Hilton in Cairns
Dec 9th, 2002, 09:02 AM
#2
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Yes, and it is a very lovely hotel. We paid $20 extra a night and got a balcony view of the bay. Well worth it. There is outdoor seating for eating, which was very good. The hotel has a very indonesian feel to it. There was a tour desk and we took a couple of tours, all good. However, if I went again, I would probably stay in Port Douglas, since Cairns is a city.
Dec 10th, 2002, 08:47 AM
#4
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hmmmm didn't go inside. Saw the outside when we drove to Cairns from our hotel in Palm Cove. I second the idea to stay away from Cairns. UNLESS you don't care if you have a beach to play on, sunbathe, stroll etc....<BR><BR>However, if you are using points and that is your only option....it would do for free. <BR><BR>I am not saying that the hotel isn't nice, I was just not impressed with Cairns as a destination. Other than the Mangrove Walk next to the airport...I would just hop on and off the plane. It wasn't even worth our 1/2 day to walk around the shops there.<BR>We should have spent our time doing something else.<BR><BR>
Dec 16th, 2002, 07:03 PM
#6
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HI bist_m<BR><BR>We stayed at the Hilton in Cairns last August. It is a lovely Hilton and the staff is superb! We also spent some time in Port Douglas in a local apartment style rental which was also nice. If you stay in Cairns, you will enjoy the Hilton.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR><BR>Steve
Dec 17th, 2002, 09:35 AM
#7
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I toured the Hilton and was disappointed with the pool size. Glad I stayed in Palm Cove at the Clarion. One thing about Australia though is that the hospitality is not what I expected. The Aussies have something to learn about hospitality. They were rude at the hotel, it is a resort and I had to go get dressed for breakfast because I had a swimsuit top and skirt on with a towel around my neck covering my breasts. While we ate breakfast a woman at the very entrance of the restaurant was breastfeeding without any covering onto the top of the table she ate on. I mean, hypocritical rule wouldn't you say. In addition to that though the Clarion staff was perturbed when we turned in our breakfast coupons, they incorrectly billed us for them after they asked for them back and there was no poolside service. When we swam at 6pm, the dirty glasses from the guests layed around the pool until 8pm when a guy finally picked them up. The staff needs some lessons from the Hyatt Regency Gainey Ranch where you can get poolside service and excellent hospitality from the friendly staff. We only stayed there since they had a nice pool. I heard it was the largest above ground pool in the Southern Hemisphere. On a positive note, our housekeepers and the ladies in the guestshop were very sweet.
Dec 17th, 2002, 09:36 AM
#8
Guest
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I toured the Hilton and was disappointed with the pool size. Glad I stayed in Palm Cove at the Clarion. One thing about Australia though is that the hospitality is not what I expected. The Aussies have something to learn about hospitality. They were rude at the hotel, it is a resort and I had to go get dressed for breakfast because I had a swimsuit top and skirt on with a towel around my neck covering my breasts. While we ate breakfast a woman at the very entrance of the restaurant was breastfeeding without any covering onto the top of the table she ate on. I mean, hypocritical rule wouldn't you say. In addition to that though the Clarion staff was perturbed when we turned in our breakfast coupons, they incorrectly billed us for them after they asked for them back and there was no poolside service. When we swam at 6pm, the dirty glasses from the guests layed around the pool until 8pm when a guy finally picked them up. The staff needs some lessons from the Hyatt Regency Gainey Ranch where you can get poolside service and excellent hospitality from the friendly staff. We only stayed there since they had a nice pool. I heard it was the largest above ground pool in the Southern Hemisphere. On a positive note, our housekeepers and the ladies in the guestshop were very sweet. If we could do it again, Port Douglas would be our choice. And, we would stay at the Mirage and use Daintree Aviation for a flight to Lizard Island and snorkeling at the reef. Seaquest Dive Tour was pitiful.
Dec 18th, 2002, 03:46 PM
#9
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Sorry to hear about your experience Mary. We were in OZ for 3 weeks and never met a single rude person the entire time we were there. Stayed at the Hilton in Sydney, Cairns and Hybiscus Gardens in PD. All Excellent, all of the staff's were extremely outoing. I spend over 200 days a year on Hilton properties due to my work, and I have to say that the Hiltons in Oz and NZ (also stayed at the Hilton in Auckland) offered the best customer service of any Hilton that I have ever stayed at.<BR><BR>Cheers
Dec 27th, 2002, 11:35 PM
#10
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Didn't actually stay there although like all the places in Cairns it is quite busy.I would seriously recommend not staying in Cairns unless you especially like the bustle of a backpackers paradise.<BR>We stayed in Palm Cove, at the "Oasis at Palm cove",It was a fantastic place with huge apartments and really quite reasonable too.And only a 10 min bus ride from Cairns. Buses are regular and cheap.<BR>We only encountered one problem with Aussie bad manners and that was at the pub across the road from the Oasis, we arrived from our flight and we were longing for a cold beer, but they wouldn't serve us inside because we had children (aged 11 and 14) even though there were 30 or 40 locals children inside the pub at the time,and they said they wouldn't serve outside either after 10pm!! it seemed a little strange to me. Needless to say they lost a fair amount of business from my family that week. But all the other restaurants pubs and shops at Palm Cove were great.<BR>And also they have a beach which is more that can be said for Cairns.<BR>The temporary sand that goes down in October is usually blown away by the storms in November.<BR>Cheers<BR><BR>Rich
