Our flight was up to Hamilton Island and that was all I knew. Once we arrived at the airport, we were then taken to the Hamilton Island Marina and there were 2 launches docked, there was one for Hayman Island and the other had no name on it so it was a bit of a mystery.

They took us over to the Hayman Island launch and I knew this trip was going to be something I’ve never experienced. Once we got on we were welcomed with drinks and the service started from there. The boat ride took about an hour and we finally arrived at our destination - Hayman Island. We were greeted by the management team at the jetty which was a really nice touch for the beginning of our trip.

We got checked-in into our Pool Deluxe Room’s which had magnificent views of the Hayman pool and partial views of the beach. The room was a comfortable size and I think the views made up for any small issues that you would notice.

We had the afternoon free to ourselves so we walked around the resort to do a quick inspection and get ourselves familiar with the facilities available. We then got an itinerary to advise what was organised for our weekend. That night we were invited to join the Chef’s Table for a unique experience that takes one behind the scenes for dinner in the kitchen. The Chef’s Table is held in one of the main kitchens on Hayman with the meal accompanied by Premier Australian and international wines from Hayman’s extensive cellar, which houses around 20,000 bottles of wine. The evening was a very memorable experience … and I suggest everyone try it if they get the chance during their stay.

After our breakfast at Azure Restaurant, our day of full pampering began where we went for a luxury boat ride sailing around the island sipping on French champagne and a massage/facial to complete the day. What a tough day we had  . The Spa Chakra team was unbelievable! They did a fantastic job which made me feel relaxed and rejuvenated. The spa offers Hayman guests an exclusive selection of personally-tailored beauty and well-being programs designed to restore wellness and balance.

It was time for us to leave which was such a shame cause I was just getting settled in and getting used to this luxury life. I would definitely return back to Hayman Island on a personal level so I can relax and unwind.

On April 13th Qualia celebrated its six month anniversary, marking 213 days in operation, and some 3,000 guests through its front gates. Often called Australia’s first ’six star’ property, the luxurious all-villa resort on the northern tip of Hamilton Island has already made a mark on the Great Barrier Reef experience. qualia got off to a running start, managing to hit 60% occupancy, with the average stay at the four night mark, and already seeing a 10% returning guest rate. This high-end Whitsunday compound sits on 20 acres of land, and so far features 27 ‘Windward Pavilions’ and one Beach House. Come June, 32 additional ‘Leeward Pavilions’ will also grace the qualia compound, along with a helipad, dock and secondary entry point. In the six months of operations, the ultra-deluxe resort has seen 6,000 room nights, five major conferences and numerous local and international celebrities – though they’re keeping mum on names. Expect to see more out of this very Australian resort as it gears up to launch itself overseas.

Would recommend the Vomo destination to anyone.

The instant we arrived we felt welcomed. We were personally greeted by the managers Wayne & Toni-Maree with a fresh coconut to drink from, a frangipani lai and welcome song from local staff.

Loved the beach front access from the villa, the villa interior, villa air-conditioning, daily laundry service and the chef’s selection of food. It was always delicious and Marc’s (I think that is what the chef’s name was) themed events were adventurous with a Christmas dinner, lovo night (complete with local Fijian dance and song and Kava ceremony) and Fiji night with local produce.

The effort make to make the little ones have a special xmas away from home with a visit from Santa bearing gifts was tremendously thoughtful. And the villas all received a wonderful xmas surprise too from management and Staff of Vomo.

Any hiccups (e.g. faulty safe, wrong size plug for bath) during our stay were either fixed straight away or the following day.

Wayne and Toni-Maree including all the staff really made our holiday a wonderful experience.

After such an experience it was hard to adjust to the corporate feel of the Radisson; although it was still a nice experience. The littlies really liked the pool and water slide that were close to our room; very convenient. The rooms you organised for us were adjoining and beautifully fitted with the finest decor and lovely big beds. We also had dinner one night at the V experience restaurant in the Sofitel where the food again was absolutely competitive to anything that Sydney has to offer in the upmarket notch.

