Friendly staff, great food, fabulous setting. Since our last visit a new management took over. The front line staff is trying very hard but the lag of repairs and maintenance is starting to let the place down.
The place is supposed to have a great relaxing weekend but turning on a leaf blower on Saturday and Sunday morning before 7am in front of the guest accommodation? Sorry, no way. Reduced my review from 4 to 2 stars.
We spent 4 nights here over Christmas. We took our own boat which was very convenient but was also very expensive. We had been told by friends that when they went it was $40 a day mooring fee and you get a $40 voucher for the bar for each day. Well that wasn't the case now it was $80 a day and no voucher. We didn't get a proper spot like others in the main area we had to tie up on the side with the jet skis. I just thought they must have been very busy but no there was plenty of room and on low tide I had to trim my motor right up and push past other boats to get out.
We booked a 2 bedroom family suite on the lagoon which was great. It was spacious and clean with a great veranda looking out over the lagoon. Just a heads up, there is no room service for food, you only get one towel per person for your whole stay because they don't clean your rooms when you are there less then 7 days. If you have allergies take your own tissues because they don't have them in the rooms.
They did give us 3 bikes free for each day of our stay, that was nice but there was 5 of us. Hiring bikes is a costly extra ($20 p/day or $45 for 3 days).
Christmas lunch was a buffet with all the trimmings even Santa showed up. Felt it was overpriced at $145 per adult (over 15yrs), $89 kids & $29 for 2 - 5 yrs & did not include any drinks (except water). No coffee,tea,soft drinks or juice. Friends went 2 years ago & it was only $89 p/adult for same buffet. Thought it was strange because the night before they had a really nice $30 dinner buffet that included tea, coffee, juice. We definitely didn't get value for money for our kids & 2 year old who ate a basic kids size meal.
Pool area was nice, kids loved it, but all the shade sails had been ripped off, maybe from a storm, and hadn't been replaced. Pool was a bit messy but I put that down to reduced staff for the holidays maybe. (See photos)
They have a lot of activities to keep you busy, tennis, mini golf, basketball, squash, gym, indoor bowls, running track with hurdles, playground for the kids, and a gaming room with virtual reality games, they even have a baseball pitching machine but this and a lot of the stuff is in a need of some repair and in some cases total rebuild. eg the lookout tower ladder has been taken down so you can't go up because it may come down with you on it.
It seems that they cater more for the day trippers because they close things such as coffee shop, kayaks and stand up paddle boards and VR/games room by 3:30/4:00 (last ferry), which is very sad when in the summer school holidays there is still about 3 hr of good sun filled day left that's why we go to a island resort. Kids weren't happy.
Once upon a time the resort was luxurious but not anymore and they are still charging for the elegance that just isn't there.
Overall we had a great time we will go again but we will try and keep an eye out for better deals. If this review helps you please like THANKS.
Friendly staff, very quiet ,relaxing. For an island there is plenty of things to keep u occupied. Food and alcohol a bit on the pricey side. But don't let that deter u.
We were a bit apprehensive about making a booking for a 5 night stay, having looked at lots of reviews beforehand. I made the booking and following that, over the next few weeks I called reception several times with questions as they popped into my head. The staff were extremely helpful and answered every question I had. From the moment we arrived for our stay the staff were just wonderful and helped us at every turn. I have difficulty walking and use an aid (I'm 73) and we were cheerfully assisted at every turn. Matthew (the big Kiwi) the skipper of the ferry was great, getting us off the boat with all of our luggage.
The resort itself was a wonderland, and were just so sorry that we didn't have our Grandkids with us as it is a kids paradise. Our room was great, clean and tidy and everything worked a treat. All island staff were magnificent, friendly, helpful and couldn't do enough for us.
We had a wonderful time and will be going again as soon as we can arrange it.
The only thing which would have improved our stay, is to have some sort of motorised device for hire for people with some disability so that they can get around the resort more easily. There is so much to see.
All in all a wonderful place with superb staff. Everyone should go there, they won't regret it.
