Hayman Review
Written by Olivia Richardson: 04-March-2008
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The vibe
Exclusive, private-island, frequent-award-winning resort with luxury EVERYTHING; superb, fuss-over-you service and high room rates ($655 - $4500 a night). Perfect for those who love to be pimped and pooched with all things luxury in an island paradise setting (the Whitsundays).
Love
* The luxurious Hayman-owned boat that takes you from Shute Harbour to the island – complimentary wine, juice, coffee, tea, etc. and delicious tid-bit pastries. We're talking on plush, white 'leather-looking' seats on top-deck. You're in bliss and haven't even started sailing yet. (BTW, Hayman owns over $20 million in transfer and pleasure water craft!)
* The personalised 'meet and greet' off the boat – you also get shown to your room by your very own escort 
* Professional yet non-snooty staff who wait to attend your every whim (I called reception for a toothbrush and it arrived at my door about 3 minutes later – it's a big resort to trek across!)
* Ridiculous attention to detail – not one speck of hair or fluff or even sand in my room – totally clean. They send you mini chocolates in a cute box at night and you get a daily newsletter telling you what's on put at your door
* 'Caramel' marble everything... stairs, bathrooms, desks in penthouses, floors – it's ridiculous!
* When the sun shines, the Whitsunday ocean looks amazingly azure – just like in all the holiday brochures 
* How you can have a massage outside in a cute little wooden hut overlooking the beach or rainforest
* It's close to the Great Barrier Reef (about an hour by boat) and also the infamous Whitehaven Beach. You can organise SCUBA diving, snorkelling helicopter tours (Heart Reef, etc.) around the Great Barrier Reef and other areas and more at the resort
* Walking on the right-there beach strip at night – so sexy. Plus the romantic sound of palm trees rusting in the wind
* Huge bed (as wide as it is long), heavenly pillows and 'creamy'-feeling bed sheets.
Don't like... 
* The chainshaw-sounding pool cleaning going on at about 7:15am each morning. Hellooo – on holiday. Want to sleep in past at least 8am
* You can only leave the resort on the boat at 7am or 4pm in one day to Shute Harbour (I had to checkout at 5:30am, then wandered around Airlie Beach wasting time until my 3:30pm flight). They should have a mid-day sailing! (Note: You can take a boat to Hamilton Island – times may differ)
* They should have bigger TVs, especially considering the hefty room rates – my one at home is bigger. 
* You think because it's on a private island that things would be, well, private. But you share the 600m-long-beach with everyone else and it really is a 212-room resort – not a secluded hideaway. (Perhaps the draw card for the oozingly rich is that they are secluded from 'common society'?!)
* The lush rainforest around the resort looks fake to me... and it was actually 'imported' there so maybe that explains the 'not quite right', 'eerily perfect' manicured feeling I got about it. 
Cuisine
* Buffet breakfast from restaurant Azure offers tailor-made omelettes, pancakes, fancy cheese, hash browns, bacon; scrambled, poached and fried eggs; fried button mushrooms, baked tomatoes, bagels, bread, fresh fruit, crackers and cheese, etc. Cost is $41 per person but will be free from April 
* You have 5 restaurants to choose from for dinner: La Fontaine (classic cuisine in elegant surroundings), Oriental (exotic
Asian cuisine set amongst traditional Japanese gardens and waterfalls), La Trattoria (casual al fresco, Italian and Mediterranean dinning with live music), Azure (casual dining, contemporary cuisine and Australian seafood. Serves lunch too), The Beach Pavillion (lunch, snacks and drinks) and there are also 2 drink bars (The Club Lounge and The Pool Bar).
* Note: Azure's strawberry mocktail is divine!
* Room service – similar to a whole restaurant in terms of huge choice. The food is pretty good too. 
Facilities
Massive pool (7 times bigger than the Olympic size), spa treatments (Spa Chakra, www.spachakra.com); complimentary catamaran sailing, kayaking, windsurfing, paddleskiing, golf (9-hole putting green), golf driving range, basketball, snorkelling, tennis, billliards, table tennis, croquet, walking tracks, cinema screenings, squash courts, art and garden tours; 24-hour gym, room service and reception; yoga, pilates, water aerobics; kids club, creche, private dining, shops, florist, chapel and beach weddings, concierge services (you get a butler in the Penhouses), domestic travel reservations, photograph shop (you can get a free sitting), and doctors.
Room rates per night
Hold your hankies...
* Palm Room – $665
* Pool Room – $800
* Pool Access (you can enter the pool off a 1-metre-ish ladder on your balcony) – $850
* Pool Deluxe - $900
* Retreat Room - $900
* Lagoon Room - $940
* Lagoon Deluxe - $990
* Beach Front - $1150
* Pool Suite - $2200
* Lagoon Suite - $2200
* Beach Villa - $3600
* Penthouses - $2800 - $4500. Click here for more info.
Tip
Go in winter! I went in Summer (end of February) and it was overcast the whole time and rained a bit!
Awards 
Winner of (2007/2008):
* Australian Tourism Awards – Hall of Fame
* National Travel Industry Awards – Hall of Fame
* Luxury Travel Gold List – Best Australian Resort
* Australian Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards – Best Resort
* HM Awards – Resort of the Year
* Travel + Leisure US v Greatest Hotels in the World
* Spa Finder US – Favourite Spa of Australia
* Conde Nast Traveller UK – World's Top 100 and Favourite Overseas Hotel Spa.
You leave feeing...
Like you've just experienced 'high-end living and the best that can be got.
Our ratings
Location: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Staff and service: 6/5
Attention to detail: 5/5 
Décor and design: 5/5
Food: 5/5
Luxury: 6/5
Total 'AAA-style' rating: 6/5.
Bookings/more info
Pictures (in order): 1. Beach Villa. 2. Hayman aerial view. 3. The Beach Pavillion. 4. Beach Front Room. 5. Pool Deluxe Room. 6. Lagoon Penthouse 1 (1 bedroom). 7. Oriental restaurant. 8. La Fontaine restaurant. 9. La Trattoria restaurant. 10. Azure restaurant outside dining. 11. Heart Reef (take a helicopter tour there from Hayman). 12. Pool Wing balconies.
For more, see www.tourismaustralia.com