Thala Beach Nature Reserve

Thala Beach Resort was absolutely incredible. I just visited in April and had a great trip. From the amazing staff, beautiful resort and wallabies- I couldn’t recommend more. Also ignore the earlier reviews around the food- its excellent. I ate on the beautiful patio for both breakfast and dinner. Every experience was great. The staff took such great care of me with special food needs and car service for the GBR snorkeling (I came all the way from America). I can’t thank them enough for such a lovely trip!

Lovely environment in the middle of a rainforest, full with coconut palm trees, frogs, birds, lizards and butterflies. Comfortable small bungalows/houses spread out on the property. Also a nice and sandy beach. Unfortunately we couldn’t take a swim because of the dangerous jellyfish that are plentiful during March. No other restaurants in the neighborhood, so we had no choice than to eat in the hotel’s restaurant. The selection of food on the menu wasn’t too exciting, neither was the food. The staff is very friendly and helpful in every way. The only minus is the WiFi, which is useless outside the reception/restaurant area.

The biggest attraction of this hotel is it's location in the rain forest. You are up on a mountain side. The rooms are bungalow style so you are nestled in the jungle. The main lobby/restaurant is open with beautiful views of the mountains and water below. They do have a private beach which I believe is not true of other hotels in Port Douglas. We thought everyone on the staff was friendly and helpful. We did take the golf cart to the room at night and they always had someone readily available. They had a beautiful pool that is shaped like waterfalls and ponds. Cute touch. As others have said in the reviews. The rooms and the decor are dated and tired. They definitely need a refresh. The location can also be a negative. Unless you have rented a car, you rely on the private drivers or the shuttle buses that come to the hotel. It gets very expensive. This is even to go into Port Douglas to have dinner or shop - it is about 20 mins in the van. Overall we enjoyed our stay and like everywhere in Australia, the people made the difference.

We spent several nights as part of a private tour of Australia. The staff was very helpful in coordinating our tours and planning meals. We stayed a good walk from the main lodge in a very nice cabin. The staff would bring you in and out but we walked most of the time. The Reserve has quite a few rare wildlife - birds and mammals. The food was excellent as was the service. We were warned about the bugs in the area so we were prepared with the recommended repellent.

On arrival we were greeted by a very friendly and welcoming front desk receptionist. The rooms are spacious, clean and well spaced apart. Included activities were a nice touch. We went on the bird and nature walk with Dave which was fantastic. Dave is a wealth of knowledge and is clearly very passionate about his role. The dining area in the tree tops was gorgeous and the pool an oasis. Staff are so lovely and helpful. Built on a steep hill so it’s quite a trek up to the main area. You can call for a buggy to come and get you though. The main let down would be the restaurant. The dinner menu didn’t offer much in the way of vegetarian or vegan options which was really disappointing. Breakfast was poor. The “sourdough crumpets” were Golden Circle crumpets from the supermarket.

Can’t say enough about how lovely this place was to stay. The staff was excellent and clearly dedicated to service for their guests. We stayed in one of their canopy bungalows which was just lovely with many amenties, a comfortable bed and nicely appointed with a balcony overlooking the forest. The resort is pretty hilly, but the staff is happy to take you where you need to go in their electric golf carts. We enjoyed the very cool, multi-tiered rock pool as well as a walk down to the beautiful beach. Due to road flooding, we were “forced” to stay an extra night until the main road reopened…hardly a hardship! The staff were so accommodating it made the change in our itinerary easy to bear. We also ate at the Osprey restaurant for breakfast and a few times for dinner…stunning views and good food, too. It’s a little off the beaten path about 20 min south of Port Douglas, but highly recommended.

Beautiful location, stunning views. Lunch was terrible, and service was atrocious. This is the first time i have ever sent food back, and had to order something totally different from the menu. As much as i loved the setting, i am afraid that it will be my last time here. The food was beyond unacceptable.

We requested early check in and room upgrade which they kindly agreed as they weren’t at capacity due to recent cyclone and flooding events. Reception service was friendly. Upgraded room had a fantastic view of the ocean and trees. Room was large but a little dated and lacking in basic maintenance (e.g. blocked shower head, leaking shower unit and signal issues with television). The site is large but mostly walkable unless it’s nighttime and pouring down with rain for which I’d recommend using their golf buggy service (a few of the lights supposed to keep the pathways lit were broken)! The buggy drivers were also very friendly. They have their own private beach however there had been substantial damage from the cyclone which they hadn’t managed to clear before they arrived. Spa treatments were available during our stay and we both had a massage which was excellent and a real highlight. Our main criticism was the on site restaurant, Osprey. Lunch menu was incredibly limited and was just the entrees from their dinner menu. Luckily we were only staying for two nights, any longer and this would be very tedious! Dinner menu wasn’t much better and food quality was not up to standards expected for the prices charged. Service was very relaxed (if anything, too relaxed!) and waiting staff were dressed like they were about to take us on safari (cheap red polo shirts and work boots!). Again, not what we were expecting given prices charged. The breakfast offering was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced and laughable. Hot food selection was limited to scrambled egg, bacon and sausage and that was it. Cold food selection was basic at best. You’d get a better breakfast at any of the budget hotels in the UK (eg Premier Inn). If staying here we’d recommend you do away with Osprey and drive into Port Douglas and make the most of the fantastic restaurants on offer there. Overall a bit of a disappointing stay as we had high hopes / expectations given the positive reviews we had read when booking.