InterContinental Hayman Island Resort

Be aware that they can cancel booking even if you have paid. Booked and paid 8 months ago and 3 months before our holiday they cancelled our booking saying they have a full resort buyout, meaning someone has come in over the top and booked out the whole resort, kicking out everyone who had already booked. They offered alternate accommodation on Hamilton Island, but it wasn’t comparable. They offered a date change and the only compensation was $100 resort credit. Absolute joke!!!

On the way: The private transfer is luxury. Leather interior, friendly and attentive staff with Endless alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and a healthy gourmet snack. The accommodation: Also luxury - and massive. We had a beautiful room overlooking the pool and beach. The bed was super comfortable as were the pillows. Possibly the most beautiful room I’ve ever stayed in. The shampoo, conditioner and body lotion is also divine. The food: And here is where things go downhill. The food is expensive (to be expected on a tropical island) but also not great. If you go to the Italian restaurant do not get the lasagne (dry and awful) or the tiramisu.. it was like a cheesecake with too much gelatine. Someone please give them a traditional recipe. The seafood pasta however was AMAZING! Bam Bam - do not order the wings (plain, boring, zero flavour) or the tuna sashimi. It was warm and tasted off. The pad Thai was nice. The service: For the most part, the staff were pleasant, but had no idea how to wait tables. You are seated then forgotten about, your order is lost, dishes have missing components, dirty plates are left on your table. At the Italian restaurant couples seated around me were seated then had to flag down a waiter half an hour later for drinks. Then the drinks didn’t arrive. Then their main order was produced in a take away box. I chased down a waiter for a dessert menu. Received the wrong menu. I just ordered a tiramisu without seeing the menu. The order was lost and had to be re-ordered then was awful anyway. Massive shout out though to the Fijian women who work on the island. Friendly, hard working, warm and wonderful. They work multiple jobs, are ALWAYS smiling and friendly and engaging with visitors. There are many bad reviews of the island of late but I think it can be fixed with more management roles and staff training. The island itself is beautiful with lovely walks and beautiful pool (that could use a clean) it’s just the food and service that is the biggest let down.

A lovely resort for pure relaxation. The dining options are fabulous, you have a choice of pools and walking tracks. The room are stunning , over sized and bright. Highly recommended.

We stayed at Hayman Island with high expectations, given the pricing and reputation, but left feeling deeply underwhelmed. Nothing went catastrophically wrong — instead, it was the accumulation of many small failures that made for a very unsatisfactory stay. To be clear, the three-bedroom Beach House we rented was absolutely superb. It was stylish, spacious, beautifully designed, and a genuine haven. The price certainly reflects the quality of the accommodation itself — but unfortunately, it does not reflect the level of service attached to it. From arrival, things felt disorganised. We were kept waiting for over 80mins with no explanation on the transfer boat from Hamilton Island without any explanation, then left standing in the sun on arrival because there weren’t enough buggies available. At reception, our assigned butler was meant to show us around the house, but she couldn’t locate it. In the end, we found it ourselves. She briefly poked her head in and asked if we needed anything — and that was effectively our “tour.” Throughout the stay, staff generally appeared short-staffed, inexperienced, demoralised, and inattentive. Calls to housekeeping, room service, or concierge regularly rang out despite the “instant service” button on the phone. We were later told that to order room service, we needed to physically go to reception — which rather defeats the point. We largely stopped trying. Nothing is included. The minibar was extremely expensive, laundry costs were high (with no washer or dryer in a three-bedroom house), and despite a lovely dining table, there was no way to cook and nothing available to buy to cook with, leaving us reliant on room service — which, again, was difficult to access, so we ate all meals in the expensive restaurants. We were underwhelmed by the price rage of steak, chips and salad of over $120 at Pacific, but enjoyed the food and service at Amici - a little oasis of comfort at otherwise over-priced and underwhelming food options. We were also disappointed by the lack of complimentary fitness or wellness offerings. There were no free programs, and the only yoga class was cancelled twice without notification, meaning I turned up for nothing. To add to the limitations, we hadn’t realised that marine stingers are present from November to May, so swimming in the ocean wasn’t possible, leaving only the pool — not ideal for a destination like this. Ultimately, we chose to minimise interaction with staff and simply enjoy the house and the view — which says a lot. This resort feels like a three-star experience charging five-star prices. The beach house accommodation itself is exceptional (caveat - we overheard many guests complaining about their rooms in the actual hotel), but the service, organisation, and overall guest experience are not. If you’re considering paying a premium for the three-bedroom Beach House, go in with very clear expectations: you’re paying for the property, not the service that should come with it. Disappointing — not because of one big failure, but because of many small ones that added up. In anticipation of a potentially defensive response from the hotel, I will say that all my observations were detailed in an email to Jose, the manager in charge and I simply never heard back.

The booking process for IHG Hayman Island has been appalling. In late December a member of the IHG International Reservations Team somehow booked three rooms for 3 individual people rather than the required twin share in one room. Despite calling the local team to resolve the matter a week ago, payment for two of the bookings totalling almost $7000 was still attempted despite assurances via telephone and email that it would be paused until the matter had been investigated. After calling again today the bookings were then cancelled as I had reached the end of my patience and was no longer happy to continue with a booking. This kind of Mickey Mouse operation at what I understand was formerly one of Australia’s best resorts is totally off putting. I don’t ever foresee wishing to visit now and I would caution anyone before making a booking at this resort as the customer service standard is not remotely adequate for this price level. The staff are polite but don’t seem to be able to take charge or fix the issues themselves. I hope IHG is replaced as the operator as their business processes are clearly not up to scratch.