Pullman Port Douglas Sea Temple Resort & Spa

Stayed in 2 bed penthouse. Lovely experience. Rooftop bbq and spa. Apartment had full kitchen. Garage parking. Pool is magnificent. Restaurant is ok,better options in town. Regular shuttle bus to/from town, runs till late. Apartment comfortable, A/C throughout and ceiling fans. Lift to help taking luggage to 1st floor apartments. Quiet, clean and relaxing.

Contrary to prior practice this year we decided to book a "5 star" resort some distance from the town of Port Douglas. In my humble view, Sea Temple Resort is a classic example of a venue that is not quite a resort, not quite a hotel and not quite villa accommodation. It is a mixture of all 3 and this has resulted in a few "pros" and quite a few "cons". This will be a long review, so apologies in advance, but need to comprehensive for the benefit of fellow travellers. Please note that we were placed in Unit/Villa 154 - I suspect that not all Sea Temple 2 bedroom villas with a private plunge pool will be identical (as these are clearly individually owned and not all owned by the Resort) so some of the comments may be specific to that room: PROS - nice size villa - the photos on the website are accurate. Spacious rooms; - good size TV in living room with a smaller one in main bedroom; - reasonably good sound proofing when doors are shut (kids in the pool next door made a bit of noise) however, scraping of chairs and footsteps from the above unit were quite annoying; - a great resort pool - good for kiddies, but beware if you get a unit near the kids end of the pool - quite noisy; - easy access to 4 mile beach. CONS - Parking - we were told that there was no allocated parking. Being 6 kilometres from the town of Port Douglas many guests had cars. It is a free for all when getting a car park. In some cases, you might end up parking 150 metres from your room. Even more galling is that we discovered one of the garages was in fact allocated to rooms 153/154 (even though this was not mentioned when we checked in) - all this did was result in a game of cat and mouse with the car from room 153!; - Outdoor area lacks maintenance - pool tiles need a good clean. Covered in a film of grime. Also, found what appeared to be an insect nest on one of the chairs (see photo); - This apartment is not appropriate for someone with mobility issues- the shower is in the bath, which means having to step in and over the bathtub edge - might be tricky for older people; - no fan in the bathroom - even if we opened the windows and left the bathroom door open, it would steam up like a turkish sauna and cover everything in the bathroom with a film of moisture (including the towels); - A lack of any instructions - there is an "Accor" channel on the TV but it was not operational (see photo). There are no instructions provided on using any appliances of note; - for a fully contained unit, the lack of utensils, plates and bowls was an issue - there is the bare minimum; - only one toilet - not a major con, but it is in the bathroom - if you are sharing this villa with another couple, might need a roster to be put in place; - only very limited extras - for example, no salt or pepper, limited coffee pods, limited dishwashing powder - we were staying for two weeks; - A disconnected smart TV - whilst the resort provides wi-fi (which is of average strength) there is no internet. A 5 sta

We couldnt get in here with our accor membership as they were booked out but had breakfast here on our trip to Port Douglas. The breakfast was a lovely location. Cass the server was very friendly, helpful and a pleasure. The omlette was great and the choice and set out was better than most other Pullman buffett breakfasts. Only downfall is the bacon. I think it is air fried and goes hard very quickly. Other than that everything was lovely.

The two bedroom apartment we stayed at was privately owned. It has a spa on the roof top with a large outdoor area with BBQ facilities. The apartment was fairly well equipped though it would be better with a second bathroom. The shower is over the bath which may be tricky for someone who is a little less mobile. Communication with the host was excellent. We did not dine at the restaurant but they were very kind to deliver a small amount of tomato sauce to the room when the request was made. The resort has direct access to Four Mile Beach. Overall, it was a comfortable stay.

The resort is beautiful with a stunning pool which gives an outlook which would be recognisably 5 star to international travellers. Inside the apartments is quite a different story. We encountered chipped and patched areas in the bath and cabinets. The shower is in the bath and quite high up. As a person in my 60s who has hd a hip replacement I found it quite nerve racking. The furniture is tired, uncomfortable and stained. I needed to bring a pillow from the bedroom to manage sitting for more than 10 minutes. Provisions are the bare minimum. No salt and pepper for example. The placemats are stained and grubby. The cleaning service is laughable. They make the bed and change the towels but don’t sweep the floors or clean down surfaces. They are in and out in 5 minutes. The breakfast, for more than $40 per head, has deteriorated from past stays. The fruit on offer is cut up melons and pineapple, there used o be citrus fruits and a wider selection. The bread for toasting is all a commercial tasteless brand where there used to be freshly baked sourdough. On the plus side are the made to order omelettes and fairly decent barista made coffee. Sitting having coffee and looking at the view is indeed a highlight. The staff are all lovely, and eager to please. I had a great massage at the spa, but like everything here, not cheap. The restaurant was just ok, with high prices, and service which doesn’t match, for example, having to ask twice for cutlery for our side dishes. Avoid the coconut pannacotta!! For $19 we got a strange rubbery dish with tasteless bits of melon on top. (Maybe the leftovers from breakfast!!) We come back here most years which may seem strange given all of the above. We know by now to take the good with the bad. The pool area and gardens are something special. The distance from town doesn’t worry us too much, we love walking into town along the gorgeous beach. But I guess we know by now what we will get, we like the convenience of an apartment where we can cook for ourselves some nights, and not that sure there is anything better. Just feel that visitors thinking they will get 5 star in the same scale as Bali and Fiji will be dismayed and disappointed, so do be aware of the downsides of this resort.

Beautiful resort, clean rooms and great destination for a family. Food in the restaurant was fantastic and cocktails at the pool bar on a beautiful day is unmatchable. Thank you to the reception team for looking after us. Will can't wait to return in December.