Fraser Island Retreat

The rooms were not as described No crockery/ cutlery Fan in ver poor state Steps to unit very unsteady Place filthy Finally got to speak to manager after 3 days . Wasn’t really interested, used the excuse as a sand island ! Did replace fan on last night & offered few packets chips and couple beers

Ok so let’s start this review with the bad, some plates, bowls and cutlery would be handy so you could have breakfast in your room and use the bbq facilities. And that’s all of the bad. Conveniently located an hour along the beach from inskip point places happy valley half way along the eastern beach. Perfect for your days exploring if you want to go up to Indian head and orchard beach or if you want to cross the island and check out kingfisher, central station and lake Mackenzie. But even better is 20 minutes behind happy valley is lake garawongera, no crowds and peaceful. The rooms are clean and basic, but you get the Fraser feel without sleeping under canvas. It got down to 9 degrees while we were there, and due to being off grid there is no heating, but with a jumper and the blankets provided, we were plenty warm enough. We enjoyed it so much we ended up extending our stay.

This was a fantastic place to stay on the island. The staff were so friendly and attentive. The food was good and there was a good atmosphere in the bar at nighttime. Lastly the rooms were spotless and the bathroom was modern with a good shower. There was also a fridge and kettle in the room which was a great addition.

Like a previous review that I have just read, but, unfortunately did not read prior to staying there, this place has little to recommend it. The cabins are a climb up very poorly maintained stairs that, in places, are rotten. Watch for splinters if going bare footed. The BBQ area is at the very top of these stairs and are only acceptably clean due to the considerate cleanliness of guests. The cabins are very poor. The only basin is in the bathroom. There is evidence that there was once a sink next to the fridge but it has long ago been removed. There is no aircon, no TV no WiFi but there is a ceiling fan. Refurbishment or demolition is the solution. The cabins were not serviced in the 4 days that we were there. Also, there is absolutely nowhere to hang any clothes. You literally live out of your suitcase. The only furniture was a wooden box which held spare blankets. Luxury! The restaurant?!?! Very basic fried food, limited menu the same for lunch and dinner. Staff were very good in the cafe/restaurant . This place was up there vying for the worst place that I have experienced. Not recommended.

Thanks so much for an amazing holiday! We had the best time and will definitely return! A big thank you to "Dodge" who went out of his way to help entertain our 6-year-old boy and really helped us to enjoy our incredible dinner out with you. Dodge also dropped everything to help us get into our unit when we locked ourselves out. We are extremely thankful to Dodge and all the wonderful staff there that made our stay memorable and just downright awesome! We will be back soon! Thanks again 🙂

It’s unfortunate that I need to leave this review as the staff are great, but this place should be closed down until it’s refurbished. I don’t believe any money is being put back into its upkeep. Our room was so old and shabby, it’s beyond basic. There is no air con, no breeze, just a fan circulating hot air so it’s unbearable trying to sleep. It must have been 10 degrees hotter in the room than outside. There’s very little furniture around the property to sit anywhere. The decking everywhere is splintered and falling apart, it matches the lone broken table in the pool area. Don’t even get me started on the restaurant, it’s over priced and terrible. We expected something simple on the island, but our experience at Happy Valley was just sad.

Did the 4x4 day bus tour with tour guide Peter Meyer what an amazing day we had looking at the beautiful sights of the Island. Not only is he an amazing photographer but he is a fantastic and funny tour guide. Thanks for the memories Russell Coight ..

This complex is showing its age but it was a comfortable location in Happy Valley. We lucked out with a refurbished bathroom in our 1 bedroom cabin (cabin 5, our friends in cabin 4 had an older bathroom). It contained a full size fridge and kettle and cups in the room with access to a communal camp kitchen with a gas BBQ, microwave, toaster, sink. Plenty of dishwashing liquid, chux, paper towels and alfoil were supplied there. Two hotplates and a dire looking fridge looked old and no idea if they worked; the BBQ was a little slow but worked fine. With your own fridge in your cabin there is no need to use the communal one but remember to bring all your own crockery, cutlery and anything else you need. Our cabin was clean and the camp kitchen reasonably so. We had plenty of hot water in the bathroom with decent pressure in the shower. In relation to a comment below, there was one blanket on our queen bed and a double size one on each of the two single beds (so they could be doubled over for warmth) but there were also extra quilts in the blanket box in the room. The mattresses felt new as did the pillows, but they were quite high and hard and I wished I had brought mine with me. If you have children, like camping, don't forget to bring along things to amuse them as no TV and variable internet depending on your provider. Be prepared to carry your gear up several flights of wooden stairs to reach the higher cabins. There is a pool (too cold so didn't try it) and a cafe/licensed bar/restaurant on site and the dinner we ate there was very good and reasonably priced. Special mention to a decent salad with our various seafood options that contained lots of variety not just limp lettuce as we have been served in much more expensive establishments. Like all settlements on Fraser now, Happy Valley is enclosed within a dingo fence. The shop area stocked a variety of eg tinned and snack items if you forgot something or need to boost your supplies, as well as various toiletries, bait for fishing and souvenir items. The cafe opened for coffee by around 8am. Don't forget of course you need a 4WD to get here.

Was staying nearby, thought we would support the local business, on the Friday night they lost our meals, apparently gave them to someone else. They told us we were not table 10, even though there was a table number '10' on our table. How do you.lose meals, so unprofessional. Saturday - we stopped in a for couple beers, was 4pm. Not a single person eating, but we asked for a garlic bread to snack on with our beers. The guy with the beard refused to serve us a garlic bred, saying 'we are fully booked' unbelievable... hours before the dinner rush, all we wanted was a simple garlic bread. Very disappointed with the service here. 2 issues in 2 days - will not be back.