AJ’S CRACK AT GC PUBS

Coming in hot each morning via Southport Yacht Club, this is his take on Games pricing

ASK broadcaster Alan Jones for his opinion and you’ll get it.

The ex-Wallabies coach, broadcasting his 2GB breakfast radio show live from Southport Yacht

Club during the Commonwealth Games, is an avowed Gold Coast fan.

But does he have a take on how things are shaping up in the first Australian regional centre to hold the event? Abso-bloody-lutely.

“I love the Gold Coast, own property on the Gold Coast, I would be happy to live on the Gold Coast. I think it’s unbelievable,” he intones to ATG.

But he reckons too many good restaurants close too early and too many accommodation providers have priced themselves out of reach of battling regional Queenslanders.

“We rang to book a table for two in Commonwealth Games week for dinner and the kitchen’s closed. “This is one of the leading restaurants on the Gold Coast. Have they heard of the Commonwealth Games? You don’t close the kitchen at 9 o’clock,” Jones says.

He added his team had just now done a dummy check of hotel pricing.

“There are people who would love to get here but west of the Great Dividing Range ... they think we’ll have two tickets, and two nights, get a hotel. The price today (Tuesday) $560 or $570 or something. Seriously, you can get a room on the harbour in Sydney — because it’s competitive — and have $120 change for that price. It’s not fair, people are not that well endowed and want to be part of it. Pull your head in, you’re taking advantage of people.”

Consider yourselves told.