The breakwater: who else lives on the wall

The neighbours, from Google's map

• Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre

  Right beside the hotel. Several of the dated shows on our what's on page play here.

• Ardo hotel

  Morris Group's other hotel, on the next lot, with 132 rooms and suites and a rooftop pool and bar.

• Breakwater Ferry Terminal

  SeaLink's catamarans leave here for Magnetic Island, a short way south of the resort.

• The Port of Townsville

  Across the water from the hotel the map shows the port's berths and the Quayside Terminal. The hotel puts the Port about ten minutes away by car.

Breakwater Marina

The marina below the suite balconies is Breakwater Marina. Its own site lists 325 berths for vessels up to 45 metres, short and long-term stays, a marina office open 8am to 5pm seven days a week, and a self-serve fuel wharf open 24 hours. It pitches itself as a base for cruising travellers, a step from the city centre and its restaurants.

If you arrive by boat and want a bed ashore for a night or two, that is a booking we are happy to look at.

Islands in the names

Two names inside the hotel point out to sea. The top-floor suite is the Pelorus Suite, and the casino's private lounge is the Orpheus Room. Breakwater Marina's site places Pelorus Island 800 metres north of Orpheus Island, in the Palm group north of Townsville. The hotel does not explain the names, so we only note the coincidence.

Forty years on this spot

Townsville City Council's history page records that the Sheraton Breakwater Hotel and Casino opened to the public in 1986. Wikipedia adds that the property later traded as Jupiters Hotel and Casino before becoming The Ville. Today it belongs to Morris Group, which the hotel describes as an independent, family-run business. We tell the longer story in the journal: forty years on the breakwater.

Close by, by the hotel's account

• Queensland Museum Tropics

  On the waterfront, covering North Queensland's natural and cultural heritage, with displays on the HMS Pandora shipwreck.

• Maritime Museum of Townsville

  On Ross Creek, with exhibits and preserved vessels from the region's naval, commercial and coastal history.

• Reef trips

  Aquascene Charters runs guided snorkelling trips to the Great Barrier Reef from Townsville.

• From the air

  Nautilus Aviation flies helicopter scenic flights over the city, Cape Cleveland, Magnetic Island, the Palm Island group and Hinchinbrook Island.

What the hotel does for the reef

The Ville lists $5 from every hotel stay going to Reef Keepers, solar panels on The Pavilion's roof, sensor lighting, the removal of single-use plastics including straws and plastic water bottles, and software to track its sustainability work. These are the hotel's own claims, and we report them as such.

Country

Ardo acknowledges the Bindal and Wulgurukaba peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land on which it operates.

Ask the desk about these dates