Queensland

Hayman Residences

22

We’ve all been there. You’ve already dined poolside under the stars at the resort, matching your four-course dégustation with some of the best wines you’ve ever tasted, and the thought of leaving your hilltop eyrie with its views across the Whitsundays to partake of another delicious bowl of bug-tail tagliatelle at the cosy Italian trattoria just seems like altogether too much effort.

Besides, you owe it to the stunning sunset playing out over the bay to stay put. And that bottle of Piper chilling in an ice-bucket next to your own infinity pool is not going to drink itself.

You decide it’s a private-dining sort of a night: an evening to have a seafood grazing menu prepared for you in the comfort of your accommodation by one of Hayman Island’s chefs and served by one of its waitstaff. And it’s about then that you realise staying put is exactly the point of Hayman Residences, a collection of private estates at InterContinental Hayman Island Resort (hotel.qantas.com. au/intercontinentalhayman), which lies just off the coast of central Queensland.

The double-storey, four-bedroom, Kerry Hill architect-designed villas (there are eight in total, two of which can be booked via the resort’s website) sit atop a rocky outcrop overlooking one of Australia’s most exclusive island resorts.

Larger than the average Aussie house and more luxuriously appointed, the residences are built to accommodate travelling groups or extended families. Whether it’s the dedicated concierge, the pair of golf buggies to ferry you down the hill when you want to mix with the hoi polloi (watch for wayward wallabies when commuting at night), the unfussy yet elegant Blainey North interiors or the fully equipped kitchen you’re never likely to use, every possible comfort has been catered for.

But it’s the sense of seclusion that sets this property apart. That and the slant of late afternoon light as you lie back on your daybed and watch cockatoos ride thermals above the waters of the bay below.