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Aussie family's 'nightmare' holiday at popular Queensland resort: 'Filthy'

An Aussie family claims their luxury Queensland holiday turned into a "nightmare" when they were forced to cut the trip short and "forfeit hundreds of dollars".

Mish and Kirk Ryan-Welsh were hoping for a tropical getaway at Daydream Island Resort in the Whitsundays, but say the scenic escape was disastrous and "filthy".

The Adelaide couple said they were shocked to learn the island was far from what they'd imagined during a recent visit with their baby.

Adelaide couple Mish and Kirk Ryan-Welsh with baby on family holiday to the Whitsundays.
The couple claim their dream holiday to the Whitsundays turned into a nightmare. Source: Instagram/mishandkirk

"99 per cent of the time we’re showcasing wonderful places to visit [and] stay, but this is not one of those times," the couple wrote in a video on TikTok.

The resort was far from what was advertised online, they claimed.

"Our room was so mouldy, the bathroom, lamp shades, curtains and pillows, all the staff were teenagers and clearly hated being on the island too," they wrote.

"If you don't book dinner a week in advance you won't get a table at the restaurant and they don’t offer room service so you'll have to eat takeaway pizza for seven nights straight while being attacked by seagulls."

'Rubbish everywhere'

At one point, the couple ordered two glasses of champagne which they said were "half full." But when they questioned it, they were supposedly told "that's all we have left."

The couple also took aim at the resort's claim to be an "eco-resort."

"But there’s plastic [and] rubbish EVERYWHERE [and] no recycling system in place," they claimed. "This is just an excuse to not have to replace towels."

The video shows rubbish strewn across the ground and rocks covering the white-sand beaches.

Rubbish around bin at Daydream Island Resort and broken arm chairs
The couple claimed there was rubbish strewn across the eco-friendly resort. Source: TikTok

Many of the resort's facilities were also closed, meaning guest couldn't enjoy the pools, bars or children's playgrounds, they said.

And to top it off, the parents claim their bed was filled with ants and a staff member said their son "looks like a chimpanzee."

"Lesson to be learnt; never book a fancy resort you see on IG before reading the hundreds of negative Google reviews," they warned.

"We forfeited hundreds of dollars worth of accommodation as soon as we could find another available place to stay, [and] continued our little family holiday on Hamilton Island which has been bliss."

Yahoo News Australia has contacted Daydream Island Resort for comment.

Earlier this year, local authorities told the ABC the Whitsundays is still struggling to rebuilt five years after Cyclone Debbie reduced parts of it to rubble.

closed sign on playground and beach with rocks
The couple said most facilities were closed and the promised white sandy beaches were covered in rocks. Source: TikTok

Holiday hotspot slammed on social media

Some TikTok viewers took to the comments to share their own experiences at the resort.

"So trueee!!! Stayed there in Feb and if you don’t reserve a table for dinner, there’s a chance you run out of takeaway food and have to wait the next day! It was terrible," one person said.

"Omg that’s shocking!!!! What a shame it’s so run down these days! It was so clean and beautiful when we went there a few years back," wrote another.

One said it "looks like an abandoned resort", not a luxury escape as promised.

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