One&Only revamp elevates Hayman to ultra-luxe level
THERE is a loungey bar at the relaunched One&Only Hayman Island known simply as Fifty.
It’s a catchy name and could easily apply to the number of enhancements that have just been made to one of Australia’s most iconic resorts. But it refers to the year that the then Royal Hayman Hotel opened to the first generation of holiday-makers to discover the charms of Queensland’s Whitsunday region.
I was there in the late-1970s, tiny sons in tow, and what enormous fun we had. There was a little train that trundled guests from the wharf. We stayed in a down-home beach shack, collected shells, tanned ourselves silly and laughed like loons at cabarets put on by staff dressed as sailors and mermaids. My boys gorged on all the “free” food on the buffet and learned how to snorkel.
There have been myriad incarnations since then but none as thoroughly defining as this latest interpretation. Some of the earlier revamps were forced upon management; when Cyclone Yasi swept through in early 2011, the gardens were devastated and the resort had to close for five months. Celebrity gardener Jamie Durie was hired to spruce up the landscaping. The top-drawer Kerry Hill-designed Beach Villas reopened amid new interest from guests who wanted a resort within a resort, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Now owners Mulpha and new resort management company One&Only have spent a cool $80 million and elevated the property to an ultra-luxe level with a comprehensive unification of design, an overhaul of restaurants and bars, the defining of three accommodation wings for different types of guests and the instilling of a can-do spirit among freshly trained staff.
It looks, and feels, world-class, from the ground-floor chambers with direct lagoon access in the all-suite Pool Wing to the eight newly tweaked Beach Villas, lined in a dress-circle beside the sandy shore. The suite accommodations have been doubled in size and have a universal beachy feel with the occasional Arabesque motif nodding to the Dubai-based management company. Snowy mosquito nets float around starkly simple four-posters, ensuites comprise a series of flow-through spaces with all the five-star kit, from deep freestanding tub to power and rain showers. Twin lagoon-side terraces are set with lounging furniture, including those fashionable hooded and concealing cabanas that look to me like grown-up baby buggies. Within this unfettered sense of space, details are thoughtfully considered, from coffee machine and premium TWG teas to lovely soaps worth taking home and talc-soft bed linen.
Lest it all feel too global-glam (vitality juices or shisha cocktails, anyone?), there’s no escaping the quintessential Queensland setting. Listen for the squawk of sulphur-crested cockatoos and the screech of fruit bats, brush past heliconias and strelitzia in the lanai gardens and spot the jewel-like flashes of rainbow lorikeets as they fly among the lipstick palms. Of course, be sure to get to that fabled coral wonderland, the Great Barrier Reef, even if just on a heli-tour. Oh, and because we really are in Australia, there’s Vegemite on the breakfast buffet at the Pacific all-day diner and beetroot on the burgers at the poolside On the Rocks.
Dining
Island resorts sometimes mean captivity — one restaurant, perhaps special beach dinners à deux, but otherwise limited options. One&Only Hayman Island is large enough to operate as a village with a variety of dining possibilities, overseen by executive chef Grant Murray, spread around palm-filled lanai courts, beside pools and all but stretching on to the sand. Amici is terrific for wood-fired pizzas and stone-baked focaccia, while Bamboo faces a Japanese-inspired garden and features pan-Asian design touches such as Vietnamese silken lanterns and reclining Buddhas. My favourite during a two-night stay is On the Rocks, between beach and lagoon pool, which is lit up like a fairyland at night and feels Miami-chic by day. How about a cold seafood platter to the chilled beat of Café del Mar? There are Clean&Lean options for the virtuous, soon undone by a Manzanilla Martini or Island Passion from the encouragingly long cocktail menu.
Everyone’s talking about
The One&Only Spa is a streamlined sanctuary for therapies with names as irresistible as Ocean Dreaming Massage but its unique selling point is the Bastien Gonzalez Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio. Gonzalez, the French founder of Reverence de Bastien, with clients including Emirati royalty and Robert De Niro, is a maestro of all things feet and hands and has been on-site setting up the facility. His treatments are based on podiatry and forensic investigations of one’s nails, soles and heels; I learn that varnish can cause nail degeneration and is a no-no except “on special occasions”. The Fitness Centre has all the latest gear, specialises in tailored Bodyism programs, and even offers boxing lessons.
Hot tip
For a stay with children or friends in tow, wait for October when the Aquazure Pool and Hayman Wing, with connecting rooms for families, will be fully open; this adaptability puts the resort in a unique category of Queensland properties catering for a range of markets but allowing clear delineation between, say, honeymooners and guests with children. For a house party, consider a Beach Villa combined with an adjacent Retreat Room in the newly branded One&Only Beach Wing or a penthouse with up to three bedrooms.
Stepping out
The Great Barrier Reef is the “backyard” attraction here and inner reef dives are a specialty; or a daily activities bulletin suggests, say, a guided walk and snorkel to Blue Pearl Bay, a sea kayak adventure, golf lessons or watersports. Head to the Rainforest Pond for a barramundi feeding session or get up close with the resident grouper fish that swarm about the wharf and marina at “morning tea” time.
Essentials
One&Only Hayman Island, Great Barrier Reef. Phone 07 4940 1234; oneandonlyhaymanisland.com.au. Rooms from $790 a night. After a 10-year hiatus, Qantas has reintroduced direct services (thrice weekly in peak season) from Sydney to nearby Hamilton Island with year-round flights from $189 one-way. More: qantas.com.
Source: The Australian - 1st August 2014
