Hotel berhampiran Esplanad Cairns, Cairns

We stayed for four nights over the Easter holiday in a panorama sea view room in the new tower. First of all, the location is excellent. The pool area has a sandy beach, and compared to the Hilton next door, the water was much clearer and very pleasant. The view is absolutely beautiful. However, when the tide goes out, it turns into what feels like a “panoramic mudflat view,” so I would recommend carefully considering the timing of your stay. On the other hand, there were several issues with the room. There is no balcony, and the windows cannot be opened. There were mosquitoes in the room, and I was bitten multiple times, which caused itching and swelling. The insect repellent device in the hallway was empty, which made me question the quality of housekeeping management. When I spoke to a female staff member at reception, I was told that only body spray repellent was available, and no further assistance was offered, so I had to purchase and install my own insect repellent. In addition, there was a sewage-like smell coming from the bathroom. The mirror and sink were not properly cleaned and appeared dirty. The room and hallway also had a moldy smell, and due to the humidity, the bed linens felt damp. The duvet was thin and not very comfortable. As I am sensitive to smells, these issues made me feel nauseous and unwell. Later, my husband spoke to a male staff member at reception. Although the hotel was fully booked and we were unable to change rooms, he responded with sincerity, apologized thoroughly, and instructed housekeeping to carry out a deep cleaning. When we returned from going out, the bathroom had been properly cleaned and the sewage smell was gone. The moldy smell in the room did not completely disappear, but it had been masked with deodorizer, and we were able to sleep well that night. However, the same issues returned the following day. As it was the Easter holiday and other hotels were fully booked, we had no choice but to stay until the end of our reservation. Afterward, I checked reviews and found many similar complaints about the moldy smell, which made me regret not researching more thoroughly beforehand. I had assumed that as a five-star hotel, it would be fine. Overall, the reception staff were kind, friendly, and professional. In particular, the male staff member who assisted us was excellent. On the other hand, I felt that the quality of housekeeping needs improvement. In my opinion, these issues are largely due to a design flaw—specifically, the building was designed with aesthetics prioritized over functionality by the construction company and architect, resulting in rooms where windows cannot be opened despite the humid tropical climate. The older tower, which has balconies and windows that can be opened, may not have the same problems. I would not recommend this hotel to those who are sensitive to smells, but for those who are not, it can still be a wonderful place to stay given its location and facilities.

A newly renovated hostel runs by Little Drifter in Cairns CBD area. Everything is quite new and well maintained, except for the washing machines (quite a few are broken and still waiting to be fixed, only 2-3 machines are working, both laundry and drying cost $6 each time so that would be $12 in total if you wash and dry in one go). Yet big shout out to the staff there, they’re all very friendly, responsive and helpful, and that really makes a huge difference. The whole atmosphere in the hostel is really cozy and chill. I lived in a 8-bed dorm, everyone is really respectful and quiet, especially after 22:00 when the lights are off. Kitchen has everything you need so you don’t need to worry about anything. And for ladies who might need to blow dry your hair, you can borrow hairdryer at the reception by giving out your passports/driver licenses. Regarding location, it’s definitely prime, everything is within walking distance. Woolworths is just next door, Esplanade and Lagoon are just 5 mins walk away, Cairns Central just 10 mins walk away. It’s definitely a really good choice if you’re new to the city and would like to have easy and fast access to everything.

Beautiful location, clean and thoughtfully designed room and bathroom. The amenities are all provided and the team is very professional. Nearby Esplanade, cafes, Woolworths. Parking spots are often available in front of the property on the street.

Nice room with own bathroom and shower. The pillow was like a brick, but otherwise great bunks! Huge and beautiful pool area. The club was also super nice. Nice and clean kitchen areas, multiple of them in the hostel (one in every level) so they weren’t too busy. Customer service was also amazing. Totally recommend!

