Jupiters Townsville Hotel and Casino, Townsville

By happenstance, I've now traveled to Townsville three times and have so enjoyed Jupiter's Resort and the entire staff that I feel as if it's my home away from home - or wish it were! We've even stayed in the same room each time and it's fun to see what changes have occurred since last there, since it shows how much Jupiter's is always trying to improve and/or keep things fresh: room painted, new headboard, new carpet, a glass partition on the shower instead of a shower curtain, adding a regular hair dryer (in addition to the one already on the bathroom wall), placing beach towels in our room for the pool, and much nicer robes -- all since my last visit only six months ago. The entire staff is excellent, with geniune cheerfulness and helpfulness: Everyone is eager to help you in any way possible and geniunely wants you to enjoy not only Jupiter's and Townsville, but Australia and Australians as a whole. My reasons for not giving it a 5 star rating: no safe in the room, but a safe in their business office - inconvenient; television is very limited, with too few channels - which could use better reception - 3/4 of the channels devoted to kino, gambling, and sports. So, "real" TV: only 3 channels, and no CNN or Fox. We rent a suite and love the terrace that looks over the river with all its beautiful sailboats. Summer or winter, there is always at least one time of day when it's nice enough to eat on the terrace. Mornings are a wonderful time to spend on the terrace to make your plans for the day or just read. There is a gambling casino (I stay here despite the gambling!) off the beautiful and airy lobby; it is a nice size, and not intrusive. I'm a picky cleanliness person and appreciate how clean and fresh the rooms are. We had a couple of "oops" with room service and they were so apologetic that they didn't even charge us for what we ordered. Nice set up with an electic pot for coffee, tea and hot chocolate and the little carton of milk, replaced daily in the mini bar, is gratis. Toothbrush and toothpaste are among the "goodies" included by the bathroom sink each day. The other "goodies" - soaps, shampoos, etc, are very good quality even though I use my own. Beautiful pool area with fantastic landscaping and plenty of room and loungers. A little bit away from the center of Townsville but well worth it. We stayed at a hotel in the center and returned to Jupiter's after a couple of days. I was surprised at how fair the price is: with everything we had, I would have expected much higher prices. Fantastic place.