A young family described how their first lovely vacation at Daydream Island Resort off the coast of Queensland rapidly devolved into a “horror.”
When Mish and Kirk Ryan-Welsh travelled to the Whitsundays with their infant Jiah, they anticipated a bright paradise.
Instead, they left the resort as soon as they could.
The pair said they were astounded by the resort’s run-down condition, which was completely unlike what they had seen online.
They captioned a video of the island, “Because if you don’t laugh, you’ll weep.”
“99% of the time we feature great locations to visit + stay, but this is not one of those occasions,” the website states.
Their footage and pictures reveal shattered furniture, dirty pools, and dumpsters filled with trash.
The pair said, “Our accommodation was so mouldy and all the employees were kids who plainly loathed being on the island too.”
The pools, bars, vending machines, pool table, playground, coffee machine, and watersports facilities are all always closed or inoperable.
The restaurant doesn’t provide room service, so you’ll have to eat takeout pizza for seven nights in a row while getting harassed by seagulls if you don’t reserve a table for dinner a week in advance.
When the couple requested two glasses of champagne, “the girl filled them each just halfway,” the pair said.
They said that when they brought the bottles back, the woman responded, “That’s all we have left,” despite the fact that champagne is supposed to be loaded to the brim.
The family complained that the pools were “chilling cold” and “extremely unclean,” and that the beaches there were made up of boulders rather than pristine sand.
Additionally, they said a staff worker informed them Jiah had chimpanzee-like features.
They also objected to Daydream’s claim to be an eco-resort.
They said, “The resort claims to be an eco-resort, yet there is plastic + trash EVERYWHERE + no recycling system in place.”
This is merely an alibi for not changing the towels,
The family rapidly came to the conclusion that they had to depart Daydream on their own own.
Lesson to be learned: check the hundreds of unfavourable Google reviews before booking a nice resort you see on Instagram, they said.
The family from Adelaide is furious because they spent $3,500 on a vacation they now denounce as a “rip off.”
As soon as they discovered another location to stay that was open, they said, “We sacrificed hundreds of dollars’ worth of lodging.”
Hamilton Island is where the family is now vacationing, and they describe it as “heaven.”
Since management shifted to China Capital Investment Group in 2015, Daydream Island has received a deluge of unfavourable evaluations (CCIG).
Following Cyclone Debbie’s devastation of the island’s gorgeous white beaches in 2017, ratings fell once more.
Vaughan Bullivant, a water-skiing champion, formerly oversaw the resort, which was well-known for its stunning reefs, close encounters with wildlife, welcoming employees, and family-friendly atmosphere.
Numerous commentators on the family’s video beneath the video described similar experiences they had on the island or said that they had crossed it off their bucket lists.
“I just cancelled and made a reservation in Airlie Beach.” Thanks for the heads up! It cost me $400, but it was worthwhile.
It is commonly known that Daydream does this. A buddy who visited last week reported having a terrible experience and departed earlier than expected.
Well, I just crossed that one off my holiday to-do list, another person said.
Another person said, “This seems like the vacation from hell!”
Another person commented, “Stayed there in 2020; we called it nightmare island; honestly, we couldn’t wait to leave.”