Nice quiet relaxing place with great scenery, lots of things to keep kids busy
Loved it there. The staff were friendly & really helpful
Awesome place, and really friendly staff. I came to the cafe a little bit late, they had a sign up that the coffee machine was being cleaned and they weren't taking orders, but Bec recognized me, saw I was looking at getting an iced coffee from the fridge, and offered to make me a coffee. It made my day! Best vacation I've had in years.
For a resort that has kids running around, the up-keep of the boardwalk within the resort and out at the beach is appalling - I wonder if their public liability insurers know the state of it.....they ve gone so far as to put caution tape up on the stairs, but allow the rest of it to fall into disrepair. It s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt, but they don t really seem worried about it......
Great location however it is starting to look run down
A fun day out. Kayaking, stand up paddleboard, bike ride around the island. Nice food. Great for kids.
Great place for a relaxing getaway. The Surf beach is stunning and there is good facilities such as cycling and kayak which is very enjoyable.
Very disorganized, staff were ok in general but the left hand has no idea what the right hand was doing. It was a busy period and Fiji time is ok but it felt like we were just being fed BS. Food was nice but xxy, which is understandable.
Load of crap, paid so much for probably the worst experience. Was very disappointed, the food was awful for the price the staff were clueless. Advertised on the website was JetSki tours, I was excited to go on this tour however was told that they don't have anyone to take the tour with a license which is fair but then don't advertise it on the website. The best thing about my experience was either the beer or the boat travel leaving Couran Cove
Booked 2 nights away here via a third party booking agent for my partners birthday weekend...I don't know where to start!!!
On day of arrival told by Mariner's Cove Marina 'No overnight parking' despite resorts confirmation email and phone call saying we could, we then called resort and were told to park on a side street, couldn't find so called side street so ended up parking in unsecured public car park out in the open near busy gold coast road offering no security or protection...really???
Finally get to resort, ok I am sure it was exactly that (a resort) back in the day but now days it feels like a former glory of itself with the grounds unkempt, the rooms very much need attention and a LOT of rooms very scattered all over the place a great distance from anything that would be a problem for elderly people or disabled people to access, the board walks are that old and have chunks of wood missing out of them so badly that they have signs everywhere warning you to wear shoes, no sight of staff wandering around in a friendly manner to interact with guests or at the activity areas to offer assistance, the food in the restaurant was nice on our first night but overcooked and very average on the second night, we felt considering the rest of the resort the prices didn't reflect the quality and were overpriced.
The linen in our room was marked, I won't say too much...but the next guests don't pay to see it. Absolutely no visitor information compendium in the room for guests to read about resort features or activities, and no phones in the rooms for guests to contact reception. The day spa was closed - so that wasn't an option.
Ducks swimming in the pool - which is fine if they weren't also pooping in there.
Sunset beach was a gorgeous place to walk the long walk to, that staff told us about to go and enjoy a drink at the bar there and watch the sunset...if the bar was open!
On a good note, the staff were friendly and always really pleasant to deal with.
Would I recommend to others...no, will we be back...no.
Location is unmatched, rooms are a little run down but definitely serviceable, and the staff are all very friendly! 4/5
For a small little resort, its a nice spot to get away from the rest of the Gold Coast
Enjoy it that much go every year great place to relax friendly helpful staff loved the banana boat ride loads of fun
Nice spot. Cafe's are a little expensive but you are a captive audience so no choice. It would be nice in Summer
Thanks to all the staff at Couran Cove island resrt for making our Christmas a wonderful and relaxing time. It is a beautiful and special place and we think it is the best place to stay on the Gold Coast.
Very average place. Had potential in the past bit appears to be underfunded, understaffed and just ticking over. Although the staff were nice, there were a lot of different messages given when questions asked (such as parking and the ferry). This day wasn t too bad, but I wouldn t be rushing back.
We booked this several months ago for a 3 day romantic break. It wasn't. The room was very worn, carpet was stained, bed was stained, bathroom light didn't work, outdoor table was filthy, only one outdoor chair was available, deck stain was peeling off, kitchen had a cooktop but no pots nor pans to cook with. The much lauded restaurant was OK, my wife's steak was beautiful but my fish of the day was so hard and dry I could have put a stamp on it and mailed it home.
