The Best Hotels to Book in the Whitsunday Islands

As the name suggests, the hulking Martinique imagines itself as bringing a slice of the French Caribbean to Queensland. In need of a slight brush-up, it’s characterised by a few salmon-pink, terracotta-topped decorative turrets and a sprawling pool area for the families who come here on package trips. Like most Whitsunday hotels, it’s not on the islands but has sweeping ocean views from almost all rooms. It offers boat excursions, as well as ample parking, a gym and the amenities you’d expect in a package resort.

With a water park, a go-kart track, minigolf and a lagoon-size pool, the BIG4 presents itself as a Center Parcs-style adventure set-up with palms. It’s in Airlie Beach, so the soft sands of the islands themselves are a boat ride away. However, there’s a golf course, a supermarket and a McDonald’s on the doorstep. The self-catering accommodation – in shutter-board shacks – is as cheap as it gets for families in the Whitsundays.

How do you sleep on a boat without risking rocking and seasickness? By booking a room at Freedom Shores. It occupies a wooden hull but sits in a tropical garden, a half-hour drive from Airlie Beach. The rooms are huge, and the sunset and ocean views are magnificent. When hunger strikes, the shoreside bar and restaurant serves delicious barbecued fish and lobster. Don’t come expecting milk-white, powdery sands, though – the beach is a thin strip of mud-dark sand.

The blocky, concrete units, white-tile decor and wood-veneer vinyl furniture at the Azure Sea aren’t about to win any Architectural Digest design awards. But you’re not here to pose and preen. What lies beyond is the star. You get gorgeous views from the big-enough-for-breakfast balconies, over the tiered infinity pool to the ocean, lumpy with island outcrops. The self-catering rooms come in all sizes – the biggest can easily fit six.

Not all hotels in the Whitsunday Islands are on the mainland. Palm Bay, on forest-swathed Long Island, has big wooden beach huts decorated in clean whites, with large living areas and big sea-view balconies. The setting is a cove of coral sand lapped by gentle waves. There are reefs within kayaking distance of the shore, trails running into the forest, which is bustling with hopping wallabies, and sea eagles and ospreys nesting in the adjacent hoop pines.

Despite the exotic name, this rainforest retreat is on a hillside on the edge of Airlie Beach, a short walk from a mall and a bus stop. The villas are caravan-park shutterboard shacks. They’re all self-catering – some small enough for one, others big enough for a large family – and charge backpacker prices. There are further discounts for extended stays. Best of all, they’re set in a pretty bird- and butterfly-filled garden that backs onto woodland.

Half an hour from Airlie Beach town, Coral Point Lodge is all about simple, secluded accommodation on the edge of a lush national park. There are wonderful bay and island views from every room. Avoid the cheapest Million Dollar and Ocean Breeze studios, which are barely big enough for a bed and a large suitcase. Instead, opt for the executive studios or the large three-bedroom reef villas – with enormous patios and full kitchens.

The Mango House is a handsome balcony-fronted classic Queensland pile, set in shady gardens lush with banana trees and lily ponds. Cockatoos caw in the trees, and there are great views out across the pool and over a gently dropping hillside to Airlie Beach and the ocean. Interiors can’t compete but do the job, with indifferent concrete-and-vinyl flooring, fitted sofas and Formica-fronted cupboards.

“Holiday park” is Australian for a caravan site, and as Queensland goes, the Island Gateway is gap-year fare, with ranks of camper vans parked next to what looks like prefabs (the resort calls them villas), mobile homes (luxury villas) and a large concrete unit with motel-style rooms for up to five. The decor is utilitarian – easy to clean, all wood laminate, white paint and strip lighting – but the pizzerias and bars of Airlie Beach town are an easy walk away.

Next to the huge yachting marina and right on the seafront, the Coral Sea is about as upscale as Airlie Beach gets. The rooms are basic, with wood-laminate or beige-tile flooring and shutter-wardrobes. However, the ocean-view and spa-deluxe options have big balconies overlooking the islands – the latter category comes with a hot tub. Airlie Beach is a short stroll away along the ocean boardwalk, and the hotel offers an extensive menu, with everything from croc safaris and coral dives to edge-of-your-seat reef flights in tiny Cessnas.