Last week I spent Monday night at the Tanoa and Thursday night at the Novotel.

With the recent refurbishment of the Novotel, I thought you might appreciate some feedback.

From a room perspective, the furnishings, bedding and general ambience of the Novotel is far superior to the Tanoa.

At the Novotel, I was upgraded to a Deluxe room with a verandah that overlooked the golf course.

The TV programmes were a little better at the Tanoa - they have one or two extra channels.

The food was also a lot better at the Tanoa. You can still request an omelette that is cooked for you personally. The Novotel only offered pre cooked breakfast facilities, even the cappucino was made via a self use machine!

Check in and foyer areas are similar - Tanoa has a bar with a bit more atmosphere - the Novotel had a more shops and a reasonably good Senakai Spa. (Even got a treatment there at local rate!)

Just came back from a 9 day Fiji tour, here’s the update for discerning travellers’ fiji holiday:

Nadi/Mainland area:

At the airport, Mocambo has just been renovated, and is now renamed Novotel, rooms have been significantly improved, highly recommended for pre/post stay for island holidays.

We stayed in Shangri-la for two nights for the trade day organised by Fiji Visitors Bureau. Its not a hotel suitable for first class travellers, except the new ‘premier ocean bures’ being built on the other side of the hotel, in front of the spa facilities, all luxurious one bedroom, with indoor and outdoor spa, beach front, between the exclusive Chi Village and Wedding Chapel. A heli pad is also provided for guests who wish to take heli transfer from the airport. This hotel offers varieties of dining options, a night club, excellent evening shows, great facilities and activities for kids.

In Denarau area, we visited the new Hilton and Radisson.

Hilton is very modern, does not have much of a fijian feel, too much concrete i think. Part of resort is still under construction (further apart from the completed section). studio/1br/2br are beautiful, but not too spacious. 3 br villa is impressive, with plunge pool in the garden. Resort pool is enormous, other facilities (gym, kids club) are average. The beach has black sand, but covered with white sand transported from elsewhere. White sand gets washed away at certain parts and require new sands.

Radisson is a nice 5 star property, not as luxurious as Hilton, it offer great value. beautiful lobby, pool area and nice accommodation. Currently has some great offers for rates as well as upgrade from deluxe room to 1br, and from 1br to 2br.

I revisited Westin, i’m not a big fan for the renovated Westin, mainly because the bathroom is quite ordinary, definitely not the usual Westin standard. For that reason, and value for money, i’d much prefer Radisson or Sofitel. If you are staying in Westin, book the deluxe rooms which are on second floor, with high ceiling, dvd, surrounding sound system.

Our next stop is the Vomo Island, the island has nice beach and on two different sides of the island. Accommodation are mostly beach front, some hillside, the bures are nice but not as impressive as the new 3 br villa - absolutely gorgeous. The resort is also completing some beach front 4br villas. You can go to Vomo island via helicopter or boat transfer with South Sea Cruises, its a vessel transporting general public, if you want extra comfort, pay additional fee to get in the captain’s lounge. On the way back from Vomo, we actually met the priminister of Fiji in the lounge! Shame we didn’t take a photo with him..

We then flew to Northern Islands, where its known for world class diving sites.
the aircraft to Northern islands are usually small, 20 seaters, which would certainly make some passengers nervous.

We visited Taveuni Island Resort, Qamea, Namale and Jean Michel Cousteau.

Taveuni Island Resort, is 10min drive from airport. Its set on cliff, beach is down below and not that great, but the accommodation is beautiful, most with stunning ocean views, open space, lots of green lawn area in front of the villas. It does not cater for children.

