My partner and I stayed just after Christmas 2011. We stayed in a one bedroom spa apartment. Upon check in, the receptionist was lovely and gave us all the information we needed.

Once going to our room, I was disappointed for the price that our apartment was next to the road. I would have thought for the price ($1,830) for 7 nights in a deluxe spa apartment, we wouldn't have been next to the road and had to hear the traffic on the busy Gan Gan road.

The apartment was clean and tidy as per what was on the website. What did make the whole thing fantastic was the fact we had a Koala in the tree right at our door. That was pretty special. There were plenty of Koalas to see during our stay, so that was great too.

The grounds were clean and tidy. Staff were friendly. The pool and spa areas were kept clean and were really nice. Area for improvment - Signs on how to get to the beach. We got lost and ended up in the neighbouring beach resort. The walks to the beach are long and go up a 4WD track that is not very safe or marked at all. This needs to be improved on.

The only aspect that I was very disappointed in was the cleaning. On the website, it does not mention that the accommodation is self contained (ie clean yourself). And when we checked in, we were told our room would be serviced every 3 days. This did not happen. We had towels left at our door on our second day and that was it. Given it's a beach resort, I would have thought the cleaning would be a little better. And no items were supplied - We had to buy our own toliet paper and tissues because our room was not serviced and as this happened out of hours, I did not think it appropriate to annoy the emergency contact person.

This beach resort has the potential to be something fantastic - it just needs a few areas of improvement to either cater for couples or to be for families.

Very very basic accomodation - nice pool. No staff on site when we got there - don't expect a resort - this is motel units with a pool.

Family cabins are small but has everything you need, including a great spa bath. They are spaced out a bit, not like in caravan parks.
Family cabins have the best position, right in the middle of the pool, tennis courts and chess, basketball, netball hoop, volleyball area.
The natural bush setting is fabulous and the wildlife is wonderful to experience.
Our kids loved having other kids to play with and being able to explore on their own, safely.
We visited in winter and loved the outdoor heated spa after a hard days exploring. The kids even swam in the cold water pool.
The two staff members we encountered were wonderful.
We loved our visit and would love to go back, hopefully in warmer weather.
We had a quick look at the other cabins, ie deluxe, couples, etc, while looking for Koala's. They looked OK from the outside. They are away from the family area, so if you're going for romantic time, no pesky kids around. They are closer to Gan Gan road though.

The reviews for this hotel are mixed, so I was a little wary what this place would be like. But it was perfectly fine. We stayed in a one bedroom suite which was simple and basic but clean and quite spacious. Whilst there's nothing to rave about the units, there's nothing to complain about either - they are just inoffensive. A plus point was the grounds around are really lovely and huge and the units are spread around the resort so you do feel some privacy (not like next door, where's there's barely an inch between each unit).
The kitchen was well stocked with utensils and our unit has a great big spa bath which was a treat.
Whilst the rooms are basic, they are clean and well kept. There were a few stains on the carpet in the bedroom but this is no more than a little ware and tear.
The location is great - you can walk to the dunes/samurai/one mile beach in 10 minutes via a lovely walk through the woods. There's lots of wildlife around the grounds which is also really nice when you've just escaped from the city. Although to my dissapointment we didn't see an Koalas. Whilst it was too cold to have a swim when we were, the pool looked really nice and would be perfect on a hot day.
If I was to head back to Port Stephens I would definitely stay here again and would recommend it to couples/familes who are spending a couple of days in the area.