More about Coral Sea Resort
Perfect wedding at Coral Sea Resort
by TripAdvisor Member Foal
We recently had our wedding at the Coral Sea Resort and everything was just perfect. The staff were all extremely friendly and professional. The waiting staff, in particular were fantastic. A glass was never left empty and in general their service was fast, friendly and polite. The food was fantastic and in large portions. Most of all, it is a gorgeous location. We were married on the lawn by the ocean and had our reception on the restaurant decking overlooking the beautiful pool and ocean. We have recieved nothing but praise from all of our guests for our choice of location.
I am certain the event was so successful due, in large part, to the excellent preperation and personal attention of Kara our wedding coordinator. Everything was finalised weeks before hand and we needed to meet only once for half an hour the day before just to double check everything was in order. This was great, because we did not want to be going over things in the days leading up to the wedding instead of relaxing. On the day, Kara, as all the staff were fantastic. The only mistake we made was having an outdoor reception which finished at 11pm. I would recommend anyone not holding their reception in the 'nautilus room' has the reception finish at 10pm as outside music has to be turned down at that time in consideration of other guests.
The accommodation is lovely; immaculate and comfortable. We left the resort the day after the wedding reluctantly, but will be certain to stay longer the next time we are there.
I strongly recommend the Coral Sea Resort to anyone, wether you are looking for a wedding or conference venue, or just a beautiful relaxing holiday. The resort's excellent location and close proximity to town means it is perfect for any occasion.
The Bicentennial Walkway
by betska
3 km of waterfront paths and boardwalks weaving their way from the Whitsunday Sailing Club, passing the Airlie Lagoon parkland, Coral Sea Resort, Abel Point Marina, Shingley Beach and finishing at Cannonvale's esplanade. Plenty of places to stop, rest, enjoy the view and take some photos. Half-way point, Abel Point Marina, is a good place to stop for a cold drink or a beer, there is a little club there.
Just Okay
by TripAdvisor Member noscreennameswork
The location of the Coral Sea Resort is the main thing it has going for it, as it is set on a piece of land that seems to stick out into the water, affording great water views from many vantage points on the property. I did have a comfortable stay overall, and I found the staff to be generally competent and helpful.
However, the hotel's decor is tired, to put it simply. This is true of the rooms, as well as (and particularly) the common areas. For the prices, I expected more updated and clean-looking surroundings (and not, for example, a large, dirty and worn welcome mat greeting guests at the main entrance to the resort, and a bedspread I wanted to rip off the bed the moment I entered my room for the first time). In addition, the hotel charges a fee if you pay your bill by credit card. I have encountered this practice in third-world, developing countries where the prices of rooms make paying with cash easy, but not in places that charge $300AUD/night and up. For such a place to penalize guests for paying by credit card - the most common method of payment for people who are traveling/vacationing - is absurd. I understand that hotels have to pay a certain fee to credit card companies, but that is a cost of doing business in the hospitality industry (especially at the Coral Sea's prices), and saddling guests with that expense is simply wrong. Finally, the whole place has a bit of a Disney-esque feel and, again, for the prices, I expected something a little classier, for lack of a better word.
The Coral Sea Resort spends a lot of effort touting its "award-winning" nature (you are constantly reminded during your stay about the awards the Coral Sea has won), but the hotel should spend less effort shouting about its awards, and more effort improving its decor and facilities to bring them in line with what people are entitled to expect from such an "award winning" establishment.
A Little Bit of Heaven in Airlie Beach
by TripAdvisor Member MKSKI
Just returned from staying 6 nights at the Coral Sea Resort and LOVED every minute of it - we stayed in one of the 2 bedroom apartments and loved have the laundry and kitchen (very helpul when you are traveling with 2 7 year olds) We woke every morning to a Fantastic view of the Coral Sea from both our Living room and master bedroom.
The staff were helpful and friendly and the location was perfect. A 5 minute walk to Airlie Beach Lagoon with the huge manmade lagoon for swimming (the girls LOVED it) as well as the town with numerous restaurants and cafes to choose from.
The tours we took picked us up and dropped us back at the Resort.
We found the resort to be very well maintained and very quiet which was nice - the pool was refreshing and never busy. We preferred this over the crowds and noise we experienced at Hamilton Island.
The one night the restuarant was closed for a wedding, we ate out on the Jetty which was really fun - the food was great and they were very accomdating to the girls and their needs.
I will definitely go back and stay at the Coral Sea - it was perfect for our needs
Customer Service excellent, very romantic stay
by TripAdvisor Member chellekat
My fiance and I stayed at the Coral Sea Resort in April 2006 and had a fabulous time. The customer service was wonderful - I believe the porter's name was 'Joey' and he went out of his way to look after us on our one week stay. I see that the person who posted just before me had a bad experience with the staff and that's such a shame - perhaps it has changed, but when we went last year they were wonderful - they even went out of their way to find out why our bus back to the aiport was late and suggested they would drive us personally if our bus didn't come. I always find with hotels, it's all a bit of give and get - I always tip porters when they carry my bags (and I am not a wealthy person), usually only around $2-5, but I have seen many wealthy people not tip at all and be rude to staff and still expect great service. Perhaps this gentleman took us a liking to us because we were friendly to him, but he always had a smile on his face. The hotel was clean, the outside spa (we had a gorgeous coral sea view room) very romantic and it was ideal for a couple with no children like us.