This place is really a fancy family holiday camp with a wonderful range of facilities to keep the kids occupied even if they are a bit tired.
To be fair they are trying to tidy it up but they don't seem to be very interested in customer service on the journey.
We wouldn't go back.
Very enjoyable day.. even rode a bike for the first time in 30 years. Great place for families... so many things to do and enjoy... will we be back... definitely
Beautiful place to stay or to visit had a great time.
I booked and paid for an eco cabin through Airbnb so I thought. Paid for two nights for my family, next morning got an email saying my booking was refunded which I did not request. I contacted the host who said they knew nothing about a booking(and could care even less) and flicked me back to Airbnb who just ignored me, I sent several TXTand SMS's trying to get an explanation....nothing at all ,no recognition whatsoever. Treated like a complete idiot , apparently they all have so much money they don't want or need yours or mine.
If you get treated like this even before you get there can you imagine what it will be like on the resort??
Basil Fawlty sitting on a chair with feet up on the desk ,arms behind the head telling you to get stuffed perhaps??
Great place to visit, nice bush walking tracks, plenty of native animals to see, definitely a nice place to relax .
Realy enjoyed our stay,very nice rooms,a little run down in places but is however going threw upgrade.
Fantastic for families who just want to chill and have fun as a family.
We carnt wait to come back with our son as this time was our first and our 20th wedding anniversary.
We wish the staff well here as they were very atentive and helpfull,a very friendly fun team.
Thanks to the boat crew to as they made you feel very relaxed threwout the journey.
Just completed a stay and it was interesting to say the least. Tried to keep an open mind and enjoy the whole time, but i cant just let it slide. From the time of booking there doesn't appear to be anyone to contact for information. Upon More
Having stayed at Couran Cove multiple times over the last few years, I was really disappointed in our stay last week. There is no parking available at the Ferry Terminal despite being told there is via email 2 days prior. You are told you have to park your car on a main Gold Coast street overnight with no protection whatsoever. We were then told there was no room on the Ferry we had booked and it's our fault for being late despite arriving 1.5 hours early, unable to get a car park anywhere. Food has always been terrible and expensive but the beautiful Island always made up for it. They do not answer their phones at all and we witnessed several of them standing around letting the phones ring. You can't leave a message either as its full which I think must have been done on purpose. Very disappointed and wont be back. - Lee
What an amazing Day Trip. Didn't receive the best bike, but it didn't dampen the day. Pool, kayaks, stand up paddle boards, trail walks and endless beaches are some of the free activities. Took our own picnic lunch over, so was not an expensive trip. Though the food we saw looks amazing and will definitely be trying next time. Can not wait to book a long weekend stay.
Gorgeous resort, friendly staff, so much to do and see. And the pizza at the pool bar is outstanding!
Most relaxing place ever. Great for family get away's
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY
Why I've rated Ramada Couran Cove Island Resport 1/5:
- Room was very dirty, everything covered in dust, girlfriend suffers from allergies to dust.
- The only place to buy food was the Poolside Cafe which is basically a very expensive canteen. The restaurant was "closed for maintenance" and the cafe was open for about 4 hours during the 3 days we were there. We were not informed that there are kitchens in the rooms so we assumed there would be sufficient food available, which was not the case. We were forced to pay upwards of $20-$30 per meal, 3 times a day for very, very, very average food. The poolside cafe was not even open all day... There was set eating times and no where else to purchase food outside of these times. We were forced to pay upwards of $120 each day for food for 2 people. I wouldn't actually mind paying more than $20 per meal, if the food was in fact worth that price. The food is very poor quality and very expensive.
- The first time we left the apartment our key stopped working so we had to walk back to the reception to obtain a working key.
Highlights:
- Ferry was on time and prompt
All in all, we ended up leaving 2 days early so that we could get some decent and non-expensive food. We felt captive on this island... It was not an enjoyable experience.
