Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, An Ihg Hotel

“Great Christmas vacation”

The resort was fantastic, and all the staff were amazing. Thank you so much for making our Christmas great. Special shout-out to Natalia and Roxy from the lounge, thank you for taking good care of us! It was also great fun to see all the kangaroos around. To note, this is a family friendly resort s… more

The resort was fantastic, and all the staff were amazing. Thank you so much for making our Christmas great. Special shout-out to Natalia and Roxy from the lounge, thank you for taking good care of us! It was also great fun to see all the kangaroos around. To note, this is a family friendly resort so we did get woken up multiple times by screaming kids 😅

less

“A home away from home.”

Our family loves spending time at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove. The facilities are impressive, particularly the white sand pool. The staff at the lounge, notably Natalia and Roxy, welcome us back every year and provide a warm and homely atmosphere. Thanks a lot for looking after us. We will … more

Our family loves spending time at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove. The facilities are impressive, particularly the white sand pool. The staff at the lounge, notably Natalia and Roxy, welcome us back every year and provide a warm and homely atmosphere. Thanks a lot for looking after us. We will be back next year for sure!

less

“Enjoyable stay but not as good as in the past”

This was our third visit to this resort although the first for many years. We were in the Caryota building and our rooms overlooked the golf course. We stayed over the Christmas period when it was full of families including many small children so it was quite noisy, especially around the lagoon/swi… more

This was our third visit to this resort although the first for many years. We were in the Caryota building and our rooms overlooked the golf course. We stayed over the Christmas period when it was full of families including many small children so it was quite noisy, especially around the lagoon/swimming pool areas, although it was very peaceful in our rooms which were away from that area. We loved seeing the kangaroos wander around the property – these are very tame and don’t take any notice of the guests even when you walk quite close by them. The hotel is certainly showing its age these days and is in need of renovation. Most of the facilities look quite worn and there is paint coming off some of the public and bedroom areas including the railings around our balcony. The rooms are large though and generally well set out. It was great having a separate wardrobe area with plenty of space for suitcases. The balcony was a generous size with room to relax but a couple of loungers would have been nice, rather than the upright chairs provided. There were a few things the hotel could do to improve things; for example supplying bottled water in the fridge in the rooms (rather than cans) so you could refill them. The toiletries in the bathroom seemed of a lower quality then you would expect in a five-star hotel. The staff sometimes forgot to replenish the coffee supplies; for example after the first day no artificial sweetener was supplied to either my room or my companion’s room until I left a note asking for it. I would rate this hotel more of a four-star rather than a five star hotel, partly because of its age but also the staff didn’t seem as professional as at other hotels. They were very pleasant but you never got the sense that they particularly cared whether you were enjoying your stay. Finally, it was very difficult to get one of the loungers around the lagoon area (especially the larger two person loungers) as people would ‘reserve’ them first thing in the morning by leaving an item on them and then go off and have breakfast or lunch, without freeing it up for someone who actually intended to use it there and then.

less

“The service and amenities are excellent; but tired and run-down rooms and buildings”

We are two seniors who live locally, and splurged on a two day luxury Christmas break and degustation Christmas lunch. The service, the breakfasts and the Christmas lunch were excellent and well worth the splurge, and if that was the only factor in the rating I would give it 5 stars. But the rooms … more

We are two seniors who live locally, and splurged on a two day luxury Christmas break and degustation Christmas lunch. The service, the breakfasts and the Christmas lunch were excellent and well worth the splurge, and if that was the only factor in the rating I would give it 5 stars. But the rooms were another matter. At an average price of $745 per night (with breakfast) for a King Classic Garden View room, we fully expected 5-star quality accommodation, particularly as it was an InterContinental hotel. What we got was a tired 3-star motel-style room with prominent flaws and at the bottom of several flights of stairs. The carpet was worn and curled up, which we immediately tripped over and then had to sit the trash bin over to hold it down for the rest of our stay. The patio door was stuck, and for the first day and a half couldn't be opened until it was serviced by the cleaner. The room was very poorly lit, with one light that wouldn't work until we pulled it out of its extension lead and plugged it directly into a socket; and another light that flickered if you touched the cord. The TV was restricted to the free to air channels. It felt more like a very cheap motel room rather than what we expected from a top-tier 5 star hotel. Other, more expensive rooms may well have been value for money, but I could not recommend staying in one of these ground level Garden View rooms unless the price was heavily discounted. Too bad. Won't be back for Christmas here next year.

less