We just came back from spending a week at the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas. There is a bit of truth in all the posts, and a large portion of exageration in many of them.

The hotel rooms are definitely dated and the entire hotel could use a remodel to bring up to current decor. The rooms are straight out of the mid 80's but are in good condition and nicely maintained. That being said, the rooms are nice and spacious with very comfortable beds, a separate sitting area with a little 2 seat dining table area. We never felt cramped or squeezed for space in our room, although the bathrooms are on the smaller side. We did not detect any musty smells in our room and both my wife and I are very sensitive to smells. We were originally given a room that had in a previous life been a smoking room and did have a lingering smoke/cleaning products smell. Nothing that would irritate a smoker, but we asked to be moved. Hotel common areas are very nice and you never felt as if you were in a crowded resort hotel.

The grounds are very nice. Very lush and the pools are super spacious. Except for the smaller pool with the swim up bar, all the pools are saltwater and have areas of sandy entry. My kids had a great time at the pools as unlike the ocean they are crystal clear, not too deep, no currents or stingers to be worried about and still had sand that they could dig in and make sand castles. Beautiful palm trees everywhere and you never felt crowded or had to fight for a lounge chair or umbrella (and this was during a time when the hotel was at 100% occupancy due to the school break). Some of the pools needed to have thier bottoms refinished, but nothing that would have made a difference.

The restaurants are nice. The main restaurant was a zoo for breakfast (buffet that was included on many room packages) and IMHO entirely not worth the $$. We drove into town for breakfast or just ate pastries and yogurt in our room before setting off on sighseeing jaunts to Cape Trib or the Daintree. The Lagoon restuarant had a nightly seafood buffet where the hot sections changes on a nightly basis (monday is Austrailian Grill, Tuesday is Queensland specialties, friday is Indian, etc.). At AU$82/pp, not really worth it, unless you like seafood and have a big appetite. There is plenty of variety, the desserts were delicious and the seafood was plentiful. The Yappies were tasty and I picked all the big ones. I love seafood and have a big appetite. You can burn 7,500 SPG points for the Lagoon Dinner for 2 plus a bottle of wine. Not too bad of an instant award and the Mrs. and I indulged twice.

As a SPG Platinum, Afternoon High Tea from 3-5 p.m. out on the patio next to the Lagoon Restaurant is complimentary. Delicious finger sandwhiches, various mini pastries and sweets and the best scones I have ever had, often still warm from the oven served with clotted cream and jams/jellies/marmalades. We partook in Afternoon High Tea every afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed the break in the day before freshening up at the room and heading into town for a stroll and/or dinner.

We were provided two bottles of water every night with our turndown service which was greatly appreciated considering the AU$8/bottle charge for water in the minibar. We went to Coles in town and brought back water/snacks for the pool and/or exploring the area.

Location and access to the beach was fantastic. The beach was spacious and an easy 10-15 minute walk into Port Douglas. The ocean water was marginally warmer than the pools at the hotel. My kids loved playing on the beach and swimming in the gentle waves.

The shuttle into town is AU$4 each way and leaves every thirty minutes. Since we had a car and parking was easy to come by, we just drove

The hotel could use some after hours entertainment. There is no bar or other night time public gathering space to speak of (which IMHO is a huge ommission from a revenue point of view at this hotel). But since parking is free and Port Douglas is only a few minutes away by car, you can easily drive into town for drinks or for some shopping/strolling.

WIFI is butt expensive at AU$24 a day and only available in the lobby areas. In room is still just wired access. If this was provided free to SPG Platinums, that would be a fantastic benefit.

Unlike neuron's experience, my California blood must have been sweet tasting as I was eaten alive by sand fleas and mossies, but hey, you're in the tropics and it was no worse than I have experienced at other beach resorts.

Is the Mirage a 5 star resort? No way. Is it the worst thing in the SPG family of hotels and a utter disaster like many on Trip Advisor proclaim? Hardly. Except for the hotel rooms (but come on, there is so much to see and do nearby that you shouldn't be spending much waking time in your room anyway), I would compare it favorably to the Sheraton Poipu or the Sheraton Maui or the Sheraton Fiji. With a bit of renovation to the hotel common areas and a room makeover (new bedroom furniture and flat screen tv's would be the easy changes), this hotel would easily be a SPG Category 4.5. As it is, a very decent Category 3.5 that could do better. Is it worth the SPG 10k a night, well that depends on what you are looking for. If you intend to spend all your time on the resort and are looking for pampering and luxury, then not worth it. If you are looking for a base for exploring the area but still enjoy the amenities of very decent resort, then 40K SPG for 5 nights are justifiably spent. For C+P, entirely worth it.

We'd probably return.

YMMV

Onedog