Daydream Island Resort

I loved the vibe of the small island, you can walk everywhere and you feel like you are miles away from everything. There is room for improvement for the cleanliness of the bathrooms, especially the tabs on the sinc, need some good scrubbing. Apart from that, we had a magical week, blessed with the best weather for the entire week. Thank you, Daydream Island!!

Main areas of resort were beautiful, however the south end of the island needs renovations and bar wasn’t open. Buffet dinner was a letdown from what was advertised and ran out of dessert within an hour. Shower head in room needs replacing terrible pressure. Staff were helpful and friendly.

Very limited dining options for meals. Wouk like to see more options on menu as very limited for all

We loved the living reef, underwater observatory, educational talks and amazing staff. Breakfast was great, with plenty of options, and restaurants nice. A cafe serving sandwiches and salads for lunch would be a great addition. The gardens, pools and buildings are really well maintained, with lovely walks around the Island. An enjoyable 4 night stay!

Quiet and ever

Amazing location, staff were all amazing, food was great albeit a bit on the expensive side. Maintenance in this environment must be tough but most things worked as they should. I would highly recommend this for a family holiday and I would come back here again.

Lovely resort. Some nice features in particular the Living Reef and underwater observatory, both free. Rooms are large clean and well appointed. Still a few naintenance issues, eg, mould on outside of windows and on verandah walls. Inside generally maintained well. Lovers Cove a great place to sunbakw, swim and snorkel. Well protected from any SE prevailing winds.

Amazing stay. Highly recommended. Staff were so friendly.

We were extremely unlucky with weather, it was rain and strong winds during our stay. Unfortunately heater option was locked in my hotel room. Working fans were everywhere in common areas so there was also cold. This is not the best place for snorkeling. It is better to take tours to outer reef from here. The island itself is beautiful and hotel is great, many pools, reef, comfy mattresses, great views. Wallaroos, cockatoos, curlews everywhere, they all are so funny.

Overall a nice getaway, however you could tell that the buildings need to be updated (rust). More entertainment could have been provided as well.

Amazing resort overall with a great swimming pool and kids activities. Only downside is the cleanliness of the rooms is a bit lacking for a resort of this quality.

We loved the whole experience with our Toddler. Would definately come back

Disappointment Island :( Have previously been to Daydream Island twice and it was fantastic. Thought we would bring our Teens back to show them but what an absolute disappointment. Purchased a Superior Pool Side Room thinking we would have direct pool access like the photos. when we arrived you couldn't even see the pool the gardens are so overgrown and there is no access to pool, not worth the extra money. The rooms smell mouldy. The curtains have mould on them, the doonas and pillows all have mould and the horrible queen size beds are just full of urine stains and massive patches of black mould. Not to mention old innerspring mattress was like sleeping on the floor. We requested a room change and were declined twice, saying they had nothing available. But multiple rooms were empty. Food is average in the restaurants and not worth the price tag. The island is in major need of a overhaul as one end all the buildings are boarded up it's like a ghost town with a pool in the middle. Even the staff say it's not the same since it was sold in 2015 to the Chinese. Unfortunately Daydream Island is not worth WASTING your money. Rooms are dirty, mouldy, Tv's don't work, Sliding doors to balcony don't open, Food expensive and not great. Gardens overgrown over the paths so it's a little scary with snakes and the big Goanna's. Maintenance Staff blow the paths to clear the leaves and Kangaroo Poo but it just gets blown onto the garden or as we saw in the pool. Avoid at all cost.

No cash allowed to be used anywhere, only 2 restaurants as nice as they were. 1/2 the island is abandoned, one tiny place to amoke or vape. No room serves. It is an old resort, but us beautifully tropical It was very relaxing, but not worth the money

Wonderful location and pool areas. Cool snorkelling at Lovers Cove! Bathrooms needed a clean and could use some better menu options for the fussy youngsters

Beautiful grounds and lovely pools

Small island, relaxing & not a lot to do on the island if your not into swimming pools, limited Dining options, menu should change every couple of nights for more variety - but very central & great spot to do day excursions to other islands.

Setting is lovely but facilities are limited,dated & excessively expensive for what is on offer. The dining meals offer very little choice (particularly if staying for longer than a few days).

We really enjoyed our stay at Daydream Island. The staff are fantastic and the food was very good. Our room was comfortable and clean. The island is a really beautiful spot with crystal clear blue waters, fantastic pool areas, and the living reef really gives you the full experience of being at The Great Barrier Reef. There are plenty of activities on the island as well as trivia nights, bingo, and outdoor cinema. There are many tour options leaving Daydream Island daily for those who want to visit the reef, Hamilton Island, Airlie Beach,or Whitehaven Beach. The rooms have on-demand movies with a large selection including new releases. It would be great to have additional dining options. There is essentially two restaurants for dinner which while great, it does get a bit repetitive after a week. We also recommend making bookings for dinner before arriving as the two restaurants get booked out resulting in being restricted to having to do take away back to your room.

We came with our 2 young children under 4. At checkin we were given our keys and guided to level 2, when I questioned why we were not going to the room I had booked for a reason (pool side, ground level) the guy was really rude and said “generally we like to upgrade our guests)” I explained that I had booked the room for a reason for kids/naps but was told it wasn’t available anymore. I felt like that was why we weren’t given our original room. When we got to our room our booked cot wasn’t there, the walk to the room was so dirty and far away from all the facilities. Eventually we got our original room at 5pm and went to dinner - only to find out that you have to book a table every night! We had to takeaway food every night. The food was ok but very limited and pretty unhealthy food. My kids had a choice of chicken and chips, fish and chips, pizza, pasta and lumps of beef (too tough for a 1yr old). Everytime we asked for something it came out wrong and my daughter refused to eat it. Honestly, breakfast was the best part as it was buffet. So many families stashed food for lunch because of the lack of food for our children. More variety and access to healthy food should be addressed. The weather was unfortunately terrible which meant my kids had absolutely nothing to do as swimming was the only activity in the island due to their age. I felt the amenities for the younger children were terrible. A soft play for the younger children would be great.