Ningaloo Reef Resort

Where to start... Location - this is the number 1 feature of the hotel, located on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world- it’s hard to fault the location. Facilities - nice green grassed areas, nice pool area, and great bar and bistro areas with shaded tables. Perhaps some more shade around the pool would be good too. The rooms - are really in need of some serious rejuvenation. But, even then, were clean enough, the bedding was adequate, and were well appointed for what they were. (Which was similar standard to an on-site cabin in a caravan park). But, they were serviced daily, which is a positive. The staff- were all friendly and responsive and were doing a good job. Things to note - the onsite restaurant is good enough, but does take a long time to get a meal, and it doesn’t necessarily come out together. - Saturday nights have a live band, they were quite good, they play until approx 10pm . The noise insulation is such that even though you may have gone to put your kids to bed much earlier, it will feel like you have front row seats from your bed (which you won’t be able to sleep because of) We had a smoke siren go off in the evening... (we were asleep), called the duty manager number on their emergency evacuation form - and the number was disconnected. Our neighbours for the evening , a friendly bunch of girls who, were clearly enjoying a relaxing afternoon, and then evening at the bar, after returning from the bar, they then continued their celebrations from the balcony, into the early hours of the morning ... we tried contacting the duty manager, but number was still disconnected. We spoke with management in the morning to let them know, they had had a number of complaints about the noise, they stated that they had attempted to put the group in another block, (which perhaps would have moved the problem for us- but created a problem for others). The management was apologetic, and stated that they are not 24 hrs. Which is all fine and good BUT, when the demographic at the hotel is largely families and older clientele, and you have already identified this group as being a potential noise concern, perhaps a more proactive response is required. Rather than a “sorry, not our fault... “ All in all, has a lot of potential- totally overpriced for the accommodation provided- but it seemed it was full (at least on Saturday- so ppl (like ourselves) are paying it... We are Vic based where the RAC(V) brand is synonymous with good quality accomodation, and good staff... (whether it be caravan, hotel, resort based) and nail it time after time... RAC may want to have a look at how it’s done ;-)

Have camped before and always wanted to stay here instead. Yes it’s expensive and the rooms are a bit dated but the staff are great, the facilities (pool restaurant and bar) are lovely. Definitely recommend.

Stayed in the penthouse for our honeymoon. Very dated room but aircon worked, comfortable bed, good tv and showers and exceptional view!!! Nice pool and 50m walk to anything and everything including great snorkelling. The negatives are expected like the high cost of alcohol etc. But overall highly recommend Coral Bay and would stay here again. 4 days was the perfect amount of time otherwise you run out of places to eat!

Great location but rooms in serious need of a refurbish. Our bathroom smelled horrible and had broken tiles in the shower and on the floor, lots of grout was missing, showing horrible mold and dirt which no mop could possibly remove. Very dated, paint peeling off and mattress gave my partner and I a backache so we had to sleep in the living room bed which wasn’t much better. Staff were friendly and food was pretty good though so at least they have that part right. There’s no way our bathroom would have passed a Health Inspection. Was partners 40th so didn’t want to make a fuss and we just stayed out of our room as much as we could. Left feedback about the bathroom but no one contacted us about it so I guess they don’t care. Gross.

Took my family for a couple of days. Was a super clean and modern room. Staff was very helpful and friendly. The beach is right in front of the resort and there is a bar with good music. Nice pool and a bottle shop on site. The only reason I did not give it a 5 was the cost. At $300/night it is very expensive. But I guess being remote makes things costly. Highly recommend.

We booked here for 2 nights and expectations were not high, having read quite a number of previous reviews. The resort didn't even reach those low expectations for us though. Accommodation in Coral Bay is really limited so you are stuck between a rock and hard place. They seem to expect that because the resort is close to the bay, it is an excuse to charge such high prices for such poor facilities. As you pull up to the car park resort, there is a huge gas container next to the resort sign. Really, couldn't it have been sited elsewhere? I had requested a first floor room and even though it was low season and it must have been a quarter full at most, we were still put on the ground floor and were told it was not possible to have a room upstairs. The 'living room' had the most ugliest bed in, really cheap and nasty furniture and no lamps - ugly strip lighting in every room and a horrible dirty air conditioning unit high up on the wall. The bathroom had a shower with a shower curtain (!) and the water leaked all over the floor. There were a couple of cheap and nasty chairs outside - no cushions - so uncomfortable to sit on the plastic in the heat. There were no blinds so no privacy unless you closed the curtains. I can imagine it would be very noisy when the resort was full. We could hear the people upstairs and next to us and the people's wet costumes dripped on us through the roof when we were sitting outside. The only positive as far as we were concerned, was it's position next to the reef and beach. Coral Bay is so small though, wherever you are is not going to be far away. We had just come from Mantaray's in Exmouth - 4 1/2 stars, cheaper than Ningaloo Reef and a world away in terms of facilities and experience, so this was a bit of a shocker. It was hard also not to compare what you would get in Europe for what I paid here, hence my title of poor value for money. In a nutshell, would I recommend? No. Nor would I go back.

I was booked into this resort to meet my son was working in Oz and we wanted somewhere cool to meet with things to do. He recommended this place and I was not disappointed. Firstly, it was part of my first visit to Australia and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The resort rooms are a bit behind the times but quite honestly, I was in the room so little. Most importantly, it was super clean, bed comfortable, everything worked and the aircon was a welcome relief from the afternoon temps. I thought they were functional for an activity break and a balcony area with s view was a real bonus. The charm of this resort is its location and the fantastic staff. Nothing was too much trouble at reception (thanks Paul) and everyone had a smile. Also, on the few evenings we used the cafe/restaurant, the food was excellent. There is a tourist centre close by for tours...highlights were the swimming with the Manta Ray and fishing on the mahi mahi (?) Particular thanks to Ashley, Dave, Sam , Elle, Jimmy, Jack, Rhonda, Nina and Carmen; all staff whom we got to know quite well and gave great advice on what to do. The snorkelling was world class , get directions to ‘five fingers reef’ or take a quad bike and mix the two. Good local bars/ eateries include Reef cafe and Bills which are only 5 mins away. If only it wasn’t 20 hours away ... I’d be back every year!

We stayed at the Ningaloo Reef Resort, in an ocean view room, for 2 nights in February. We were blown away by the location and the view from our balcony. The room was apartment style with very comfortable beds and the kitchen and bathroom were very clean. One minor detail was that there was a light directly outside our bedroom window which we couldn't turn off and the light leaked through the curtains at night. But don't let this stop you from staying here. The staff were also fantastic and extremely helpful, providing us with a few options for tours the next day and helping us to book them. They also suggested wonderful places to eat which were spot on. Would definitely stay again!!

We stayed in a beachcomber unit which was nice and cute. Only problem being it only has one bathroom which may be hard to share. We had a perfect view on to the beach. I tried out the pool which was nice and warm and had some lounges near by. Breakfast we had at the little cafe there was simple but nice.