Where to find the coolest retro motels in Queensland

Pick a region: Brisbane | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | Cairns & Great Barrier Reef | Southern Great Barrier Reef | Outback Queensland

Splashed with bold colours and eclectic furnishings, retro motels open doors to bygone eras. Some even manage to cling to outdated price tags, providing rather affordable digs despite their often-lavish amenities.

The style resurgence flourishes in Queensland where quintessential beach holiday vibes glisten brighter than other Australian states. From extraordinary outback icons to water-fronting sanctuaries, there’s a charming, and cheap, motel around every corner.

Let us map out your options.        

Feature image: The Mysa Motel, Gold Coast

Retro motels in and around Brisbane

Kingsford Smith Motel, Hamilton

You’ll spot the retro sign with a four-star rating and ’24 Hour Check In’ notice a mile away. A blast-from-the-past stay in Hamilton, the Kingsford Smith Motel has been beautifully renovated with a new extension added over the years. But the retro vibes remain strong thanks to the half-kidney-shaped pool flushed with terracotta-hued tiles to the side of the property, and a vintage reception window at the check-in desk.     

Coopers Colonial Motel, Acacia Ridge

Located in south Brisbane, this motel has been elegantly refurbished without sacrificing its vintage charms. From the neon signs you’ll spot at reception to the colonial brick architecture you’ll spy throughout, it’s a sophisticated spin on nostalgia within a short drive from supermarkets, shops, the Archerfield Airport and a string of sporting facilities. 

Park Motor Inn, Toowoomba

One of the plushest retro motels in Toowoomba, Park Motor Inn is fitted with ultra-luxe King Koil beds, custom designed for the motel. But while the extravagant feature guarantees a restful night’s sleep, there’s ample old-school delight in the motel’s carpark-adjacent swimming pool, just-off-the-highway location and nostalgic interiors.

Located in the always buzzing Mermaid Beach, right off the Gold Coast Highway in central Gold Coast, the Blue Heron Boutique Motel is a family-run spot with plenty to adore. From the jellybean-shaped pool freckled with vintage-printed umbrellas to the original retro font that emblazes the motel’s logo on its façade, it’s a wonderfully restored ode to holiday memories of yesteryear.  

La Costa Motel, Bilinga

Paying tribute to the classic beach shacks you’ve probably only seen in your parents’ photo albums, La Costa Motel in Bilinga is a total head-spin at first glance. Its seafoam-green façade is Instagram-perfected, jazzed further with scattered flamingos, pastel cruiser bikes and vintage umbrellas. Even better, you’re a ten-minute walk from Gold Coast Airport so getting to your temporary digs is a cinch.

The Cheshire Cat, Palm Beach

What was once a 1960’s motel off the Gold Coast Highway is now a boutique Queensland holiday highlight that’s dripping in retro finishes. One of the best new places to stay on the Gold Coast, the motel is inspired by Palm Springs in the 1970’s — think shagadelic, disco-inspired furnishings, a neon-lit street sign, vintage surf boards and walls dressed in era-appropriate prints.   

The Pink Hotel Coolangatta, Coolangatta

A little bit Palm Springs and a whole lot of rock and roll, The Pink Hotel Coolangatta is a retro motel with a twist. 50 shades of pink run throughout the entire building, which overlooks Coolangatta’s main beach, while record players, excellent vinyl collections, velvet furnishings and big-impact murals send you all the way back to the free-loving 1960s and 1970s.

Tessa’s on the Beach, Bilinga

Delivering one of the most epic retro throwbacks on the Gold Coast, Tessa’s on the Beach does the job with a healthy pinch of contemporary cool. Paying homage to Palm Springs’ heyday era, there’s a central swimming pool with vintage deck chairs, retro-print feature walls, cruiser bikes to loan and immaculate room interiors to help light up every selfie.   

Those 1960s Palm Springs feels are thriving at Loea Boutique Hotel in the Sunshine Coast’s Maroochydore, while a chic reimagining brings it into the now. Think a curvaceous swimming pool teamed with vintage umbrellas and sun lounges, single-story accommodation centred around a carpark, cruiser bikes and a vintage truck whizzing up your morning coffee.

Motel Caloundra, Caloundra

Just a stone’s throw from Caloundra’s beautiful Bulcock Beach, Motel Caloundra is a slick retro stay that celebrates its vintage bones. Two levels of exceptionally styled rooms overlook a central carpark, cementing its motel status despite all the glamour going on. Furthermore, it’s the region’s first net-zero energy accommodation, so it’s doing its bit to save the planet (as well as your well-earned pennies).

A retro jewel in Cooktown’s crown, The Seaview Cooktown is a beautifully restored motel offering the region’s only waterfront accommodation. While every room provides glistening views of the Endeavour River, there’s also plenty of nostalgia to soak up. From the plastic outdoor settings and fringed umbrellas to the pop colour doors and lattice fencing, it’s an extremely stylish step back in time.    

Port Douglas Motel, Cairns

Dialling up the energy in chilled-out Cairns, the Port Douglas Motel is a retro stay originally built in the 1970s. It’s been refurbished over the years, but you’ll still find excessively kitsch, pop colour interiors, cruiser bikes and a kidney-shaped pool to help transport you back in time.  

Motel Nomad, Cairns

Inspired by the era of roadside motels while embracing its current subtropical surroundings, Motel Nomad is a slick retro stay with all the bells and whistles. Think a lagoon-style pool, vintage print interiors, changeable letter signs and a communal laundromat paired with ultra-comfy bedding and contemporary furniture.  

Rocking the Capricorn Coast’s beach town of Yeppoon since 1958, Surfside Motel Yeppoon has been lovingly renovated in recent years. What stands now in its retro old shell is a coastal-cool ground-floor haven. While a solid colour scheme of white-on-white delivers an air of sophistication, cruiser bikes, communal picnic and barbecue facilities and vintage umbrellas keep the nostalgia alive.

Rocky Gardens Motor Inn, Rockhampton

Just one glimpse of this motel’s brightly decorated street signage sets the tone. Rocky Gardens Motor Inn, one of the most retro motels in Rockhampton, is a total time wrap, complete with an on-site diner-style restaurant serving up the likes of prawn cocktails, homemade rissoles and crumbed steak. There’s also a gated swimming pool and barbecue facilities to be seized. 

Motels in Outback Queensland

The Birdsville Hotel, Birdsville

Ready for some brain-bending time travel? Located in Outback Queensland’s Birdsville, right on the edge of the Simpson Desert, is The Birdsville Hotel — the state’s most western pub and accommodation. Built in 1884, the retro motel has seen plenty of refurbished love over the decades, but you’ll spy a string of ground-floor units very much embracing the ancient bones that house them. 

Thargomindah Oasis Motel, Thargomindah

A gated jellybean-shaped swimming pool, shared timber patios and eclectic old-school furnishings — Thargomindah Oasis Motel is a retro masterpiece in the heart of Thargomindah. While the rooms are tidy and comfortable, nostalgic artworks and vintage timber furniture ensure it remains firmly fixed somewhere down memory lane.   

Finnigan’s Rest, Forsayth

A landmark stop along the Savannah Way, Finnigan’s Rest is Forsayth’s only accommodation. Adjoined to The Goldfields Hotel which supplies pub grub and cold ones to visitors and 75 local Forsayth residents (yep, you read that correctly), the retro digs are an integral part of this one-stop-shop attraction. You’ll need to see it to believe how spectacularly frozen in time this part of Australia truly is.    

Discover more of Queensland’s hotels and motels here.