InterContinental Hayman Island Resort

Ive never written a review before because I'm not that type of person, but I feel I need to after what I experienced. As we are checking out today, I need to formally express how unacceptable and deeply disappointing our stay has been, especially considering this was our honeymoon and the significant amount of money we spent expecting a genuine 5-star luxury experience. While the views are beautiful, almost every aspect of the resort — from service to dining to accommodation standards — has fallen far below what is advertised and expected at this price point. Guest services regularly failed to answer the phone, lifts requested to our villa often never arrived, and nearly every interaction or service request came with delays, errors, or no response at all. The villa itself was also far from acceptable for a luxury property. The drop-down TV was extremely loud every time it operated, sounding like a mechanical fault and completely disrupting any sense of relaxation. One of the televisions in the villa did not work for the duration of our stay. The plunge pool, which is advertised as a luxury feature, was ice cold and unusable. On top of that, the outdoor furniture, including sofa beds, had visible mould and tears, which is completely unacceptable for accommodation in this price range. The dining experiences throughout the resort were consistently poor. At Amici the food was bland and tasteless, Pacific breakfast repeatedly arrived cold with rubbery bacon, cold eggs and dry food, and Bam Bam’s food tasted like old oil with no seasoning whatsoever. We also booked in-room breakfast for 7am before our Blue Pearl Bay experience and it never arrived because the order was apparently never received, only for the excursion itself to then be cancelled as well. After raising these concerns with the in-room dining manager, we appreciated the apology, fruit plate and champagne, and decided to give breakfast another chance this morning. Unfortunately, it again arrived incomplete with missing items including mushrooms, bacon and sausages. We paid $70 for a second breakfast that still arrived incomplete, leaving us with cold eggs and multigrain sourdough bread that was not even toasted and felt like it had come straight from the fridge. We also ordered in-room dining for dinner and the massaman curry arrived cold, bland and burnt tasting. The mushroom arancini contained virtually no mushroom at all and was essentially plain rice inside. On top of that, having meals delivered in cardboard takeaway containers feels far below the standard expected from a luxury honeymoon resort. Even the pool bar experience was disappointing. My wife’s chicken burger arrived with burnt chicken, burnt bread and soggy chips that again tasted like old oil. I ordered fish tacos and the chef explained they did not have enough flour available to batter all of the fish, so we agreed to one grilled taco and two battered tacos instead. While the chef himself was polite and trying to assist, the fish was rubbery and the tacos were still poorly executed. By this stage it genuinely felt like every single meal during our stay had some sort of issue or inconsistency. The massage was genuinely excellent and honestly the only standout positive experience of the trip. However, overall we are extremely frustrated and disappointed with how poorly this stay has been handled. What is even more concerning is that we raised many of these issues during our stay — including the room defects, service failures and repeated dining problems — and there was little to no meaningful response or attempt to properly resolve the situation. Considering the amount we paid for what was supposed to be a luxury honeymoon, the repeated failures across accommodation, food quality, service and organisation are completely unacceptable. We do not feel the small apology gesture provided remotely reflects the extent of the issues we experienced. Given how many concerns were raised during our stay without proper resolution, we believe meaningful compensation or a substantial refund is warranted. At this stage, we feel extremely let down by the entire experience and cannot justify returning in the future. It is incredibly disappointing that what was meant to be a special honeymoon has instead been overshadowed by constant frustration, poor service and a complete lack of accountability.