Stayed on the 3rd floor. People above us moved furniture making scraping noises untill 11pm and did the same at 6:15am. Outside doors make a loud grinding noice that goes through the room. Unless your on the 4th floor you may run into a lot of movement noice from above

Okay here’s my review. The Espy has so much going for it in terms of being central to the entertainment precinct of Cairns Esplanade.  Check in was easy and friendly and the two bunk dorm had its own dedicated ensuite bathroom which was very clean and quite large. The bedroom was clean and the bunks were enclosed wood and steel construction with zero squeaking. Clean towel and linen provided. So that’s all the very good stuff. The not as good things I observed were: - the lounge/common areas were dimly lit, very tired (bordering on festy) furniture and not somewhere I’d socialise due to limited seating, very few power/USB outlets or clean comfortable seating. - The pool…. Or should I call it the tropical punch bowl of various biological matter and other detritus… if you’re keen of growing something fungal on your body, go in…. I decided not to. -Kitchen and meal prep area all seemed clean and safe to get your mung bean and tofu ready for consumption.  - The personal under bunk locker was missing its latch and with two roommates I had to say a little prayer that my gear would be safe inside my enclosed bunk. Overall this was my maiden voyage as a backpacker and at 57 years of age, I’ve stayed in a lot of Hotels and Motels costing far more for way less cleanliness. I rate this place highly for all the good reasons above.  The not so good stuff is easily fixed by management but for $65 per night in peak season, I don’t think you can get any better value in Central Cairns right near the action. Pubs, cafes, night market and the City Lagoon. Thanks Espy crew, you made this old dog’s stay a pleasant one and will be back if and when the opportunity presents itself.

We were a group of 4 and we had 4 singles beds with was fine and we stayed 3 night. Room was basic but fine enough for us. Small mini fridge, tea coffee and kettle. We had paid for continental breakfast. The first morning was okay with just a very basic choices of cereal, toast, croissant, packaged cheese and sliced ham, some Greek yogurt, and tinned peaches, and whole fruit. Basic sachet instant coffee available for free but machine coffee was five dollars. What was very disappointing was for the other two mornings there was no yogurt no croissants and no fruit . When asked if they had Greek yoghurt they said they had run out and didn't have any . To me this is very unacceptable considering there is a Woolworths directly across the road from the hotel. No excuses to have run out of food for a breakfast that is paid for . The only option left to eat was either a slice of toast or a bowl of corn flakes ... absolutely ridiculous considering you pay for a continental breakfast.

The Mantra Hotel has outstanding location. It is directly in front of the Woolworths supermarket - the best option in central Cairns. It's also virtually opposite (the esplanade side)the lagoon public beachfront swimming pool. Finally it's just a 5 minute walk from Cairns Cruise Terminal, with outstanding day trips to Green Island, Fitzroy Island and the Reef. I booked a sea view room. When you enter the room, you don't see the ocean, but a building across the road. However, the view from the balcony was amazing. The balcony overlooks the main features of lagoon on the sea front. During the day it is great view - the lagoon pools and sea in the background. At night you cannot see the sea (as to be expected) but you have the amazing lagoon lights, which makes it very desirable and even romantic. Our room was at the end of block, which overlooks a shopping mall (no car noise) - looking right from the balcony is the lagoon view and looking left is a mountain view. However, from 2:00pm to 6:00pm the sun comes directly into the balcony area, which means it unusable until sun sets. Of course if you don't mind baking in the sun on the balcony, this is not really a concern. The room itself is pretty basic. The mini fridge of OK and TV has domestic channels only - no cable TV for BBC/CNN. The bathroom is of a good size. There is combined shower & bath. However, when using the shower, it can slightly flood this bathroom. A shower curtain may be desirable because the glass panel is not sufficient enough. At $225 per night this hotel was not cheap and you can better deals by coming in the off-season OR going bit further down the esplanade, and choosing another hotel. The Mantra does have its own pool and it is wonderfully heated, with normal deck chairs you would expect at 4 star hotel. However, the pool gets very little natural sunlight, because it of its location between 2 buildings. Overall, the hotel has amazing location, and it is still recommended, despite the shortcomings mentioned. My final note: When we checked in, I was impressed with the level of service provided by the receptionist. She had a very welcome attitude and a wonderful personality.

Dated but well kept. Pool and BBQ although I didn't use them were a good facility. Location middle of Cairns meant I could walk everywhere easily and on the level.....even the airport was in my walking range at 5.4 km. Staff were excellent and the management Excellent and able to resolve all issues I had with onward travels and other countries online travel document requirements, which is so helpful to an older less technical traveller like me.👍 Mervyn

Location is not too bad. Situated a 15 minute walk away from the waters and main restaurant area. Situated on a main road but quiet at night. They let us put down our luggage when we couldn’t check in yet and leave it there after we’d checked out and waited for our flight. The young female receptionist was very helpful and nice.