Port Douglas Sands Resort

I had a wonderful stay. The rooms were so clean and comfortable and Ian was exceptionally friendly. When I return to Sands after my day at the conference, it feels like I am returning home. I am not sure if I will return to Port Douglas again, but if I do, you will definitely be my first choice of accommodation.

First of all accommodation is next to impossible to find in Port Douglas and much more expensive than other holiday locations in Australia. I had been searching for weeks for availability and eventually had to settle for this accommodation. At nearly $3000 for 8 days I thought it would be ok. Firstly it's not really a resort. It strikes me as a residential complex with some apartments available to rent. The place is generally quite run down and grotty. Our apartment was ok but small and just had one aircon unit in the main area. The flat had minimal kitchen equipment and the bathroom was very old, worn, and a bit dirty. We did have cockroach visits every night but I think they are very common in QL. The beds were on wheels and rolled around the minute you touched them! We also had no clothes airing rack for towels and the washing machine was old and filthy. Turned all our whites grey! Also, we never managed to track down this advertised 'free breakfast' there wasn't any breakfast on offer when we stayed. The complex is sandwiched between two roads, and the beach is accessible only by the busy main road. A shuttle bus runs into town regularly. The parking was a nightmare. We couldn't park in our designated spot so we had to constantly try and find somewhere secure to park and ended up with notes on our windscreen when we parked in the wrong spot. The manager even told us to get out of his spot at one point! Pros: Small pool is safe and well maintained Staff are nice and very friendly Kitchen was relatively new Towel and bedding change if you stay 8 days Lots of towels available Cons: Main road to beach Need to drive to town Grubby and a bit run down Bathroom very run down Not a resort Parking an issue Split system in one room only Expensive for what it was