Wollongong City Beach Motel family review

If you’re visiting Wollongong, here’s a centrally-located, solid family budget option – the City Beach Motel!

Wollongong City Beach is just 1 short block away from the City Beach Motel

We headed to Wollongong this week to attend an event being held at the WIN Entertainment Centre, located in Wollongong city-centre.

I only had a week’s notice to book my accommodation, and according to the usual hotel comparison websites there were no rooms available inside of twenty minutes drive of Wollongong. However experience had taught me that these websites are only allocated a certain number of rooms to sell, and so the actual hotels may still have have vacancies tucked away – it was time to start phoning around!

I Google-Map searched for hotels surrounding the Wollongong Entertainment Centre and started calling them – no luck, all full! The City Beach Motel, rated 3 stars, had been my final call, and I had left my phone number with them on the off-chance they might get a last-minute cancellation. Luck was finally on our side – the lovely staff called me back within an hour with a cancellation. We were finally accommodated – phew!

The City Beach Motel, Wollongong

Literally right across the road from the WIN Entertainment Centre and WIN Stadium and just one short block from the gorgeous Wollongong City Beach, location is they City Beach Motel’s major asset. It actually turned out to be perfect for our two-night Wollongong stay – mainly because it saved us hours of mucking around commuting and parking over the weekend. It is the only motel so close to the beach AND the WIN Entertainment Centre. There’s a great kid’s playground on the way to the beach too – both are just one short block (or two minute’s walk) away.

The Wollongong City Beach is a beautiful beach with white sand and big surf. The majestic Wollongong lighthouse located at one end and Port Kembla steel works a direct contrast in the distance at the other. It’s well worth the five-minute stroll to take in the gorgeous vistas.

On the day of our arrival at the City Beach Motel we were running quite late, but reception staff couldn’t have been more polite or welcoming. This excellent standard of service continued right throughout our stay. In no time at all we were parked under the building (no worries about finding parking at the Entertainment Centre for us tomorrow!) and provided with our room key and some milk for tea and coffee.

The room was large and clean with comfortable furniture

I assumed that with the City Beach Motel being a three-star motel, we would be staying in a tiny room with no cooking facilities, however when we entered our room I realised that this wasn’t to be the case at all.

The beds are comfortable and there’s plenty of hanging space

The room was large, and there was even a small kitchen complete with full oven/stove, microwave, bar fridge and toaster. There was crockery including plates, cups and glasses, plus cutlery. A hot water jug and tea-making accessories, including tea, coffee, sugar, milk and biscuits were all supplied.

Reassessing our weekend set-up, we dashed off to the supermarket (10 minutes walk) to stock up on a few breakfast items – now we didn’t need to go out and search for breakfast in the morning – we were set!

The City Beach Motel room kitchenette

The rooms at the City Beach Motel were a little dated, which given the price-point was to be expected, however they were also spotlessly clean and comfortable, and serviced our needs very well over the weekend.

There was a large flat screen tv, plenty of wardrobe hanging space, lighting, power points (for my six thousand charge cords) and a powerful reverse-cycle air conditioner – even this early in Spring it was certainly appreciated!

The bathroom was clean and serviceable, with a full-sized bath and a strong, hot shower. A range of complimentary toiletries were supplied too.

The bathroom is clean and serviceable with a good shower

As the City Beach Motel is located on a corner of a busy intersection in the Wollongong city centre, it was not without the expected traffic and pedestrian noise. That said, being Wollongong this wasn’t constant and it did quieten down later in the night – perhaps after 10/11pm. There was still the odd tyre-screeching episode a couple of times through the night.

The intersection became an attraction of sorts in our room – the kid’s favourite thing was to sit at the floor to ceiling window and watch the world go by, two floors down! All motel rooms at the City Beach Motel are located on the first or second floor, so up one or two flights of stairs. For this reason this motel wouldn’t suit anyone who may be in a wheel chair, or is significantly mobility-impaired.

For us, being on the 2nd floor did give me a feeling of us being more secure – plus we were surrounded by other families staying for the weekend. It was possibly a little quieter too.

At just *$155 for the three of us per night this motel was a real bargain (weekend rate – cheaper off-peak at around *$129), with the nearby large hotels charging *$450 per night.

It you are a beach-goer or attending an event at the WIN Wollongong Entertainment Centre or Wollongong Stadium and are on a budget, then the City Beach Motel is a solid option that will save you some cash, and time. I know I would book here again if we have another event at the entertainment centre – it’s just too convenient to pass up!

City Beach Motel useful info

Suits – budget conscious travellers / families

Parking – undercover parking
Stairs – no wheelchair access
Rating – three-star rating
Food – accommodation only – room service is currently unavailable

Beachfront/park – 2 minutes walk
Shopping/Woolworths supermarket – 10 minutes walk
Restaurants and cafe’s – 5 minutes walk
McDonald’s family restaurant – 5 minutes walk

*All prices are correct as at October 2015

Have you ever visited Wollongong, NSW? What did you enjoy doing there? Tell us in the comments below…