This is a big concrete block of a hotel that is aging and understandably struggling against salt air and a tropical climate. It's not pretty from the outside and the public areas look like they have lost the battle against mould and mildew. But the views from inside out make up for this as they are absolutely stunning. The rooms are large, intelligently designed and comfortable, though not luxurious. The service was patchy, bordering on bizarre: e.g. just before 8 a.m. each morning housekeeping put on an amazing performance of repeatedly hammering on the door and screeching. If you didn't let them in the and there, your room wasn't cleaned for the rest of the day (not that anyone could possibly sleep through the 8 am production). This extraordinary housekeeping ritual, combined with the grotty, understaffed and over-packed breakfast room and several episodes of broken down lifts, gave a youth hostel ambiance to what is really quite an expensive hotel. It could have been so be so much better with proper staff and a bit of a tidy up. Surely it wouldn't kill the Reef View to give guests slippers or a robe? Thus it only gets 3 stars and all of them are for the view.

Prices: it's true that everything is expensive on Hamilton, but that's to be expected on an island where everything has to be shipped or flown in and there's a captive market. However, the cost of some of the activities surpassed natural island/tourist inflation and got close to gouging.

This hotel comes up trumps when it comes to the views you get at the top of the hotel. We were upgraded free of charge on our honeymoon and waking up to this view was simply stunning. The hotel lacks in a few area, no AC in the lobby or restaurant or bar which makes for a bit of an uncomfortable experience but just the sheer centrality of this place to everything makes it ideal. Having a golf buggy makes it very convenient to go everywhere. The bedrooms could be better and more modern but in the grand scheme of the island you will sleep there and get changed there nothing more.

Thank you all for making it an unforgettable experience.

stayed here two weeks ago. Rooms were nice could of been cleaner, with good views, hotel looked nice but was nothing special. Gym was not air conditioned. Pools were ok but crowded. The beach was average nothing amazing. Quad biking was good fun as an extra so were the kayaks. The sail and snorkel to whitehaven aboard the cruise indigo was terrible, definitely do not book this. They take you to the worst side of whitehaven beach then to snorkel at a terrible area with hardly any fish. This was my second time to the whitsundays and was a massive dissapointment compared to last time.

the rest of the island was ok but very expensive as expected. Overall ok but definitely not a must see or worth the money if you are from the uk.

I just got back from a 5 night stay (26th Jan-31st)with my husband at the Reef View Hotel, we were on level 17. The view is simply stunning and i could not get enough of it.
The staff are very helpful and friendly. The room is OK its def in need of a refurbishment and the bathroom is big but old, however it was worth it and I would stay there again.
Breakfast was incl in our stay which was good, you can eat breakfast at most resorts but they seem to be the same anyway.
Alot of people say its expensive around the island and they are correct, its very very expensive to eat and drink, we got sick of the food around the resorts, as the menu stays the same for lunch and dinner but the Steakhouse at the Marina is really good, we didnt rent a buggy- they want $1500 bond for it and they refund the bond within 3 weeks!! Pretty pathetic but we didnt really need one- the free shuttle bus is the way to go and most places are walking distance.
The beach across the road is good but there is jellyfish around the summer months so some people wear a sting suit. Snorkleing is a must!
We went on the triple place day tour (cant remember the name) it was excellent- Whitehaven Beach is AMAZING words cannot describe! Please visit it!!!
Overall my holiday was just amazing and i cant wait to go back and i would stay at Reef again!