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GREAT property -IF your room is away from the sewer.
First the overview: Brampton Island resort is run by a company called Voyages who operate several resorts in Australia and the South Pacific. On Brampton Island there is only the Voyages resort and there are no other hotels, restaurants or businesses on the island. The island’s airstrip is excellent and in addition to the daily launch from Mackay (least expensive way to get there), there are fixed wing aircraft (6 seaters) and helicopters (most expensive but a very fun trip although we heard that after Nov 1 the heli service may be discontinued.) We flew in on fixed wing and out on Helicopter. The island caters to romantics and while we saw two babies in a week, we saw no teenagers. Mainly the resort was visited by couples of all ages – from early twenties to Octogenarians.
The one warning: The big warning is to be really careful about what room you are going to be assigned. In fact, I’d insist on knowing the room number BEFORE committing. The reason is that all rooms numbered above 65 face the sewage sediment pond. When the island breezes blow- which is all of the time – the rooms stink like a sewage treatment plant. The stench can be so bad that it will wake you up at night. Our experience was that we were in a room on the other side for our first four days and then had to move to room 103 for our last two nights (we had agreed to making a room change when we originally made the reservation so no problem with doing that.) Those two nights were awful because of the smell. I inquired at the desk just to make certain it wasn’t a temporary problem and the receptionist confirmed it is a known problem for which management is trying to find a cure. See the attached resort map that I uploaded. The sediment pond is labeled “Desalinization pond” on the map – don’t believe it – it is where all the toilets empty. Desalinization Pond is marketing spin by the management and I don’t blame them.
The positive experience: except for the sewage issue, the rest of our experience was all “top drawer”. The staff is wonderful. Very attentive and friendly enough. Every request was met and they anticipated our wishes almost before we asked. It really seemed like they thought of everything. We also found that there are so many organized activities that you could be active and entertained from sun-up to sun down. Many of the activities are free but the better ones range from inexpensive (AUD15 per person for a tube ride) to expensive (AUD 250 from a jet ski-snorkel safari all the way around the island – awesome and worth the pretty penny). By the way, there is a fun – par 3” pitch and putt” golf course. Clubs are provided for free but bring your own balls or else pay AUD 3.80 to buy balls. (The kangaroos hang out on the golf course all-night so there is affair amount of dung on the course – annoying but not troubling.) You can see a comprehensive list of activities on the Voyages/Brampton website. They do them all and they are all well run and a lot of fun.
Miscellaneous: there are excellent (and free) laundry facilities with a washer and drier for about every 8 rooms. You must buy detergent unless you bring your own. If you are up for it, the hike to the peak is well worth the effort – great lookouts. Also if you up for it, the hike around the entire island is on a well maintained trail although the 8.7 km walk is modestly strenuous with a lot of up-hill sections. We found the food to be excellent in variety and quality although not gourmet class. Snorkeling is very good. Not quite as good as other world class snorkeling places but very fine nonetheless. Especially if you can plan your trip so that low tides are in the afternoon. The snorkeling and sun are best when low tide is in the afternoon. Lots of bottled water is available throughout the resort (extra charge) and the lounge mixes wonderful island drinks.
All in all, Brampton is highly recommendable and we’ll certainly return for a future holiday – IF we can get a room away from the sewer.
P.s., The previous review talked about the Beach activities changing their times every day. That is true but for an excellent reason: the tides. Some activities such as Jet Ski are best not done at low tide whereas snorkeling is better at low tide. It is easy to follow because the tide schedule is posted for the full week as are the activity times - just be certain that when you sign up for an activity you know the time for the day that you sign up.
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