Now Open for Business: Hamilton Island's Qualia

Where: Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia

February 1, 2008 at 11:40 AM | by amandak | Comments (0)

Last time we checked in at what might just be the best place to stay in Australia, the luxurious and exclusive Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, off the Queensland coast, they were due to open up any day. Now Qualia has been running a few months we thought we should check in on how the luxury's actually turned out.

And the answer is: from all accounts, very, very good. A recent write-up in The Australian from Susan Kurosawa, one of Australia's most well-known travel writers, was full of praise. And that's despite the fact that some of the resort is still under construction--she said that this has been so well-managed, you never feel like you're staying somewhere that's not finished.

Kurosawa describes that the lounge, bedroom and bathroom of each guest pavilion are all "four or five times the size of a standard hotel room" and that rooms also feature "all known techno-amenities", whatever exactly they are. Each pavilion is on its own site on the hilly slopes and because of the steepness in parts, guests are provided with their own electric buggies to drive around in.

What sounds particularly nice about Qualia is that it's upmarket without being pretentious or stuffy. Perhaps that's part of the Australian style of service there. It is, however, on the expensive side, with pavilions starting at A$1400 (US$1250) for a double per night. But there aren't many places so beautiful where you sit and watch the yachts sail through the Whitsundays. When someone offers us a night there, we'll be grabbing it.

[Photo: elinaLondon]

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