Amazing attention, Clari and Mer were the best giving us a great service having dinner in Amici

A disappointing experience. The lift outside my room didn’t operate. Hadn’t done so for more than a month. The blind on the balcony had a hole in it. Needed replacing. The sunset cruise for 60 minutes (AUD$199) only served Bimbadgen non cuvée sparkling plonk. No white or red still wine. Friendly staff need more training. Duty manager George offered to meet me at Ban Ban restaurant to remedy shortcomings. Didn’t turn up! Some exceptional staff: Oscar (boat) and Aude (waitress from Canada) Derek Murphy ihg Platinum Elite Ambassador

Daughters Wedding...being kicked off the Island for the first 2 days of our pre Wedding set up due to a film being made...absolutely shows money talks...future bookings beware... Booked, contracted, deposited in July 2025 for my daughters Wedding in April 2026. Initially had issues trying to pay for our guests rooms in December '25, our deadline before 'Hayman' would cancel the rooms was Dec 29th...soo 3 phone calls later & now at Dec 30th, no one can tell us what's happening except that the rooms we were contracted to had all of a sudden disappeared??? We were however told by their events co-ordinator, (who almost immediately resigned after this complete disaster mind you) that there was nothing to worry about, it was just a glitch. Fast forward to a video call set up between us, Hayman events team, sales & reservations management on Jan 5th, 2026, which of course the only Hayman representative was our beautiful Events co-ordinator, the others chose not to join us even though they set it up. This call began with a very teary Events co-ordinator telling us that Sales had taken an Island wide buyout in November 2025 & that meant all our Wedding plans were completely disrupted... how on earth? What the actual &$//? Had you actually signed a contract with us? Yes, you did... Had we done as requested, paid any monies due when due, given any info you wanted? Yes, we did... Were we still within the time frame for paying for the guests rooms that you hold for any events? Yes, we were... Did you notify us of any issues? No, you absolutely DID NOT... Did we find out ourselves there were issues when trying to pay for accommodation, that was in our contract, and then chase you in an absolute panic? YES, WE DID... Did you choose loads of money over the 100 guests that were booked into your resort? YES, you did... We were all offered to shift to Hamilton Island or cancel our accommodation as the only solution? YEP, indeed. How on earth does that sound like a plan to you? For goodness sake, it's a Wedding... if we broke contract guaranteed you would be on us for any fees etc owed to you...oh gosh, that's exactly what happened funny enough. On our eventual, short stay after we were forced to change all ours & our families & guests plans, I rang one morning to say I didn't feel safe doing an Island hike due to the heavy rain overnight, only to be told we are sorry ma'am but you will still be charged as that's our policy & charge me though did. Have you completely overcharged me by $4,500 for bills that are not ours & a 'glitch' in your IT Ipad system? YEP, $850 a beer & an exclusive private dinner that's not ours...Have I called you & emailed you? YEP, of course... Have you replied at all? NOPE, of course not. On top of all that, did your laundry team forget to steam our Rehearsal Dinner outfits? Yep, so 2 hrs beforehand our new Events co-ordinator was frantically trying to find & steam herself, then deliver 10 people's outfits to their rooms... only to have this happen in the Wedding Day as well, are you flippin kidding me? At 12:00pm we were being sent photos of clothing in the laundry to decide was ours, who owned what & what rooms they were in.... not to mention you tried to charge the Groom $300 to have his steamed. What the heck is going on in your resort? Anyone looking to book accommodation and in particular an event, please beware they could do this to you, there is a chat on Reddit about it... the movie being filled that caused the buyout is 'Honeymoon with Harry', so a pretty big deal, money not an issue.

We have just returned from a 4 night stay on Hayman Island. It's been 20 odd years between stays. OMFG! Where to start. Rooms, awesome. Food, fabulous. Climate, perfect. Activities, amazing. Service, second to none. Staff. Ok, staff. Let's do it this way. Picture in your mind somewhere where you have experienced the best service ever. Picture that person giving you that service. Now, apply that to every single person you meet on Hayman Island and you'll get some idea of what you are in for. We have never come across nicer, friendlier, more courteous or professional service anywhere in our travels. Such wonderful diversity and all some obliging and kind. We would go back just for the people let alone the magnificent hotel basking in the beautiful azure Whitsundays. We cannot speak highly enough of them. They MADE our trip. Whilst Hayman is pretty special, an Island is but an Island and a resort is a resort. But, add these beautiful people from Hayman in the mix and nothing else comes close. If you are considering something special and want to experience service like no other, do your self a favour. Call. Book. Go!