbane Airport Ibis with breakfast and refundable for $234.00 a night with the current deal.

 

[RooFlyer]

I appreciate this is too late for the OP, but as the thread has just been revived, my experience about a month ago arriving late into BNEi (landed about 10:30pm).

The Novotel however is located near the DFO so would require a shuttle bus from the international terminal to the hotel and then another shuttle bus back in the morning. For this reason and the hassle of getting over there and back to the airport I'd say it's not worth it, I've done these busses before and it's not fun with bags.

Agree. I researched convenient hotels to crash at before moving to my niece's place in the 'burbs next morning. None of the Accor places appealed - none had a shuttle (impractical to walk to the Ibis/Pullman from International late at night, with bags), not even Novotel, at that hour.

I decided to UBER to the HIX downtown.