After half an hour on a bumpy road, and a 15min boat transfer, i was expecting to see a 6 star property on Qamea Island, unfortunately its a 4 star and i believe their best villa accommodation is over priced. However, its a great property for ppl who loves the rain forest experience, and for divers who has easy access to some of the best diving sites. Resort management and staff are hospitable, very friendly and organise alot of activities which easily fill a week’s holiday.

Namale is a great resort for honeymooners and corporate conferences (the resort is in the process of seperating the resort to these two areas). The grand villas are luxurious, with lots spaces. The resort, being Anthony Robbins’ training ground at times, has lots of interesting facilities, where you could easily entertain yourself if it rains for days, facilities like ten-pin bowling, basketball court, 1200 sq ft gym with huge screen for sports tv, movie theatre, virtual golf, putting green, billiards… the resort also has excellent spa facility.

The best family resort in fiji would be Jean Michel Cousteau, nothing beats ‘a nanny per child under 5 offer’ by the resort and the kids club is the best i’ve seen in fiji. Most rooms are designed for family (except the honeymoon bures), not so luxurious, a 4 star, except ‘The Villa’ - definitely 5 star plus. its however located at a windy spot.
I also had the best snorkeling experience with the resort marine biologist who even brought an underwater notepad with him and wrote down all the fish names when we did the snorkeling! Varieties of colorful marine life right near the resort.

After returning from the Nothern islands, we visited some resorts in Mamanuca islands - Tokoriki Island Resort, Amunuca and Liku Liku.

Tokoriki’s bures are all beach front, and rooms are nice, with strong fijian flavour, but the bedding is quite pethetic. If Westin’s heavenly bed is 5 star, this is only 3 star bedding. The sunset villa has a plunge pool and day bed, great for honeymooners. the resort has a beautiful infinity pool, but the beach seems to have alots of sea weeds and rocks at certain parts.

Heavy rain started the night before we visited Amunuca, which is located on the same island as Tokoriki, but a different side and requires a boat transfer. We held umbrellas in the palling rain and strong wind on a small dingy and got half drenched by the time we got there… we could not take the Tokoriki Island Resort’s umbrellas with us, but Amunuca has only 2 umbrellas for the 8 of us.. and being a new resort, the lobby has leaking ceilings along the corridor, wet floor everywhere, some areas has buckets on the floor and the resort does not have enough staff to dry all the wet floor. One agent slipped and fell on the floor despite being carefully.. The resort accommodation is like domitory style, except the honeymoon villa which is quite decent. the rest are all crowded, and have no living rooms. The beddings are nice, as wel as the common pool area, and the spa supposed to be good, but we didn’t have time to visit. I will not recommend this to discerning travellers, except the honeymoon villas, but not till the resort is ready.

We had to make a decision at Amunuca whether we’ll proceed with our inspection of Liku Liku which is a 50 minutes boat transfer and we could be soaking wet by the time we reach there, or we skip that and return directly to Nadi. We decided to continue our inspection, as we don’t have umbrellas, we had black garbage bags and turned them into rain coates..things we do for our clients!

When we got to Liku Liku, things were better organised, we were greeted with staff on the jetty with umbrellas and later upgraded to white disposabal rain coates, quite funny to see the transition from black trash

to white trash..lol. Liku liku is another newly opened couple’s resort, the only resort in Fiji which offers overwater bungalow. The resort is beautiful and staff are well managed (same owner as Mololo on the other side of the island and Rosie’s holiday - Fiji’s largest local operator). It has nice beach, crystal clear water, and excellent rooms, whether on the beach or overwater. highly recommend!

During my trip i also met a Fijian girl who had worked at the Wakaya Club for 4 years. I’ve never seen the resort, so was quite keen to find out why its been one of the top resorts in Fiji. She said apart from the elegent accommodation, its the friendly yet unobtrusive services the resort offers to its guests who value privacy. Many celebrities are repeat clients of the island and hardly any celebrities were photographed while visiting the island.