Overall lovely stay. Room was clean, staff were friendly and the food was great. Looking forward to coming back!
I stayed here, i took a massive dump on the toilet in 301.
Pristine beaches with not a soul on them. Skip the bustle eleswhere and come for the day - only 45 minutes from Brisbane
Will return only stayed 2 days wish it had been longer
Love it. Staff are super friendly and helpful and the amenities are clean. So much to do. The wild life is right at your door.
Great place to take family, something there for all ages. Numerous parks, 2 pools, activities all day round. Was a few mishaps with admin incorrect room keys. Then losing our booking uppon out departure, fair priced and quality food, considering is on a island. Was left short one meal, but was happily refunded, and told new staff in training, but didn't detour us from a pleasant stay.
this was our second trip to couran cove. great potential yet disappointing this time. very short staffed, over priced, ferry should be complementary in my view if the guests are staying over 2-3 nights on full price, management should really think about major developments. good luck.
Not much to do for older people on a day trip .Need to have some life entertainment .
Run down tired facility that doesn't keep maintenance updated. It was raining when we arrived and the gutters by reception were rusted away with giant holes so water was pouring through creating a hazard. Same in the apartment the rusty gutter leaked water onto the deck so you couldn't sit at the table and eat as water was splashing over you. The outside of these apartments has never been painted since new and were rotten with cobwebs.
I ate at one of the so called restaurants and paid $25 for chicken parma that was just like a dogs dinner. You need a new chef guys!
I asked if there was a pool table and reception said it was broken...surprise surprise everything else looked broken or rusty except the bikes as you have to pay to hire them.
God help you if you happen to fall in the water and swallow it as its a dirty brown colour.
I asked a young kid behind the bar for a strawberry daiquiri and he made this up in front of me. I asked him why he didn't use strawberries and he said we are out of them....when I asked for a reduction in price as he didn't use strawberries he said he couldn't do it. Who's the stores person that does stock checks?
The residents pay around $8000 to $10000 body corporate here and there's no upkeep of maintenance. Our toilet in the apartment was also broken as it just kept running all night filling with water so a simple fix but alas I guess it won't get fixed.
Excellent. Most of the staff do and will go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable.
The staff at this resort are extremely unprofessional from the resot manager on down to the reception staff. No complaint was dealt with - they simply hid behind "this is our policy " statement and refused to deal any further with the matter.
I would not recommend this resort to anyone of my acquaintance!!!!!
We had dinner at the Oasis bar and bistro. The menu was limited because of corona restrictions which was understandable. We asked to have some salad and fries with the chicken wings. The staff were so accommodating and were happy to change it to a full meal. The meals were huge and sauce flavour on the chicken was beautiful. Thanks for a great evening
Our stay at couran Cove was wonderful. We had such a great time.. Those seafood platters each day absolutely rocked..
So beautiful. Ferry ride was amazing, water so perfect, crew was very helpful.
Check in was a breeze. Staff are really happy and eager to help with information and attractions.Our apartment is facing the marina and the hinterlands. Beautifully furnished room, bathroom is fantastic and really well appointed. Lots of storage!
Pool area is awesome. This whole place needs to be seen to be believed.
I highly recommend a tour via 4x4 of the beach and surrounding areas. Lachie of Stradbroke Adventures does an amazing tour at great prices. He also does awesome water sports, tube riding, stand up paddle board plus more. So much fun!!!
Such an Amazing place....you can relax or there are activities to do and places to explore if you want to. Lovely family accommodation well equipt. The resort staff are also amazing. Very friendly and welcoming and very professional. Sunset beach is the perfect place to have a drink and watch the sunset with fire and music and the children can play volleyball whilst you are relaxing. Wildlife to explore...cute inquisitive wallabies....My only issue is that I wished we had stayed longer. Will definitely come again and will be bringing all my overseas visitors. It's such a hidden gem in the gold coast x
Beautiful place to stay, and chill out for a few days, riding the bikes is a great way to get around. The only bad thing is the management. Nobody knows anything, make sure you take a copy of your invoice if you have anything included because for sure they won't know or they will try give you less than what was supposed to be included. It's like a modern day version of Aussie faulty towers.
