Check It Out: Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef

Following a 16-month, $45 million refurbishment, north Queensland’s Lizard Island is fully operational again.

Saltwater Restaurant, Lizard Island Resort, Lizard Island.

Following a 16-month, $45 million refurbishment, north Queensland’s Lizard Island has picked itself up and dusted off the damage caused by cyclones Ita and Nathan and is fully operational again. The makeover is complete with the opening of the relaxed Marlin Bar, a natural extension of the beach at the far eastern end of the resort, and the addition of a premium two-bedroom villa with private plunge pool.

Famously claiming 24 white sand beaches, one for every four guests or thereabouts, the Great Barrier Reef island resort reopened in June but work on the refit has only just wrapped up. All 40 guestrooms and suites have a cool new coastal look, thanks to Melbourne-based design firm Hecker Guthrie and come equipped with large flat-screen televisions, premium sound systems and complimentary minibars; the bathrooms feature luxury Parisian La Biosthetique toiletries.

The six Sunset Point Plunge Pool Villas each feature easy beach access, ample seating on a private deck with views over Anchor Bay or Sunset Beach and a heated plunge pool. That new premium two-bedroom villa is the pick of the resort’s digs, situated on a secluded ridgetop and featuring a large living area, 15m balcony overlooking Sunset and Pebbly beaches, an 8m infinity pool and in-room (or poolside) champagne and canapés every evening.

The resort’s smart new look extends to the restaurant, Driftwood Bar and a wine room. Lizard Island is a national park 27km off the coast, covering more than 1000ha and accessible via a one-hour flight from Cairns.

DON’T MISS: Some pampering time away from the beach in the Essentia Day Spa.

DINING IN AND OUT: Executive chef Mark Jensen oversees daily-changing menus in the revamped Salt Water Restaurant with wines selected by critic Jeremy Oliver. The space has been expanded to maximise broad Anchor Bay views and includes an open kitchen. A typical lunch menu might include seafood laksa or Tasmanian oysters with caviar salsa. Dinner could be coral trout with a pine nut crust, sirloin with mash and pickled fennel, perhaps pea ravioli with wild mushrooms. Fancy popping out? Grab a dinghy and a picnic and make for one of those snug beaches.

ASK THE CONCIERGE: Meet the chef to plan a private seven-course degustation sunset dinner.

CHECKING IN: Rooms from $1365 a night, including meals, unlimited non-alcoholic beverages, Australian wines, beer, sprits and sparkling wine, in-room mini bar, picnic hampers, and use of non-motorised water sports equipment and motorised dinghies. More: lizardisland.com.au.

ALSO TRY: Laucala Island Resort, Fiji; Maalifushi by COMO Maldives; Amilla Fushi, The Maldives; The Datai, Langkawi, Malaysia.

ACCOMMODATION BUZZ:

• Rome’s legendary Hotel Eden closes this weekend for a complete renovation of all 99 guest- rooms and suites; scheduled to reopen in about a year’s time, the property, a Dorchester Collection member, will have a new day spa, and restored lobby and sixth-floor restaurants

• During February, Fiji’s family-friendly Malolo Island resort in the Mamanuca group near Denarau, is offering a deal to stay seven nights but pay for five; from $2670 in an ocean-view bure for seven nights for two adults or a family of four

• The supercool Grupo Habita has opened a 37-room hotel in Mexico’s second city and emerging cultural hub of Guadalajara; Casa Fayette is a Design Hotels member and incorporates a cleverly converted 1940s mansion housing a pool terrace and retro bar and restaurant

• In December, Fairmont Washington DC Georgetown will begin a $US27 million ($37.4m) upgrade of all 415 guestrooms; the decor is federal power politics-plus (think House of Cards)

• Ayers Rock Resort has unveiled its 2016 program of events, including a Desert Dreaming Yoga Festival (April 24-29) and Touch The Silence Within Wellness Weekend (May 13-15); the centrepiece happening is the year-long Bruce Munro’s Field of Light (from April 1), an ambitious solar-powered art installation that will illuminate a desert area within sight of sacred Uluru.