alanslegal

1. No idea.

2. You mean the ocean at the back of the hotel? I didn't think the beach there was nice at all.

3. The ferry dock where all the boats go out to the reef; is about 10 minutes by car, around 3.5 kms from the resort. Most of the tour operators provide a shuttle pick up / drop off service.

4. I thought the SNA upgrades were pretty weak so I didn't bother (if I recall correctly, the rooms were only 10sqm larger or so than a regular room).

5. Yes, go for the breakfast as a Platinum.

6. With 3 days, you could do a day tour one day? and spend the rest at the resort I guess but see points 7..

7. Hire a car Not only can you get around - the Daintree and the treetop walks for example. You can also drive into Cairns easily and enjoy dinner there. I highly recommend Nautilus Restaurant (former US president Bill Clinton went there once upon a time). Food is pretty good but the ambience where you feel like you are dining in the treetops is pretty cool

captain_starwood

Thanks, Alanslegal. I think the beach is a 10 minute walk, or so.

Not driving in Oz yet. Dinner at the Nautilus sounds great.

margarita girl

Just completed a 2 night stay here. Fantastic property. Upgraded to a lagoon room on ground floor with walk out to pool/lagoon. Staff was amazing.

However, there was one thing that really bothered me. At check-out, I was told that my SPG Amex would incur a 2.9% surcharge, but if I used a MC or Visa, the surcharge would only be 1.1%. How can Starwood penalize me for using their branded card?? If Starwood doesn't like the fees charged by Amex, maybe they should align themselves with a different partner!

I find this totally unacceptable and would like to file a formal complaint. Should I take this to Starwood corporate or Amex, or both?

OriginalName

Sadly, these credit card fees in Australia are common, and retailers often charge more for Amex than other cards. It's a fact of life here and not worth chasing up at corporate, as each property has the right to determine whether it passes on cc terminal fees to consumers.

TerryK

Common practice in the land down under. Even QF charges credit card fees if purchased directly from QF.

Frindle

Just finished 5 nights here in a studio suite with a view of the parking lot. Great hotel, great staff, but wouldn't visit again, but that's mostly because of the location.

I find it hard to fathom how they only have one over priced buffet for breakfast, and nothing else. Even the lobby bar and coffee stands don't have anything of substance. You'd have to take the shuttle to get to any other restaurants, so that just seems a little bit of extortion.

The rooms were fantastic, but the magnetic latches on the door for the bathroom should be replaced, as they make middle of the night bathroom visits VERY loud. I also wish they would replace the bathroom shutter style doors with something a bit more solid, as they let every single bit of sound through for no privacy.

I agree on the credit card bit. I've always been surprised that the chains (airline and hotel) don't have some way to directly charge their co-brand card provider outside of the normal network to avoid fees like this. I ended up using my Barclay card, which was fine, but I would have preferred the extra points from the SPG card.

holocker

Is this hotel a good option for someone visiting the US to experience the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding area or am I better off staying in Cairns.

g8trgr8t

Would we be able to get away with 5 in a room for 4 at this property? kids 17, 15, 13

thanks

CPRich

There are many boats that go to the GBR from here, and you're also closer to the Daintree and other popular attractions.

CPRich

What are you considering to be a "room for 4"? Putting in 2 adults and 2 childrens yields rooms with 2 double beds. I gave up on sharing 1 room, with 2 Queens, when my kids hit about 15 and 10. Even 4 of you would be tough, I can't imagine fitting 5.

You might be able to get away with a 2BR villa, if one of the kids is OK on a couch. But the 3 BR villa isn't that much more. And 2 individual rooms, which is what we did, is even cheaper.

3544quebec

I'd suggest mastering the English Channel crossing before trying the Pacific Ocean

captain_starwood

So, after long consideration, we're planning spend three nights here this weekend using a combination of C+P and free night awards.

Applied an SNA for the first night and have already been upgraded to a lagoon side studio, which seem promising.

We plan to spend our first day relaxing by the pool, and our second day on the reef with a smaller subsidiary of QuickSilver. We will likely also go to Port Douglas by foot or shuttle, and may spend part of our last day on a rainforest tour.

The hotel has been relatively helpful in answering questions and helping us book a day on the GBR.

Will post a full review post-stay.

Jmr007

We are here right now.

Booked 3 BR villa for 800/ night. Disgusting smell, mold etc. ended up in 2 adjacent rooms. Will publish bad review on that, but general area, outside facilities are nice. Beach so so and no swimming in ocean. Village is ver nice, moving to house Thursday

captain_starwood

Just completed three night stay here, 1 night on C+P, the other two on points. Our experience was as follows:

1) The SNA I applied cleared a few days before for a holiday weekend at high capacity.
2) We checked in very late, around midnight. The check-in was quick and were taken to our room in a golf cart.
3) The room was a Lagoon side studio. It was large, elegant, and the back terrace opened directly into the pool. It felt luxurious and wonderful, particularly for the cost of $75 USD and 5000 points.

They kept us in this room for the second night, and moved our bags into a similar, slightly smaller lagoon room for the third night, because we were on two reservations. Our bags were moved well and the food we had brought was properly refrigerated.

From the two rooms that we were in, I would say the renovation was done very well.

There are many pools (7, 8, 9?) and the major experience of being at the resort is to sit by the pools, swim, walk on the nearby beach, and relax. There is good service for drinks and food, and I ordered 2-3 coffees.

The hotel staff were friendly, accommodating, and attentive to our needs. We felt looked after and taken care of.

We went to the great barrier reef for a day on the Poseidon, which was expensive and had 60 divers+snorkelers. If I could do it again, I would only go with a smaller snorkeling-only boat - perhaps the Wavelength.

We didn't visit the rainforest, but I suspect this would have been wonderful.

We used the breakfast buffet twice as the platinum amenity, and it was of a good quality.

We use Examplar transfers to and from for $42 each way per person. The ride from the airport was packed, the ride to Cairns was empty.

We took the shuttle from town to the hotel for $5 per person each way. They seem plentiful.

Port Douglas seems small, touristy, but with good restaurants. I would have liked to have tried Nautilus or 2 Fish.

This is a resort for families and couples that want to relax and explore the reef and rainforest. I think the quality is at the upper end of category 4.

Overall, an extremely relaxing stay at a nice property. I would happily return.

alanslegal

We are returning here next month and last year I was a Platinum but have dropped to LTG which gets me nothing at this property but anyway, in our group there will be 4 adults and 1 child and we hope to get breakfast somehow so I was thinking of this:

Book first room for 4 adults on a cash rate that is inclusive of breakfast. The rate inclusive of breakfast is the same for 1,2,3, or 4 adults.

Book second room for 1 adult and 1 child.

At breakfast, we say 4 adults under Room 1. Pay for 1 child under Room 2. Can anyone see how this won't be possible?