Lovely place to relax
& Recharge <3
Just had a pretty poor lunch...frozen fried seafood... Despite us being in a haven for fresh fish.
Wow my wife and I have been to a few countries,accommodation is basic but very spacious with water front balconies..we both read reviews before coming onto the island..."really"hey you guys...this is a hidden gem...the staff here are great..we asked questions and were very satisfied...love the animal life and nature of this island food prices are spot on for what you pay on a island...if you enjoy walking this is great...only 2.2klm to surf beach..train is a option and you can hire a bicycle for a day...highly recommend couran cove..We will be back 5 stars for me...
Why was our stay poor? Because it never happened. We paid Couran Cove over $10k for a wedding that was delayed due to COVID and they have now ignored all of our communication about re-scheduling for five months. It turns out they haven t bothered because Couran Cove has been in administration since late 2020 and is now in liquidation.
I recommend not paying any money in advance unless you can afford to throw it away.
Excellent place walks beach riding pushbikes.Lovely restaurants great accomadation with good views
Really enjoyed the weekend away . Caters for adults and children . So much to do. Lovely staff , facilities are great. We will be back . Would be perfect if there was a later ferry back to the mainland.
Got charged four times on same things $240 still waiting for return phone call,really hard to even get an answer
Old, dirty, smelly run down rooms - no wifi except in reception. Understaffed, high prices for food - this place was NOT a good experience, even from the carpark to getting on the ferry. I was so happy to leave this place. I would not recommend staying here.
Beautiful resort in a beautiful setting.
Clean tidy and spacious accommodation.
Unfortunately this all didn't matter because of the worst service I have ever experienced.
90 minute to 2 hour wait for a burger at the pool restaurant at lunchtime
Even worse at the main restaurant. Expecting a long wait we pre-ordered dinner at 3pm with the manager for a service at 7pm. At 6.30 we were asked if we would like our starters? We said yes.
50 minutes later our garlic bread and spring rolls arrived.
Everybody else at our table had finished their mains when mine was delivered.
No wine list and no ice buckets to keep the limited selection that they do sell cold.
The food however when it did arrive was delicious.
Such a shame. Because it could be a fantastic place to stay or visit
Accommodation is comfortable. Bed was a bit firm for me. Overall clean and tidy room. Food options felt limited and maybe a bit of variety over the weekend days would make for a nicer stay.
Beautiful view and nice place to spend weekends, it is a family resort but not too many attractions to do for adults. I would not suggest to spend more than few days. There is no daily room service and not many food options. Pool is nice, you can get a kayaking opportunity as well as fishing from your balcony.
The place is very run down. Gym area and sports area was falling down. The cleaning schedule was 4 days old and clearly wasnt being done. There was mould growing in the bathroom and no toilet paper in our room. Drinks and food over priced and poorly made. Bartender and staff were unfriendly. Half the items on the menu not available. Bar closed at 7:30pm just as we ordered dinner. Ordered wifi and movie package that wasn't added to our booking. Emailed reception about been charged twice for the ferry and was told they couldnt refund only credit it was their mistake again only after third email. Why would i want to come back. Booked a couples massage a week before i even emailed to confirm. When we checked in was told it wasn't available. So we had to go one after the other meaning we had to wait an hour each for the other person to have theirs. General store is a long way out of the way in the middle of the bush instead at main area. They dont supply towels for the pool unless you pay a deposit. The bikes we hired felt like they would fall a part. "Adventures" on the website are not run by them and again not available.
The one good thing was the lady i saw playing game with the kids visiting the resort.
Looooove this place! Chilled Sunday arvo live music, the bars are good, food is amaze (try the sweet potato fries = mind blown!) I will be returning again shortly for a long weekend with the family. There are free water activities including kayaking and paddle boarding. Theres a small on water play gym for kids & adults alike. Hire some bikes and cruise around the island. Fishing, swimming at the beach, a romantic sunset... what more could one ask for? Great for a family vacation or a different kind of mates weekend away.
