Got to give a shout out to Murray, the Receptionist at the Oaks Lagoons during our stay there. He was so friendly right from the get-go, and with a wicked sense of humour.

When we arrived, he asked if we had planned tomorrow's activities, and when we said no, he gave us a suggested itinerary for the day which was fantastic! I'll post it here so that all who stay at Oaks can take advantage of it!

First, he said, you are getting up VERY early and going down to the beach (5mins walk) to watch the sunrise at 5.30am. After this, you stroll along the beach 45mins into town, which works up an appetite for breakfast at a great little cafe. After that, because it was Sunday, we would walk down to the Esplanade to the sunday craft market and look around before catching the 11am steam train right back to the hotel, then a leisurely lunch and afternoon by the pool.

Well followed this plan exactly, and had a fabulous day!

So, other good things about the Oaks Lagoons - well, again, Murray was so helpful - I was fussy and asked to change my room becuase I wanted one with a swim-out patio. I was originally assigned a room with a private spa bath on the balcony, which seemed great at first but the problem is that, for privacy, the spa baths are surrounded by a high steel wall, which blocks the light from the room and takes up all the space so you don't get a big patio/sunlounger area. I felt a little claustrophobic in that first room with its high walls, so I asked to be moved and good ol' Murray sorted it out for me - what a legend!

If you can, book one of the swim-out studios (if you are not bothered about having a spa bath, ask for one without) - direct access to the pool from your room - heaven! Also, since the rest of my party were in nearby rooms, I could swim over to their place for a glass of wine, then swim home! :)

The central BBQ area is one of the best I've ever seen, spacious, clean and shaded.

The pools are excellent, shallow at either end and deep in the middle, and so refreshing in the November heat! Each ground floor room has its own steps into the pool too. Did I mention there are LOTS of pools?

The room was clean and confortable, with a little kitchenette perfect for having tea and making sandwiches etc but it is not for self-catering as no stove. For that, use the BBQ :)

Parking is excellent at this place - if fact you can park right outside your room!

The hotel does not have a restuarant of its own, but gives you a voucher for a meal for $15 at the Ramada hotel next door, and with that you even get a free bottle of wine per 2 people!! The meal you get is the special of the day, but there was a choice of two and both were excellent.

The only negative point of Oaks is that the internet here is bloody expensive. There is Wi-fi, but we didn't want to pay $20 a day for it! However, if you are going to go next-door to the Ramada to eat, use the free internet there! There is free wifi in the bar area, and they also do great frozen cocktails to enjoy while you surf the net.

I would also love to see Oaks adopt a no-smoking policy, because smoking is allowed pool-side, and that means you may end up next to someone smoking on their patio.

Overall, this was my favourite acommodation in my 18-day trip to Queensland. Port Douglas is a delightful little place, even if I did spend a great deal of it in the hotel enjoying the pool!

Once again, thanks to Murray for being an outstanding member of staff and really contributing to an amazing stay!

I stayed here for work and found it to have everything I needed. The hotel rooms were comfortable and included all your standard fittings. The bonus was the spa on the balcony, lovely touch to a busy day. About 4km walk into town, plenty of parking. Pool was lovely. Only downfall was no free wifi.

We booked a swim out room at Oaks Lagoon for a little R&R to get over the long wet winter in Auckland. The timing was perfect 30 degrees C every day with humidity 60%, out of school holiday timings, in between seasons and prior to the humid and hot summer months.
Lagoon has 5 great swimming pools which means you have the opportunity for your own space. The concept of the swim out room was great with your own swim ladder and loungers. The room was a little musty smelling when we arrived so bought some "nilodor" drops from Coles and after a couple of days cleared the smell. Room was clean and tidy and staff really friendly and helpful. This place reputedly has the best Barbeques for your use in Port Douglas not that we were thiee to cook Barbeques. After reading a few reviews I was interested to see how long it would take to walk in to town and yes it is a good walk35- 45 mins along the beach however the buses runs from Ramada next doors every 15 minutes $9 return or 3 or 7 days passes. Found a great restaurant "Beach Shack" 8 minute walk away amd a fantastic Deli OTZ 5 minutes away, who do the best baked daily Ham and Cheese Croissants. OTZ also run the reastaurant at Niramaya Villas and Spas across the road with Wednesday being a BYO night. Niramaya is a $450 per night Spa so worth the visit just for the surroundings. The food is fantatstic and the setting out of this world. So while a little way out of town we found the swim out room, sunshine, pool and peace and quite just what we needed. I have rated this as very good as we got the room on an Entertainment book $80 per night special so I cannot complain.

We stayed in a 2 bedroom lagoon room which was very private and quiet. The apartment was clean and well equipped, but smelled a bit musty when we arrived. This was solved by leaving the ceiling fans on 24/7. The only down side was that we had to ask for a spare toilet roll as there were no spares in the apartment. A suggestion also would be to provide spare bin liners, and a bottle of dishwashing liquid, as that would be a nice touch rather than having to supply our own for short stays. Locally provided shuttle bus into the main street is convenient, but is quite expensive at $5 each way. It certainly adds up very quickly, and it's too far to walk it comfortably.