Kingfisher Bay Resort — Hotel in K'gari

A truly beautiful place to visit; stunning architecture, clean facilities and great food. Like everything in life, nothing is perfect. Here is a list of the pro’s/con’s we experienced during our 3 day stay: Monday 28/12/22 to Wednesday 30/12/22.

⭐️Pro’s • 24 hour reception • Smooth check in process. We arrived on the first ferry over at about 7:20am. The staff (special mention to Heather) were very welcoming and while check in wasn’t til 2pm, they invited us to use the facilities until our room became available. A staff member even texted us at about 12.30 that our room was ready; a whole 1.5 hrs earlier then check in. • There is a $200(aud) bond however we received this just 2 days after we had checked out; great response/refund rate upon check out. • We stayed in a standard resort hotel room. The room was spacious, the beds were comfortable for the most part & aircon worked great during our stay. The showers are very spacious and have in-built body wash and hair products dispensers. There is also a soap dispenser near the sink and all your standard hotel toiletries (I.e. towels, floor mat, soap etc.) • The room has a medium sized TV with all the standard digital tv channels. It also has a mini bar fridge, located in the small kitchen area. • The room is also equipped with a generous balcony, perfect for hanging out on the deck over a book or some morning tea and even hanging your togs out to dry after a days trip. • The facilities are gorgeous! The two pools are great for families including the outdoor spa area. There is an austec playground just outside the reception entrance, close to the village shop as well as a guest laundry. The washing machines were free and we only had to pay for the dryer ($1 x 3) which were sufficient to dry our washing each time in one cycle! Great value. • There are also 2 large curved monitors, free for guests to use in the foyer. Fast, speedy internet. • Very well maintained. Every morning before we would leave for our days activities, we saw many staff members scattered throughout the resort cleaning or doing things to maintain the tidiness of the resort. • Food was delicious! Not too overly priced considering the location & portions were quite modest for a resort. • There is reception! While this may not be too important for some (after all, you’re there for the sights) — it was great for us as we got to check in with family members and share our photos live throughout our trip using our devices. • Lots of activities to do each day! The resort provide a sheet with all their daily tourist activities. Some are free although most require payment.

⚫️ Con’s • Our room was not cleaned during our stay. When I inquiried about this, I was told I needed to display the card on the door requesting for my room to be cleaned. The receptionist with a British accent was rather rude and dismissed my inquiry after explaining that it was our fault for not displaying the card. It is worth noting: we came back the next morning and asked the kiwi guy for towels and he was more then friendly/polite in offering assistance. • Horrible pillows. We ended up sleeping without them as they were too high for our neck. My husband is quite big and tall, even he had trouble with the pillows. • Apparently there is free wifi but I never saw nor received a wifi code. • Some restaurant closures. • THERE WERE NO BOWELS in our room. Literally 1 saucer and 3 forks. There wasn’t a microwave either which was disappointing as we were travelling with our infant who required her food warmed up. • The bar area staff are 50/50. Twice we had to stand around while they passed us without notice. Eventually we just grabbed the menus on the counter and took our seat. We followed others who showed we had to order at the front counter. While not a big deal, it would be nice to just be at least greeted and seated. The morning staff were always great.

Overall, I would go back in a heart beat. The con’s are mostly minor for me and I’m sure management will work to improve the overall satisfaction...

The location of Kingfisher Bay Resort sells itself and should be visited regardless of reviews received. The rooms are clean, have everything you need, well serviced in a stunning wallum environment. Further, the facilities and infrastructure had a bit of a spruce and looks great. The buffet breakfast at Sand and Wood is marvellous and a great way to fill up before the days activities.

However, having been here on 2 other occasions previously over the last 20 years, once for a month long stay early 2000's, I feel the initial and most important purpose of the site has largely been lost. You would be forgiven for not knowing or having difficulty to learn more about what makes K'gari a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1992. I see tourism has largely preceded education and information. For example, limited literature, short ranger lead sessions, no education hub without mention of its status. I was totally dissapointed to find very limited resources, books leaflets on common flora and fauna, or even island maps available for visitors anywhere in the resort but interpretive signage can be found on walls in some locations. In the past a coloured information book was offered that contained great information including history, flora & fauna all separated into different categories in one small booklet. I attached a few pictures for reference. Furthermore, an empty rangers office with useful collections and artefacts appears to sit idle in a dark room, far cry from its bustling past of excellent visual and extracurricular go-to for the more curious observer attended by several rangers on hand.