The upcoming area on coral coast is now the Taunovo Bay, its between denarau and pacific harbour. For our first class clients, the brandnew Taunovo Bay Resort & Spa (link to the new product) is offering luxury beach front villas, will be open for business from Jan 2008, currently openning specials are at half price! Unfortunately we did not have chance to visit the property. but the pictures look beautiful.

Please check our Fiji Luxury Islands for updated recommendations from us.

Our view of the Tauck organisation is that it is truly “First Class”. Of course there is always a degree of luck with the group of fellow travellers on your bus but in our case we enjoyed a very compatible mix of characters and nationalities. The tour kept moving but allowed rest periods and longer overnight stays in all the right spots. Our Tour Director was personable and well trained. We will always consider Tauck’s options when making future holiday plans.The Emirates flights coupled with the chauffer car service was good value for money but not on all legs of the journey. The company advertises flat bed seating but this is not available on all fit out’s. Brisbane, Singapore, Dubai was a disappointment. We paid for First Class but the standard would generally pass for moderate Business Class. In flight service was fine but honesty in pre-flight information can be improved.

The service we enjoyed from “First Class” was indeed First Class and we shall not hesitate in offering you our future business. Thank you Tina.

Sep 7
Queentown has always been one of my favorite travel destination, been there twice, this is my third visit.

I love the scenery here, doesn’t matter where you are, you cann’t miss the georgous mountain and lake view. I always wanted to buy a property here, shame Australians cann’t get a loan here in NZ, i think. Plus staying at a different place for each visit isn’t a bad idea:-)

i’ve been snowboarding on Coronet Peak for the last two days, its my first time learning snowboarding, although i’ve been skiing for quite some time. After two days torture, i finally got a little hang of it!! i know the next day would be the begining of a new pleasure!

Sep 10
hey, i skydived from 12,000 feet high yesterday, its awesome! you couldn’t find a better place to skydive than queestown, its simply amazing! Its not scary really, except the first second, the rest is pure pleasure! i’ve got a dvd you can watch when i return!

Just got back. Hayman is spectacular.

We have 12 years industry experience and this venue is hands down one of the best in Australia. Service+++.

They even upgraded us for free for a couple of nights. The island is extremely Baby friendly, lots of families and understanding staff.

The bad comments on trip advisor can officially be stricken from the record. It is expensive once you are there but it is a private tropical island resort in the Whitsundays with probably somewhere around 300 million dollars worth of facility. Experiencing 300 million dollars costs a bit I guess…

Hayman is a true international. I have traveled extensively throughout the world and I know how far service extends. I seriously doubt many Australian resorts can top Hayman’s standards and consistency.

Our client Michelle Kiley says…

Best: Perfect location, set up/layout and service - the people running the resort were fantastic and the staff were brilliant - nothing was too much trouble - an amazing “family like”atmosphere. The Fijian people were the highlight. Wonderful food and wine No worst, although the diving equipment is suboptimal and for safety reasons this MUST be addressed.

After a short flight from Sydney to Nadi, I stayed 1 night at Tonoa airport International hotel.

Tonoa is only about 2 minutes from Nadi airport, a great hotel to stay for pre and post night before heading out to any Islands.

After 1 night at Tonoa, we were transferred back to Nadi airport for a charter flight to Yasawa Island.

Those that don’t like flying on small chartered Planes, I would not recommend going out to Yasawa Island.

The only other way is taking Ferry which takes about 4 hours and it departs once a day.

Upon arrival in Yasawa Island, we were greeted by Yasawa friendly staffs.

We were then transfer from Mini Van to the resort (on the other side of the Island.)

My Bure (Villa) was beautiful, it has indoor & outdoor shower, magnificent view of the beaches, which I believe to be one of the best beaches I’ve seen.

Crystal blue water, white sandy beach and best of all, you can snorkel and dive without having to take a ferry out to the ocean.

I would highly recommend Yasawa if you simply want to relax by the beach or go for a dip on the beach.