Oaks Casuarina Santai Resort — Hotel in Casuarina

Had a 3 weeknight stay in September 2022 in a studio apartment room 317. When you first pull up in front of the 3 floor hotel there are 2 massive automatic wooden doors which are closed and you think the place is closed. Has a Balinese feel with the sandstone statues and wall decorations. Registration was a breeze and the girl behind the desk was extremely polite and helpful. We were asked if we wanted help with our bags to the room but declined. So far a positive experience. The lift took forever to close and to get to the 3rd floor. That was the only time we used it, taking the stairs so much quicker. The studio room was spacious and they has the AC on to a comfy temp. To the left a double bowled basin with the mini toiletries. On the right a spa bath (one of the jets taped over). From the bath there was a glass window where you could see into the room. If you wanted privacy there is a roller blind. At the end of this part of the room was a toilet and shower. Fully tilled with a ceiling shower rose and another hand held one. Extremely clean. Wow the room was lovely. Tiled throughout. Large king size comfy bed with soft linens and light yet warm doona. In the kitchen area they have everything you could need for your stay especially if you wanted to cook small 2 burner electric stove, drawer dishwasher, microwave, fridge and a pod coffee machine. There are some utensils, pots, bowls etc for cooking plus cutlery, glasses, kettle etc. they even supply sachets of dishwashing powder. A 2 seater glass table and chair for meals. In the 2 large mirrored cupboard there is a combo washer dryer in one. The other has clothes hanger, iron board and iron and a safe. The lounge area is comfy with good size tv that can swivel so you can watch from the bed. They do have foxtel and wifi included. Foxtel has the sports stations to my husbands delight as well as limited stations such as crime and movie not sure of the rest. Large sliding door and windows make the room bright and airy. The small balcony holds a table and chair setting and an electric kettle style BBQ. It overlooks the pool which has a spa area heated they say to 26degree. It looks beautiful with its gardens and palm trees. This is my only negative of our stay there is no privacy if you sit out on the balcony they are so close together without some sort of partition so it could be a little private. But that probably wouldn’t make too much difference because you could see into all the other apartments as they surround the pool to form the courtyard. For example the girl next door was out the balcony on her phone we could hear everything sitting on the lounge just inside. Lucky they have pool hours between 7 - 9. There were 4 people enjoying the spa but being in the courtyard it echoed loud enough that you could hear their conversations and the annoying cackling of the 2 women. There are no gym facilities but I did notice bike hire in the reception area. Like I said my only negative other than that it was great. The resort is only a short distance from the beach but not sure it is patrolled but great for that morning walk, it’s long. The restaurant The Spice Den in the resort is amazing. The food is delicious so do your taste buds a favour. There is a small shopping centre within walking distance that has stores such as coles, bakery, butcher shop and Liquorland. It is around 6km to Kingscliff from Casuarina. We purchased this stay through tripadeal because we had a credit and didn’t want to lose it not somewhere we would normally chose. It was a great place to relax and unwind but if you were looking for excitement and night life it’s...

My partner and I stayed here for 5 nights and would rate the overall experience as subpar. Rooms are beautifully laid out however, they were let down by the ammenities. The main advertised reason behind no room service is the “fully equipped” kitchenettes. Our coffee machine would not work as it needed to be descaled however, the tools are not provided in rooms. we ended up having to buy coffees every day which is a big cost for 2 people over 5 days. The stove top also would not turn on so we could not cook inside. There was a box that provided some teas however there is no sugar, salt or pepper satchels which seems like the basics you would need in a “fully equipped” kitchenette? There was also a dirty toaster and pans and no cleaning tools provided for the BBQ other than 4 sheets of paper towels. The TV also rarely works and internet is very flaky. We stayed for 5 nights and were only provided 2 rolls of toilet paper. As part of the deal, any guest that stays 5 nights or more does get complimentary housekeeping. On the third day we called reception to request this only to be told it was already scheduled for that same afternoon. As feedback, it would have been nice to been informed this at checkin so we could have organised the day appropriately (which we luckily had!). Would not have been ideal had we had planned to spend the day at the resort. we were originally checked into a room that overlooked construction sites which was no where near what was advertised on the website. We did bring up the concerns with reception who handled the situation promptly and swiftly. We appreciated the customer service for this instance. Disappointing however, as this was not at all communicated when we booked over 3 months prior with assistance from the hotel itself while knowing the stay was for a special occasion. Not great to think that had we had not spoken up, we would have been given an average room for 5 nights without any heads up. There is also lots of noise in the mornings so don’t expect long sleep ins past 8am. Knowing there are 5 star resorts in the area, I would probably choose to stay at those locations next time for a long stay. The oaks in kingscliff would be good for 2- 3 nights and not much more. Rooms are otherwise very nice and do have a Balinese style which we appreciated. The pool is amazing and was our main attraction in booking and definitely did not disappoint. There are currently restrictions in the pool due to social distancing which we were informed about at checkin. Again, we would have appreciated knowing of the restrictions prior to check in. In saying this, the restrictions really weren’t followed by guests in the pool area as no staff would check. The Service at spiceden was top notch. The staff were friendly, the food was good and it was an added bonus that they delivered to the rooms! (Considering we weren’t able to cook in the rooms!) They also served cocktails by the pool which topped the experience. Had the hotels ammenities worked and there was a little more attention to detail, I would have rated the overall experience a 5/5. This is just my overall feedback and suggestions for areas of improvement to the resort. Not a negative experience but definitely could have...

Beautiful resort, well it was when I stayed there about 5 years ago and decided to save and take my partner this time. However I was so disappointed. Booked through Yonda which appears you get the worst room in the hotel, despite going there the week before to confirm I definitely had a pool view room. Ours just looked on to the side of another apartment verandah. Rooms only had 4 coffee pods for 2 people for 3 nights, extra could be purchased from reception for a fee? They were a rare brand you could not buy and our nespresso pods were not compatible.

The place was VERY run down and neglected. Empty cans and food wrappings in the garden beds. Tiles on the spa were missing, pool pavers were cracked. No room cleaning service or doona cover, just two sheets on either side of doona which kept separating during the night exposing the doona, unhygienic. The shower overflowed and we had a good cm of water all around the toilet, so we had to roll up a towel to dam the water from running to the toilet as it was dangerous and messy.

During the first day, the restaurant overlooking the pool had construction work going all day, hammering and banging up the items being removed which was also close to our room so we went out when all we wanted to do was unwind by the pool during the day.

The following night there was a loud fight for a couple of hours with glass being smashed and people running through the resort screaming. I called the night security and police but no one came.

Lastly the receptionist had no customer service skills at all. , When we raised these issues she just starred blankly at us. We also asked several times, the night before departure, where the luggage trolley was and she said she didn't know as well as on the morning of our departure, she could have cared one bit which made it a lengthy process to carry all out items to the car. I would have thougthey could put a tracker on it or monitored its usage or offered to call on its return. The Thai restaurant is stunning both in service and quality of the food, highly recommend it but I will never recommend the Santai resort to anyone again, very sorry we wasted our money and time there. OAKS chain should...