Review of Mango House Resort 4*

A wonderful stay We stayed at the Mango House Resort from the 5th Oct until the 14th October 2013. The original booking came about as a mistake — my wife who normally makes all the holiday arrangements found that the Hotel that she had wanted to stay was fully booked during these dates, and our (Austravel) rep advised on the Mango House Resort as an alternative. I looked on Trip Advisor before making a reservation and was a little perturbed to see 5* good reviews alongside 1* poor reviews, as we planned a 9 night stay, the Airlie Beach area to form the focus of our 2013 trip to Australia. I was reassured in looking at the comments from the manager (Peter) to both good and poor reviews — here was obviously a man who cared for the reputation of the establishment, and prepared to take on board any shortcomings that fell to him. In the event, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Mango House Resort. The resort is well managed and room facilities are spacious and excellent. The Pool area is clean and of an appropriate size, given the number of rooms. The BBQ area was excellent, a top quality gas BBQ with ample area for all cooking tasks. Pam spends a lot of her time in keeping the gardens immaculate and take pride in the excellent ambience this provides. Both Peter and Pam work very hard to make your stay an enjoyable one. A small supermarket is just across the road from the Mango House Resort as well as a bottle-shop. A Tavern is just across the main road and features good food, sports bar and betting. Peter has arranged a 10% reduction for Mango House guests, just on the food, not the betting or alcohol though! Other reviewers have commented about the distance the Resort is situated away from the Airlie Beach centre. I am of (UK) retirement age and certainly did not find the 20 minute walk into Airlie any problem, in fact it was useful exercise, although we did stay in October, not in the more extreme heat conditions of summer. To echo the thoughts Peter put in replies to other TA reviews, I am glad that this distance exists, as I also believe that Airlie Beach could be quite noisy if staying directly in the centre. A major plus for us was the first floor Pool View Room. We like nothing better than relaxing in the evenings on a balcony, enjoying a chat and drink in peaceful surroundings, enveloped in tropical, barmy air. Bus and taxi's are available for journeys into Airlie centre. We hired a car and found parking in Airlie Beach easy and, at the present time free due to what was said to the disruption during roadwork's, but little disruption was noticed. This was a kind gesture by the Airlie Beach Council — I just wish UK councils would adopt a similar position. Airlie Beach is a very welcoming area, everyone helpful, smiling and happy. It must be because this is a very beautiful part of the world and those who live there appreciate it. The Airlie Lagoon is a wonderful place — a large expanse of swimming water in different depths, exceptionally clean, onsite lifeguards, lovely views out to the Bay, and FREE. Our intention in visiting Airlie Beach was to experience many of the opportunities the Whitsundays had to offer, a once and for all time visit as travelling from the UK involves a 23+ hour flight, and 2 transfers from Sydney to Brisbane and Proserpine. However we are now considering a return visit at a future point, as we could easily do it all again — Air Whitsundays, Tiger Moth, part of the Great Whitsunday walk around Mount Rooper, Bowen (the Darwin set of the film 'Australia') etc. If we do, we would love to stay at the Mango House Resort with Peter and Pam.