If you want a comfortable stay in the Lamington National Park, then this is the place. But be warned, the food is a bit institutional and is not cheap, while the "Retreat" is visited by coachloads of tourists, which is somewhat at variance with the idea that this is a wilderness.

That said, the two bedroom canopy suite where we stayed is beautifully situated and well furnished. It is also quiet, as it is further down the hill, a bit away from most of the other rooms.

Even though we visited in the quiet period, we still saw plenty of wildlife and an early morning bird walk, if it is led by Tim O'Reilly, is highly recommended.

You'd be hard pressed to beat the O'Reilly's staff's wonderful old fashioned hospitality. Everywhere we went from reception, porter, dining staff, cleaners, tour guides we were warmly welcomed and treated as family. All the tour guides are very knowledgeable & friendly and thoroughly enjoy sharing their knowledge with the guests. Glen is outstanding, from his wonderful Aussie sense of humour & imagination to his amazing rapport with all wildlife. We were extremely fortunate to spend two whole days with Glen and it was truly heart warming & delightful to see & feel his love for each individual bird and their very obvious return of love for him. We felt very privileged to share in & witness these special friendships. We enjoyed the company of a number of other guests from various countries around the world and hearing their impressions of Australia/Australians. These guided walks/ bus trips are worth the cost as you see & learn so much more than just taking a walk on your own. Nowhere else would you be likely to even see a whipbird let alone watch one be hand fed and follow the guide along the track just to enjoy his company!!!! A photographer's dream holday come true. The free films each night are very interesting & informative. You can do as much or as little as you like during your stay.

This was my second visit to O'Reilly's in 18 months. First trip was with my 78 yr old Mum January 2006 (she had visited 20 yrs previously with my Dad and couldn't wait to return). This holiday was with my good friend to celebrate my 50th. Both trips were for a three night stay in the Bithongabel one person cabins (we're only there to shower & sleep!!!). These were available at a reduced rate for the time we were going.

I've met many people who've been visiting O'Reilly's for the umpteenth time, some every year for 20 years!!! Nothing speaks more highly than many regular return visitors.

Accommodation: We stayed in one of the newer Mountain View rooms. These are modern timber and tin construction. They’re built duplex style (2 adjoining rooms to a building) and although the walls are reasonably sound proofed, the design falters badly through the flooring. If you have people staying next door who either walk heavily, jump, drop thing’s (including shoes) or drag chairs etc around, including on their balcony, it could be very disruptive and annoying. Other than that, the rooms are compact and clean, including the bathroom. The bed was firm but not hard and everything worked as it should. The small balcony / deck, provided a lovely view into the maintains and distant mountains.
Restaurant: I’d suggest buying a Dinner and Breakfast meal package for $70 when you get there. Dinner is a little over catered for, with both a la carte and Buffet Entrée and Desert courses, combined with an a la carte main meal selection. You certainly wont go to bed hungry, as there’s plenty of choice. The standard of food was as you’d expect from a good family type restaurant. Staff could have been a little more helpful when we arrived and explained what’s what, as we did feel a little lost with the way it’s set up.
Service: The staff were very friendly everywhere we went but could have been a little more helpful in the restaurant as stated above.
Overall: We stayed for a Saturday night and the place was apparently full. It certainly didn’t appear so, as it was only in the restaurant you felt it was busy. There’s plenty to keep you busy or you can do nothing at all. We did a little of both and enjoyed the time here very much.

This was the friendliest accommodation we stayed at in Australia. They most certainly live up to their promise of “We treat strangers as friends, friends as family and family as gold”. What a wonderful and special Christmas we had here. The Mountain View room we had was adequate(decor a little dated & we could have done with more space for 6 days) 2 double beds with a small shower & toilet room but close to all the amenities of the spa, pool, restaurant, games room, library etc. it had a carport underneath the room if we had had a car. Afternoon & morning tea was a lovely time for everyone to get together & talk about what they had seen on the days walk.The food options were flexible with a choice of cafe, bar food or restaurant that you could mix & match on. We worked out that it wasn't worth paying for the meal options unless you really wanted to pig out three times a day! We did loads of organised walks (be sure not to miss the one by Michael O'reilly) & all the nature activities on offer & had a Carol Concert on Christmas Eve & evening entertainment by staff & guests on Christmas Day Eve. The aboriginal activities were excellent & I can definately recommend the corroboreee & boomerang throwing as well as the evening glow worm walk.The kids & their Dad enjoyed the flying fox & Giant swingThe only bizarre thing was the coach transfer to the resort that we took (arranged by Trailfinders). It had not been mentioned that we were joining a day trip to O’Reillys (normally with a stop over of 2 hours, ours just happened to be 6 days!). The coach left Roma St & went to the Gold Coast where we had to change buses. Then it was up to Tambourine Mountain for 1 hour shopping and a complimentary Devonshire tea. Then we drove to a lookout & eventually 4 hours later arrived at O’Reillys (it had puzzled me when I booked why it took 4 hours in the coach & 2 hours to drive). On the return leg we stopped for 30 minutes at Canungra Vineyard (owned by O’Reilly’s) for complimentary wine tasting, then back to Gold Coast, change coaches & back to Brisbane.
I wasn't at all into birds before I went here but left loving them.I felt very priveledged to have seen Alberts Lyre bird 3 times during my stay here.