The sea temple is a beautiful resort. That being said, we would never go back. To start, the sheets at this place were so rough they were like sleeping on sandpaper. They were so uncomfortable that my wife put the bathrobe down on top of her side of the bed and slept on that. The next problem was that the resort is very poorly planned out. The pool is huge and beautiful but if you are staying on or are just at the pool bar area, there is no convenient way to get the lobby/restaurant area without walking around the outside of the entire resort complex. There are very few sun loungers by the main pool area and many times people had to wait to get a place to sit by the pool. They charge a $5 fee to get lunch from the pool bar b/c the restaurant is far from the pool bar and the restaurants kitchen is where the pool bar food comes from. $5 is not a big deal but the food is pricey to start and they should just build that $5 charge into the price of food (so that it is less obvious). We didn't use the internet at the resort b/c it was $15 for a half hour of internet. It was $4 for a half an hour at an internet cafe in town and by comparison, at a major luxury hotel in Sydney it was $5 for half an hour. $15 for half an hour of internet is just price gouging and trying to get as much money from customers as possible. This is not what I would expect from a luxury resort. The people who work at the resort are nice and do their best to be helpful but the resort is definitely not well managed. On our first night at the resort we were told we could not eat dinner at their restaurant b/c we did not have a reservation. I was shocked because its a big restaurant and a hotel should figure out how to accomodate its guests. We checked in at 2 PM and no one said anything about needing a reservation for dinner. On our first morning at the resort we went to the pool and their were no pool towels. When we asked for towels they didn't get to the pool for over an hour. That's not what I expect from a luxury resort. While we were waiting for the towels there were resort staff cleaning the glass wall surrounding the pool for about an hour. This left me with the impression that they cared more about making the resort look nice than the service of guests. I think this is because they are still trying to sell apartments at the resort.

A few positives: the spa tub in the room was great, we were on our honeymoon so there was a complimentary bottle of champage with a congratulations note in our room when we arrived, and the resort was visually beautiful.

The Sea Temple was recommended by a friend - and is probably one of the loveliest hotels we've ever visited. The decor is understated and elegant, the staff are helpful - and it's only a couple of minutes walk along a boardwalk to a stunning stretch of beach. Our room was a 'swim-out' option, which gives you direct access into the swimming pool. Rooms are fabulously well-equipped, with a small kitchenette and laundry area at one end of a very long living room, with large dining table, comfy sofas and terrific view out into the hotel pool and vegetation. The Sea Temple is on a regular shuttle bus route for two local companies, with coaches which go into Port Douglas - about five minutes away - where you can enjoy a whole range of seafood restaurants. We can't speak highly enough of the staff who made sure we got to the Outer Barrier Reef for some fantastic snorkelling. We'd planned to go later in the week, but the reception team told us the weather was worsening, and that our best chance would be to replace our planned trip that day with a boat excursion to ensure we'd see some fish. In 10 minutes, they'd rearranged our planned trip to the rainforest to another date, booked us a place on the Calypso (highly recommended), arranged a hotel car to take us to the jetty and packed it with towels. Wonderful service - all carried out with a smile and no sense of fuss. Lovely.

I recently came back from visiting Australia with my family - we stayed at the Sea Temple in Port Douglas for three nights and it was great. We had been deciding between staying in Port Douglas or staying at Silky Oaks in the rainforest and I was happy that we chose PD!

All the facilities at Sea Temple are brand new and gorgeous. We stayed in a two bedroom/one bathroom suite on the 2nd floor that overlooked the large lagoon/pool. Each "suite" (or apartment as they call them) comes with a full kitchen - refrigerator, sink, stove, oven, etc - and a washer and dryer. Each also has a large deck - if you are on the first floor, your deck swims right out to the lagoon! Since the hotel was not full at the time we were there, we were lucky to also be given access to the rooftop deck that is attached to each 2nd floor apartment. The rooftop deck comes with a hot tub/jacuzzi, gas bbq grill, and plenty of space to lie out and enjoy the sun.

A full breakfast buffet was included with our room. The buffet provided ample options from hot foods (eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes etc) to cold foods (fresh yogurt, fruit, muffins etc) plus juices, coffees, and teas. We did not try any other meals as we went into Port Douglas every night.

The hotel is right next to the 4-mile beach. Although the rooms do not look out on the beach, it is easily accessible by a less than 5 minute walk. Definitely check out the beach at low tide because it is a sight to see!

Sea Temple is a bit further out from downtown Port Douglas than other hotels. Our family rented a car so it was about a ten minute drive into town. The nice thing about its location is that it was quiet and it was a nice retreat. However, if you don't rent a car, there are fewer food options nearby. That said, I believe there is a shuttle that runs between the Sea Temple and downtown Port Douglas.

Finally, if you are also reading this to learn a little bit about Port Douglas... the town itself is fairly small but offers many tasty restaurants and some fun shopping. If you're in town on Sunday, DEFINITELY go to the Sunday Market in the morning. It was probably the highlight of our visit to PD - there were many stalls set up with local produce, jewelry, crafts etc. It is also a great place to meet some local people.

A few restaurant recommendations:

1. Nautilus - this is a great place to celebrate a special occasion or for just a beautiful dinner. All the seating is set in the rainforest even though it is just up the street from the main street of Port Douglas. The service was fantastic and friendly. Two of us split a coral trout that is cooked whole and has a tangy salsa on top of it.

2. Salsa - We unfortunately only came here for lunch - we now wished we went here for dinner too! We went after the Sunday Market and it was packed. Lots of great seafood options and friendly staff.

I would caution against On the Inlet... before going on our trip, we saw some positive reviews for On the Inlet and looked forward to trying the mud crabs or coral trout there. Although it is true that the restaurant has a beautiful view of the harbor (esp at sunset!), the food and service itself was lacking... Perhaps it was just the day we were there, but there was not a wide variety of seafood available and our server was unfriendly and unknowledgeable about their products. Others were friendly (i.e. .the hostess), but our experience with our server left us regretting our decision to go to On the Inlet.

Finally, for things to do around Port Douglas... we visited the Rainforest Habitat which is right near Sea Temple. It was fun to visit - we spent probably two hours there. You can get up close to a koala, take pictures with it, pet it, really spend as much time as you would like with it. You can also enter an enclosure with kangaroos, emus, etc and feed the kangaroos. They offer guided tours every half an hour as well.

We also drove up to the Daintree Rainforest and took the Daintree River train. We took a walking tour first around the rainforest which was mainly informative on the different plant life of the rainforest. The river train itself took us to see some crocs and it was nice to see the scenery around the area. The tour guides are very knowledgeable about the area so feel free to ask questions!

Hope this helps with your trip!