In contrast, a beautiful K’gari World Heritage Discovery Centre (a significant investment) opened in 2021 (to mark 30 years since World Heritage Status) unfortunately it sits largely idle from the 4 occasions I visited on my recent stay. A beautiful offering, however this space is very sterile, unmanned, non engaging and could certainly use much more creativity considering K'gari's incredible environmental, geological, cultural and scientific history with it's remarkable examples. It's not surprising to observe a traffic meter to side on entry. I feel it could, if not already, become a white elephant. Some small town information centres across Australia are now an impressive example of what can be achieved to make these spaces incredible.

For example, the recently launched (Sept 2024) Illumina light show, I witnessed from my hotel balcony each night, is approximately 30-40min , runs nightly at a cost of $50 Adults $20 Children. I'm sure the intent here is to tell stories of Kgari and it's history, and replicate the success of a similar offering at Uluru. However, I feel this investment like most, is for significant profit and not in reach for all visitors especially large families. The Illumina is all well to offer, however I feel a great interpretive, educational, interactive information centre is needed first.

Consequently, the main reception staff are forced to wear several caps in their role answering questions on anything and everything. On several occasions I reached out, the staff member and a ranger was hamstrung unable to provide any information on flora or fauna, maps of K'gari. The ranger allowed me to have a quick look at an office book doing all she could.

In closing, a fantastic achievement for all involved the resort from its inception in remarkable environment. However, I hope management of K'gari start to refocus, not only activities that create revenue for the more fortunate, but indeed what makes the island a UNESCO World Heritage site in the first place with more engaging creative way communicating a message and leaving a lasting impression with an equally World class centre worthy of, and with the Butchulla...

This is an Accor chain hotel. We visited in October (their Spring time), so the resort was quite busy. Our Wallum room had a very nice terrace overlooking the woods/pond with lots of wildlife to see and hear, but what let our stay down is the fact that the room was a little tired/ felt a bit stuck in time/needed a freshen up ..it had the feel of a motel room about it (particularly the bathroom which was clinical).

Room had a double bed (which was old style springs, so when the other person turned over the whole bed rocked around even though we both weigh under 70kg); a separate single bed; tv; safe; iron and clothes drying rack; dated bathroom inc bath with jets and shower over; small fridge; kettle, glasses, mugs and tea/coffee. Beds only had x1 pillow per person, but they did eventually bring more after phoning reception twice.

Two windows directly above the double bed headboard only had roller blinds on (not curtains), so we were woken up really early by daylight shining in our eyes round the edges of the blinds.

The resort pools were nice. Pool bar quite expensive.

There are multiple food outlets (all belonging to the same hotel). Check timings because there is no all day food option. We got stuck as we hadnt eaten lunch by the time we got here and just missed food outlet in the main hotel shutting at 16.00 and next one not opening till 17.30. Food offerings are average as you would expect with a chain hotel and prices are high (because they can), but not extortionate.

The Beauty Spots day tour was really worthwhile and the guide was super knowledgeable. All tours are @ additional cost except a few ranger guided talks.

There is a small gift shop/off licence on site that also sells noodle pots, sandwiches & some essentials like bread, spreads and tinned goods.

Procedure for getting to the resort from the airport is (1). take resort bus from bus stop area at airport terminal which is well marked and easy to find. Bus takes you and luggage to their reception desk on the mainland in approx 20mins (2). Get luggage and self off bus & check it all in at mainland desk, where they then take your luggage in a separate van and deliver it to your room while you get back on the bus for 5mins further ride to the ferry (3) Sit on 45 min ferry to island. Small ferry takes cars and people. It has indoor and outdoor seating and small bar. (4) walk 3 mins off ferry or take resort golf cart to hotel where you need to visit reception to get room keys (5) wait for luggage to be delivered within 30-60mins of arrival. Bus and ferry transfers are at extra cost and need to be...