No return phone call to our please contact to advise of ferry times as we had been given two different times via email. We missed out on precious time we had paid for due to the staff not bothering to phone us back.
Great place to swing by for a casual meal, snack or drink when you're out enjoying the Good Coast waterways.
" Share details of my visit to Couran Cove ?"
Went 6 years ago. Didn't know it still existed.
Cheers, Dennis Evans.
Beautiful spot, rooms new and clean however food options and quality isn't that great...pizza fish and chips is the best you're gonna get here...staff service is a bit on the casual/she'll be right mate sort of attitude, was given the wrong at first, forgot to return our room bond, bar staff didn't know how to make basic cocktails. Still enjoyable, lots to do and nice and quiet, just stay away from the staff I guess...they just want to have a chat in the back anyways
Perfect holiday destination for parents and kids! Soo many activities for the kids to do, there is kayaking, tennis, squash, laser tag, VR Games room, huge playground, two pools, water trampolines, games for the kids in the pool and they can ride their bikes everywhere or you can hire bikes and electric bikes at the resort! Restaurants are great!
Tired & run down. Everything about this place smacks lack of investment...25 years ago this would have been a great place but it doesn't look like any cleaning or maintenance has been done anywhere since the resort opened. Your money can be spent better elsewhere.
Cause management is corrupt dodgy and all other negative words still wouldn't be sufficient enough to describe the place.Is a beautiful location but is polluted by the ones that are supposed to care for it.
We arrived by yacht and required a berth on the outer arm as our keel depth is 2.05m. We entered on the tide and didn t have a problem although did register zero below the keel at low tide. Staff were friendly and helpful and we were able to access a discount as Shagger's Members. Very pleasant surroundings and plenty of walks and facilities available to provide us with some shore time activities. The shower facility available for boaters was a little lacking but did the job ok. Will definitely stay there again.
Just arrived home from a long weekend stay over the Valentine's Day weekend. I was so looking forward to staying at Couran Cove! I had heard such good things about it.
Okay, things I couldn't fault... the rooms were well looked after, and spacious, overlooking the lagoon. Well, the bathroom amenities could have been better stocked.
Resort staff are shamefully undersupported, you could see how exhausted and run-off-their-feet they were, trying to look after a full weekend of guests with only a handful of staff to tend to their needs.
I can understand the pandemic has influenced recruitment and employment in the tourism industry, but the lack of support they received reflected badly on how they were able to look after guests who had paid GOOD money to stay here.
In turn, this shows how drastic the owners and managers of Couran Cove need to change things to improve the quality and reputation of this resort. It cannot continue the way it has... being told at a 4 star restaurant, (on a couple of occasions) that they have, "run out of food" is NOT acceptable!
Equipment for the kids was run down and neglected, and posed a serious safety risk to children. If I were the owner/s I would be VERY embarrassed to see the state of some of the facilities. We did enjoy the pool though, our singular past-time we enjoyed.
I would like to see a response from the owners detailing how they plan to ensure the maintenance of the property and the care of their staff will be improved in such a way that reflects the high cost of a reservation for a holiday which is meant to be filled with good memories and with the promise of a return visit! In its current state, I will not be returning.
Good place, not too expensive, variety of things to do
Great family or couple get away friendly staff and reasonable prics
I purchased a groupon day trip to couran cove .
I tried to book 3 separate dates and was told on each ocasion that the ferry was fully booked for my chosen times.I was only offered the early return ferry which would only have given me a couple of hours on the island and not a full day like I had purchased.
Very dissatisfied and would recommend not buying the groupon.
Married here here 14 years ago, come back to a much less staffed run down looking place. We had studio room near water which was clean and comfortable small kitchenette fridge so u can take food to cook but minimal really.
Probably more active in warmer months with more atmosphere so would go back to check it out. Just need a bit of revamp to bring it to 4-5 star but as it is 3-3.5 stars only
Says your not allowed to bring alcohol on the island but we did just for nights out on our balcony which was nice
courancove.com.au