A mystery hotel deal led us to North Queensland’s flagship of retro opulence, the Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas. Built in the eighties by notorious businessman Christopher Skase it heralded a golden era for Port Douglas. Despite recent media attention suggesting it needs a revamp I was delighted when the booking site revealed our mystery accommodation and the opportunity to experience it for ourselves.
Our family of four stayed in a deluxe room with two double beds. While eighties notes were evident in the décor we didn’t view this as a negative. Rather, we were thankful for the spaciousness of the room, dining table, and marble bathroom with spa. The room fittings themselves were well maintained.
Setting the resort apart is its seemingly unending expanse of pool, a free-form lagoon with sandy edges perfect for small kids. The pool is filled with filtered sea water, and provided a gorgeous alternative to the off-limits ocean during stinger season. Four mile beach is just a few steps away from the pool which allowed my boys to search for beach treasures and count crab balls before cooling off in the safe water of the Sheraton’s Lagoon.
A highlight of our visit was the Aqua Bubble water play area. For an additional cost ($15 a day) children of in house guests receive a full day’s access to the inflatable Wipeout style course and kayaks. Awesome fun and definitely worth the extra money.
Service at the resort was exquisite, warm smiles and hellos from every staff member we encountered. We purchased a SPG kids pass for our four year old. This entitled him to breakfast, lunch and dinner when dining with a paying adult at the resort restaurant. My advice to other families would be to dine elsewhere in Port Douglas however as, even with the SPG kids pass our dining costs escalated rapidly and many family friendly feeds that are kinder on the wallet are on offer in town.
A kids club is available during school holidays however was closed during our visit.
In sum, yes, a resort revamp would dispel the eighties vibe. It wouldn’t necessarily increase the fun factor for families. Instead I suggest embracing the retro glamour while it still exists, taking advantage of the off-season specials and cooling off in the gorgeous lagoon pool.
This post is linked to Friday Daydreamin’ at R We There Yet Mom?
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Sounds like a fun getaway! Is that last photo a crab ball? I’ve never heard of them – what exactly is it?
Hi Lisa,
Crab balls are just the little sand balls that you find on the beach as a result of crabs digging their holes. Only exciting to very young kids! My kids like to look to find the biggest ones possible as they give an indicator of how big the crab is hiding in the hole.