Jamie_L

I'm looking at going to Sydney in August 2004 and was looking for some advice / opinions on where to stay. I am not wanting to spend more than £45 per room per night really, and would prefer a central location (with a pool) and have seen the following hotels :

- Waterfront Terraces
- Pacific International
- Cairns Colonnial Club Resort
- Coral Tree Inn

If you have any experiences (good or bad) of these hotels (or similar) in Cairns please reply.

Thanks
Jamie

Janese

You should look up the Lonely Planet site for backpackers accommodation and help from them. We don't have much information on this site about that type of hotel.

david_m11

Hi, I have booked the Coral Tree Inn for Feb '04 - there is some positive feedback on www.tripadvisor.com.

I would class the hotels you mentioned as budget hotels for the traveller rather than 'backpackers' accomodation.

Jamie_L

Thanks David, I'll have a look, but yes it is definetly not backpacking information I require and I don't believe the hotels quoted (and price mentioned) quanitfy this as being the case.

Thanks

Jamie

LN

Hi again Jamie

We stayed in Palm Cove and before we left I checked with the Accor hotel site and found a great rate at their hotel in Palm Cove. It was more reasonable than anything I found on Needitnow or Wotif so I booked it - then when we got there we found that it was for a suite. super clean - pools around each building - good restaurant - and convenient to Cairns, Kuranda and Port Douglas. Oh, and it's just a suggestion - for what it's worth.

have a ball.

Nack

Hi,

We loved Cairns and stayed at a pretty inexpensive hotel called the Heritage Cairns. It was about a block away from the downtown area and was pretty good. We usually did activities and trips in the daytime so the hotel was only used to sleep and it was adequate for our vacation there.

pat_woolford

Hi Jamie - Pacific International is in the busiest part of town, nearly opposite the new swimming lagoon. Coral Tree is also not far - a street or two back from the Esplanade. Waterfront Terraces are further north on the Esplanade, not really waterfront as there's a road in front. Colonial Club is about 4 kms further out in a less fortunate suburb of Cairns, however it's well landscaped with a lovely pool - they have a shuttle into town but am not sure how late it runs.

simpsonc510

I have stayed in Cairns three different times at a small place called the Tradewinds Outrigger. The name might have changed in the last few years, as my last visit was in 1996. But it was a very pleasant walk to town, about 2 blks, and a short walk to the waterfront of about a block. There was a small pool, laundry facilities, and a price similar to Colonnial Club and Pacific Intl. I would happily return to the same place again! I really enjoyed the ceiling fan, and OH OH OH... the birds started singing before sun-up! Made a great wake up call.

kurandabed

Jamie,
Have a look at Inn Cairns,<www.inncairns.com.au>
Have heard good reports and its afforadable and really convient.
Regards, Lyle, Kuranda B&B

Thrym

Ouch, Janese!

Doh

We stayed at the Cairns Colonial Club a few years ago and it was nice (rooms were plain but fine, but they had great pools). As I recall it was a little ways out of the city center, but there was a shuttle bus you could easily take into town.

pat_woolford

Hi Jamie - it may be called a backpackers but check out Gilligans Backpackers Hotel & Resort - brand new and only opened last week - smack in the middle of Cairns city - they spent $27 million on it - as well as dormitories it has private rooms with ensuites. It's built over Rusty's market so you can always pop down and get yourself a fresh mango.

OneWanderingJew

Hi Jamie,
I stayed at Cairns Colonial Inn July '02 and was not pleased w/it. I had prebooked their most inexpensive room for one night. It was dingy and overpriced and in great need of some renovation, IMHO. I also found its location to be inconvenient. Yes, it has a shuttle but it only runs hourly and stops around 7pm so if you want to do something in the evening you're paying for cabs.

I ended up staying at CCC only one night because I found a much nicer but comparably priced place in the heart of Cairns called Il Palazzo. The apartment I rented was fully furnished right down to the laundry in each unit--think I may have gotten a great price because they had last minute vacancies though. There is a rooftop pool as well.

Incidently, I also spent quite a few nights in Pt. Douglas and really prefer it to Cains. PD has a beach whereas Cairns does not and though it's smaller, PD is a nicer town.

Debbie

pat_woolford

No Cairns city does not have a beach although there are plenty just north. this is why, at great expense to the ratepayer, Cairns Council has built an enormous stinger-proof (box Jelly fish) swimming lagoon with free showers, bbq facilities etc. Cairns was built as a port with a navigable inlet for ships to load sugar cane etc and it still berths the largest ocean going liners, so it would have been a bit silly to built it on a beach. Particularly when the whole area, including PD is prone to cyclones and tidal surges. Cairns is a regional city of 125,000 pop and has some delightful areas as well as some very forgettable ones. PD is a small tourist town with little other industry.

Steven

Hello....

Just got back from my honeymoon to Australia and we spent about 3 nights total at Il Palazzo in Cairns. I thought it was nice, reasonable, clean, had in-suite laundry, and was in a great central location. We walked to everything. Check it out.