Poor service!
by TripAdvisor Member Holgurl
We had our wedding at the coral sea resort in September. The location is just perfect and the views are stunning. The rooms could do with being updated seeming the price that you pay.
On our wedding day it all seemed to go without a hitch until the wedding planner came up to us as we were having photos to tell us that they were going to charge us an extra $300 as we over stayed in the room the night before. We got ready in the room (the girls and I) and requested seeming as we were having the wedding there if we could have a late check-out as the wedding was not till 3.30pm they agreed.
Unfortunatly with all the rush checking out was the last thing on my mind. So at 4.30 (roughly) we were interrupted from our photo session. I thought that this was extremly un-proffesional and thoughtless. It really put a dampner on us. I agree it was our fault but she didn't have to tell us there and then!
Our wedding planner (not the coral sea planner) checked all our belonging out for us and they were out by 5ish. We had our reception (else where) and got back to our coral sea suite. There was supposed to be a bottle of champagne waiting-there wasn't. We called down to reception and the security guy didn't have the keys to the kitchen so couldn't get our bubbly. We also found a note pushed under the door from the Coral Sea resort wedding planner, apologising but stating that we still have to pay the $300, as we should have checked out at 3.30pm. Again very inconsiderate.
The next morning we went for breakfast and waited almost 30 mins just for our breakfast order to be taken, even though there were only 2 other tables. We complained to reception re:$300 and poor service and they just took notes.
We saw the wedding planner in the lobby and she just turned away and ignored us! The only member of staff who gave good service was the lady in the tour shop, she was lovely. On the day we checked out we kicked up a fuss and we didn't end up paying the $300-righly so! However by that point our stay was already tarnished. The resort has so much potential and I would love to stay there again, but the poor customer service really puts me off! We do have great photos though, but if you are planning on getting married there I would avoid hiring the wedding planner at all costs!
Very disappointed with room
by TripAdvisor Member PrincessOz
I have no doubt that this is a fantastic hotel, but we were bitterly disappointed with the room we had been given. We had booked a Coral Sea Suite for two nights mainly because on the website it showed it had a fantastic view, a spa bath and a hammock. It was not cheap at £150 per night but we really liked the idea of having a romantic couple of evenings, maybe ordering room service and chilling out on the patio in the hammock or spa and watching the sunset so we thought we would splash out. Unfortunately we were given room 201. Room 201 is located on ground level and is immediately next to and in full view of the restaurant and pool area. Very romantic I think not!!! It didn't even have a hammock!! The thought of sitting on the patio with an audience watching us didn't exactly please us. The noise from the restaurant would not have been what I would have expected to have got for such an expensive room. We spoke to reception and asked if we could be moved to another room as the suites on the other side of our block were not overlooked but were told that all the rooms were fully booked. We were very disappointed with this and thought it unsatisfactory so we decided that we would not bother staying at all and we checked out.
Probably best hotel in Airlie Beach
by TripAdvisor Member D&G-Reviews
Stayed four nights in a Coral Sea Suite with outside hot tub and hammock on the balcony. Refused the first two rooms as we didn’t think the views and privacy matched what was advertised.
Pros
Probably the best hotel in Airlie Beach
Great location on a promontory a short walk from the main street
View and private balcony are excellent if you’re lucky or persistent
Good pool and poolside areas
No need to go to Shute Harbour, boat trips run from local port
Town was better for getting to know it
Cons
Views from balcony depends on room location. Can be very disappointing if you’ve read the hype, but don’t get a good one
Some private balconies are not so private, even those with a hot tub
Hotel is a popular venue for private functions, so pool areas can be closed and noise can go on till late Town very popular with backpackers and can be noisy when suitable venues come to life at night
Not relax at all
by TripAdvisor Member Vickyqin
We've stayed at Bayview Suite for four nights during the Christmas. The room has a nice view, nice setting and very private. But we don't think the resort could be rated 4 star. Both the resort's hardware and software need to be improved.
And one thing I have to complain is there were so many insects around the resort, looks so scary and disgusting. Some huge black beetles (never seen them before) were just at outside of our room, and we also found a gecko inside the room. We don't think this would happen in a 4-star resort, and we dont like to see these insects appear around our room! The first night, my husband spent lots of time to check every corner of the room, and I was scared by those insects during the whole time of the stay, not relax at all!!! I told the staff to keep the corridor clean, but sometimes I saw the housekeeping staff came, they just ignored them. Why the resort couldn't do any prevention?!! Anyway, we hope the resort could pay attention on it.
Nice, charming hotel with good location.
by TripAdvisor Member cher1969
We stayed at the Coral Sea with our two boys ages 17 and 10. We were very happy with our room. It had two bedrooms, nice size fully equipped kitchen, large balcony and nice bathroom. We liked the location of this hotel. You could take a nice walk on the boardwalk into the town to eat or shop. Along the way they have a huge lagoon to swim safely in. As you can't swim in the cean here. The restaurant had a great lunch menu but the dinner was horrible and overpriced. We always had breakfast in our room so can't comment on that. The pool area was amazing, overlooking the sea and the restaurant is nearby. Many people get married here and I can see why. I would highly recommend this place if you are booked for any Whitsunday excursion. The bus picks you up and it's a short drive to Shute Harbour.
Photos
Walking toward Coral Sea Resort
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