The old Real Estate adage holds true for Saltwater. The location on the corner of Macrossan and Grant is perfect for the tourist in Port Douglas, especially with a family of 5 and 3 little ones needing prams/strollers/bags etc. We walked everywhere, and easily. Coles is practically across the road, it really was perfect.
So if I were reading this, I'd then wonder if the big plus of the location is let down by a dump that calls itself luxury as places in Port Douglas are prone to do. Well, I don't think Saltwater does at all. The apartment we had (the 2 bedroom penthouse) was excellent. Loads of room for all 5 of us, and all the facilities we could ever want from this type of accommodation. Our balcony was massive, with a table for 4 and 2 banana lounges. But we could see the other balconies were very modest as other reviewers have noted. If you're staying a week or so, I'd highly recommend trying to cut a deal to get the penthouse as we did, as the extra outside room was perfectly shaded late in the afternoon and was the ideal place to eat (we never once ate inside).
The pool was maintained perfectly, and John, the manager, was on hand for and with everything. Nothing seemed a problem for him. The best illustration of this was the email we got a couple of weeks before we arrived. John had noticed we were there for Melbourne Cup week and gave us a list of fmaily friendly functions he could book us in too, or, alternatively, because Cup day is so busy with functions, he could book us out to the reef which would be quieter. I think that's pretty good, and it set the tone for our stay.
To try and be balanced, I have tried to think of some negatives, and I have, but they are really quite minor compared to the overall place and the location, so here goes:
- Rubbish removal was to communal bins that were housed in a room in the garage to quarantine the smell, which the room did brilliantly, but when you were in that room, sheesh!
- Lots of stairs. It was hard lugging the pram up and down them, so if you're not that fit and you have prams/strollers, you might want to think about this as it was an effort and we're relatively fit.
Pretty pathetic, but then if I were to be more critical I would be being ridiculous.
I would definately book Saltwater again, and have recommended it privately a few times as well. If you want any more information or have any specific questions, message me.
Room Tip: The Penthouses have excellent balconies if you're travelling in numbers, but for couples the sta...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
December 8, 2011
Many thanks for the positive comments for Saltwater but as the author felt it necessary to post a couple of negatives [albeit minor in nature according to the author] our responses are as follows:
Rubbish smell: A couple of unfortunate attributes of the tropics are the heat and humidity which can cause the best wrapped food scraps to "go off" within an hour. The rubbish skips at Saltwater get emptied daily at around 7 am so if anyone puts rubbish out after that [containing things like prawn heads, fish etc], there are up to 24 hours for odours to generate. The skips and the room itself are also hosed out & disinfected regulary, but there is always the risk that potentially odorous rubbish is put out just after the cleaning has occured. Several "deodorising machines" have been trialled in the room but none were very affective. As the author stated, this was a minor negative, so hopefully, other readers will view this the same.
Stairs: As is commonplace in Queensland, buildings of fewer than 3 levels do not have to have a lift installed and Saltwater is no exception. We are very conscious of this to the extent that this fact is clearly denoted on the Saltwater website and also on the various sites on which we advertise. We are also proactive with people that telephone or email enquiries regarding them being OK with stairs. Also to offset this inconvenience, John & Carolyne usually assist in carrying guests bags up the stairs.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.