7 Best Hotels in Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

This beachfront property just south of Palm Cove has its priorities right: Kewarra's sensitively designed bungalows and restored pioneer's cottage overlook rain forests teeming with wildlife, free-form pools, or a private white-sand beach. The eco-friendly lodgings bring comfort with their silky wood floors, custom furnishings, high-tech appointments, and simply furnished balconies or terraces. There's a glorious restaurant, bar, and airy lobby; a beach shack; and a lovely day spa, and there are various on-site activities such as guided morning nature walks, sunrise yoga, and tai chi sessions. Browse the boutiques, book a spa treatment, take a dip, go sea kayaking, or do some serious lounging. If you must venture off-site, the helpful concierge and Adventure Desk can arrange customized excursions and transfers via car or helicopter to Cairns, Palm Cove, and the airport. The resort also offers good-value multiday packages, some including dinners with wine, spa treatments, and reef, rain-forest, and tablelands tours.

This attractive hotel has an enviable location near the waterfront, a flotilla of services, and classy on-site drinking and dining options. Built around a central, open-air atrium, Hilton Cairns has large, stylishly furnished rooms and suites with all the amenities you'd expect of a modern business hotel and some pleasant additions you might not, including big, breezy furnished balconies. Spa rooms have large hydrotherapy tubs for postdive-trip pummelings. Enjoy a sundowner at Gin Social, or partake from the eclectic menu at Mondo Café Bar and Grill, overlooking Trinity Inlet.

Part of a lively entertainment complex in the heart of Cairns, this high-end hotel has spacious rooms and suites, as well as several restaurants and bars, a theater, a casino, an outdoor swimming pool, and a small wildlife sanctuary and ropes course in its rooftop dome. All accommodations have ceiling fans, plantation shutters, floor-to-ceiling windows, spa baths, and balconies. Soy Kitchen Street Food serves quality Asian dishes; the acclaimed Tamarind does contemporary cuisine with a twist; Bar36 serves up tapas and cocktails with live music acts often performing, and Flinders Bar & Grill is an inexpensive, tasty option inside the casino.

This attractive, two-story colonial-style hotel in the heart of town is the best bet in Cooktown. There are plenty of on-site facilities, including a large swimming pool, laundry facilities, car rental outlet, free Wi-Fi, the town's most upscale restaurant, and a sociable bar. With a wide front veranda and horizontal wide-slat shutters, the resort has the air of a plantation house. Guest rooms and apartments are simply but smartly outfitted with tiled floors, lounge areas, flat-screen TVs, and balconies with views. The Balcony Restaurant and Cocktail Bar is particularly good, serving classic Aussie dishes and showcasing local seafood. À la carte breakfast is served daily on the veranda.

The expansive one- to three-bedroom apartments at this high-end hillside resort are tailored for comfort, with spa baths the size of small cars, designer decor and appliances, high-end entertainment systems, free Wi-Fi, and big, furnished balconies with great views of the bay and yacht club. The resort is a steep trek (or about a A$12 taxi ride) from Airlie's main strip (or before 11 pm take the resort shuttle, but it only runs every two hours). In-house dining at Tides restaurant is sophisticated, if pricey, offering breakfast, pool-side lunch, and Modern Australian dinners. On-site facilities include a licensed bar, a wet-edge pool, a well-equipped gym, and an endota spa that offers detox, destress, and anti-aging treatments using organic Australian ingredients. Reef trips and water sports are at your doorstep, but there's plenty of incentive to stay put.

This practicality-meets-luxury hotel near Cairns's waterfront has an impressive three-story lobby, an elegant day spa, and smartly outfitted guest rooms and suites, all with furnished balconies. Classy in-room touches include fluffy bathrobes and Roger & Gallet toiletries. Higher-floor executive suites also have separate lounge areas. On weekend evenings and Sunday lunchtimes, there's live music in the Lobby Bar. Coco's Restaurant is open for big buffet breakfasts, long or speedy "power" lunches, high teas, and Modern Australian dinners, including a nightly seafood buffet showcasing the region's best produce.

With chic modern decor in blues and blue-grays reflecting the waterfront location and buzzing on-site bars and eateries, this marina-side resort is among Cairns's hippest. Outdoor areas are suitably sleek, with extensive wooden decking, palm-shaded swimming pools, a Jacuzzi, and a poolside cocktail bar. Spacious rooms and suites have muted decor, balconies, and flow-through views of the pool area and gardens, or the mountains, bay, or marina. Paying extra for a Horizon Club room or suite buys you extra amenities and services, including free Horizon Club breakfasts, and sunset drinks and canapés. There is a well-equipped business center, valet parking, and a helpful tour desk that can arrange off-site activities. The Backyard restaurant, featuring fine fresh regional produce, makes it worth dining in-house.