Lizard Island Resort

This is quite a special place. The service and attention to detail is excellent. The food is as good as any top rated restaurant in Sydney or Melbourne. The menu varies every night and the dishes are spectacular. The staff looks over every detail to make sure you're having an excellent time. They are well trained, and interested in making sure you're enjoying lizard Island. Paul, Sara , and the three or four gentlemen named David there have been any any nicer to us during our visit

We absolutely loved our stay at lizard Island. From the moment we were whisked to our room from the airstrip, the service felt warm and personalized. We got to know a lot of of our servers and staff, and they were all accommodating and friendly. We were very impressed with the fine dining and food and wine program - which you never know what you were going to get in an all-inclusive. The grounds were more of a rustic luxury - where you can enjoy the natural beauty of the island without it feeling manufactured and overly groomed. We loved that feel of the resort. There are endless activities to do from diving, snorkeling, sunset cruises, and hikes - or you can just hang out at the pool, which no one was ever at. If you want to just go on a zodiac ride, they’ll also take you out to look at some of the beaches - or leave you on a private beach for the day. The diving is some of the best we’ve experienced around the world. But the opportunity to snorkel and see the coral, turtles, and sharks from the shore any time is quite a treat. We probably never saw more than 20 guests at one time, so that is part of the luxury - is it is remote and not crowded. This is a special place! Highly recommend. Definitely check out the marlin bar when it is open if you want a more casual vibe and food for a night.

Devastating By 1.00am on our first night, I'm contemplating departure. Our Seaview room view is blocked by overgrown unkept garden, we only have one luggage rack I n our double room, I can't sleep because of the plastic cheap bedding, and I can't forget my serve of ice cream was the size of my thumb. Dead garden, dead leaves everywhere, an unpleasant unnecessary eyesore, not to mention a serious irresponsible fire hazard... Boardwalk needs work. With such large splinters and many other trip hazards it is an accident waiting to happen. Does not pass the pub test. Extensive unkept dead foliage on the ground is not only an eyesore, but also a serious fire hazard. Unbelievable ... No night watchman, no staff on duty, the bar man just left four of us to our own devices. We had recently moved room, and there was no light illuminating outdoor room number. In the dark trying to establish if we had the correct room from the front of the villa by the belongings on the outdoor table, my partner, not surprisingly fell. I rang the only number I could find on web, was directed to head office...once again not surprisingly no help offered. Zilch! Beach Picnic, vg food, but staff forgot half our booze order, hardly an incentive to have a good time .... Masseur like a machine, just going through the motions, bugger the client, despite the high cost Shop and spa frequently unattended Housekeeping vg Fri pub night. Stingy amount of Pizza. I thought more would be served and waited our turn, but should have hopped in, no pizza. Bar closed much earlier than it used to, no warning and in middle of good conversation. I used to have elderly cousins who holidayed at Lizard Island every year... and it had always been my plan to follow in their gracious footsteps. Looks like I will have to make a new plan. Pity. Lizard used to be 10/10, now it's maybe for the price 6/10 if it is lucky. It needed a giant kick up the proverbial. We have not booked a return sojourn this season, Australia has many very good high end destinations to choose from. Unfortunately Lizard Island is no longer the high end it used to be.

First, I want to clarify that this review comes in the context of disappointment related to the weather. Because of a low front off shore the entire time we were there, it was impossible to go out on boats to the reef or even to snorkel from the beach. That being said our experience at Lizard Island was mixed. My first advice is not to book during the rainy season. You can get lucky and have good weather or you can have our experience and be stuck on shore. We booked for the first week that they were open after a three week break during low season. There is a reason it is the low season. The pros: from the moment you arrive the lovely, attentive staff do a wonderful job of making you feel well taken care of. The resort is beautiful, tastefully appointed with lots of nice touches. The food is for the most part excellent ( a couple of dishes were a little too salty) but mostly it is remarkable that they can prepare such excellent, varied meals when they have to import everything to the island. They also make a huge effort to have a "bad weather" list of programs. We also appreciated their giving us an upgrade to a water view room. Cons: Given that they were closed for three weeks to attend to maintenance, we had a lot of maintenance issues with our room. First, we had a strange odor that smelled like burning plastic. To their credit the front staff person (Shannon who is terrific) came out right away when we called. It turned out to be related to the dehumidifier and went away when it was turned off. However no one ever replaced or fixed the dehumidifier during our three night stay even though they said it was important to use. In addition, the door mechanism required a battery activated lock which was also malfunctioning so we were either locked into our room or out unless we left another door open. This also was not repaired after being reported. Lastly, even though the resort was closed for maintenance for three weeks before we came, they chose to treat our plunge pool while we were there so we couldn't use it. Not good when the ocean was too rough for swimming. There was a resort pool but still... I imagine that had we been able to be actively involved in the water based activities these maintenance issues would have been less bothersome but given it is a high end resort and the level of attention to other things, we expected better. All in all, I would advise booking Lizard island in a season with more predictable weather and leaving enough days in case one turns out to be bad. I also hope that they put the attention into keeping up the rooms that they do into everything else.

It delivers on every level. No false advertising. This is not an ultra chi-chi hotel. This is an hotel for people who know what they want. For the very active nature lovers, looking for natural beauty and the best cuisine I’ve had since I’ve been in Australia. Crispy duck confit over a velvety red curry sauce, just to name one of the MANY inspired dishes. Staff very attentive, perfect. Don’t change a thing.