Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas

If you love swimming in huge shimmering lagoons, you will absolutely adore this resort!

The best feature of this resort is the acres of beautiful pools to relax in. The pools do get some leaves from the palm trees, but they have two people full-time in the water scooping the leaves.

We stayed here for a week in April 2005, when the occupancy was only about 15-20%.

After reading previous tripadvisor reviews about the refurbishment, we booked a Superior Lagoon Room. However, this room did not have a nice outlook. On speaking with reception, they advised that the reburbishment only involved putting in new sofas and CD players. The bathrooms (cream marble with pink baths) in all the rooms in the resort were done in 1987. On hearing this, we asked to see a Premium Mirage room. What a difference! This room (room number 4115) overlooked the main lagoon, with spectacular views from the windows. The furnishings and bedding were better, toiletries provided were a better brand, and the view amazing. It also had great lounges, CD player, spa bath.

If you want to enjoy this resort, you must book a Premium Mirage room. I recommend room numbers 4115 or 4114 as these face the main lagoon.

In terms of the restaurants, we loved the Lagoons buffet restaurant for breakfasts and dinners. Also tried the Zai Japanese restaurant, and had High Tea in the Daintree Lounge. Service and food are 5 star.

It was a wonderful, relaxing holiday!

We went as part of a tour in November (a quiet time at the hotel) It's apparently the busiest in July / August, the Australian winter. When we were there the staff ratio was (almost) one to one. We were given initially a "musty" smelling room (we asked for a No-smoking room-so it was possible that it was smoke..but more likely that the room hadn't been used for sometime.There was no problem in changing the room which was much better. In November, the pools and lagoons were wonderful. Other people on the trip enjoyed evening meals,(we only had Breakfast!) There is an excellent Bus service that goes from opposite the hotel into Port Douglas. The (Free) Hotel shuttle bus stops at dusk! It was without doubt the best hotel we stayed in on our 7 stop tour.

We were very disappointed upon arrival at the Sheraton Mirage . . . I cannot imagine how it ever gets such good reviews. The complex in nice but the rooms were awful. They are in need of a major overhaul. We were even upgraded because we are Starwood Gold Members, but it did not help. We could have sworn that the rooms were decorated in the 1970s and then never given a second look. It may be a nice hotel on Australian standards, but if you are used to luxury hotels/resorts in the US -- you are not going to be happy here. The pools were so filthy they were unswimmable. Although we loved Port Douglass, we would not go back to the Sheraton Mirage.

My husband and I stayed here Nov.15-19th and wish we could have stayed another week!! This is now one of our favourite "TOP 5"- 5 STAR hotels in the world, even better than Shangri-La in Sydney. Our fav. is in Maui!! Anyways, I must first comment on all the NEG.ROOM REVIEWS - YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!!!!! We had a ground floor, lagoon view w/balcony by request that we paid a lot for - but worth every penny! DO NOT GET A GARDEN OR MIRAGE ROOM FOR THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RENOVATED!!!!! I spoke to the management personally before our trip several times because I had heard so many neg. reviews on different websites about tired grounds/rooms. Tracy Lamont (reservations supervisor on property) was honest enough to tell me that only the Superiour Lagoon Rooms (the one we had) had yet been renovated - though they all will be renovated soon. You can only "request" a balcony, but if you're persistent like I am and contact them directly several times (ask for Tracy) then hopefully you'll get the balcony guaranteed.

***I cannot say enough about the service, our room, grounds, restaurants, or amenities/activities on property - you just have to see it to believe it, for the different websites that offer pictures/descriptions do not do it justice! I know it is incredibly expensive for the area but that is ONLY because it has NO COMPETITION! The Peninsula Boutique, Portsea, Plantation, and Outrigger resorts don't even come close to this place - they're a joke! So unless you're really worried about money - SPOIL YOURSELF AND STAY HERE! Feel free to e-mail me w/questions or to see pic's I took of the hotel, grounds, etc.

***My fav. thing about this hotel other than the service/room was the INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL AND MASSIVE swimmable lagoons/freshwater pool (w/swim up bar) - even Hawaii can't offer this!

Also, it's only 3km from town - free shuttle every 20minutes, 15 minute walk along beach or 5 minute bike ride along beach - WE LOVED THE BEACH, esp.at sunrise/sunset.

*****IF YOU FOLLOW MY ADVICE YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED WITH THIS HOTEL/RESORT!!!

Stayed here for 2 nights in late November, just before the summer travel rush, so the resort was fairly deserted. I requested early 11am checkin and was told when I arrived to wait for housekeeping. After numerous protesting, they assigned me to another room - but I have no idea why this was even an issue for them.

The rooms are spacious and bright, but both the soft goods (bedspread, carpet), the furniture, and even minor things like the towels and ironing board are incredibly tired. I felt like I'd gone back in time and was expecting a far nicer room at such an expensive resort.

The bathroom was large, surrounded with marble, and had a separate shower and tub. Some rooms have jacuzzis, but my low end garden view room didn't.

The grounds made up for the room - the lagoons and pools are enormous, and given the resort was empty there was free reign of the facilities. While the staff was friendly, I don't think they were especially proactive at offering towels, drinks, etc.

The four mile beach is just behind the hotel and it's a nice 30 minute stroll into Port Douglas, a laid back beach town with a full range of restaurants and shopping. If you prefer, the hotel has a regular shuttle into town. In the summer there are dangerous stingers which means you need to stay out of the water.

Overall I liked the resort, but would stay somewhere cheaper next time, because it seems like the only way to have a chance at staying in a nice room is to pay for a much more expensive category - and the base category was already pushing my price range.

The staff were extremely helpful. I requested a doctor to visit me and he was in my room within 1/2 hour. Justine, in guest relations, guided us to the best reef cruise and dinner reservations. We wanted to stay longer. Next time it's a week in Port Douglas!

My husband and I spent five days at this hotel and had a great time. The room was very nice--it had been updated recently. Very roomy accomodations. The hotel does not have views of the ocean, but that's ok because it preserves the beauty of the beachfront. It makes the beach look unspoiled in comparison to other beaches around the world (Hawaii, South Beach, etc.). We felt welcomed by the hotel front desk staff, which is a rare experience nowadays, it seems. All in all a great time had at this hotel.

It could be a great Hotel but.....it would have to have a protected beach in front of the hotel, the decoration is not nice at all, the rooms are dark, the service at the restaurants is very week. Good breakfast but lunch is very poor. The bakery is terrible, same for the service there. The golf is great and all the rest of the service is quite effficient.

This place is amazing, such friendly staff, great service,The breakfast is fab! Its a great place well worth a stay.

In one word PARADISE, pure bliss. The swimmable lagoons are fabulous and breakfasts out of this world. Staff very friendly and not too far from Port Douglas, lots to do in area and nice 15 min walk along beach to Port Douglas. Pity it's so far away as I would go back in a minute.