The Espy Hostel, gay-friendly hotel in Cairns City
GAY-FRIENDLY
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🚶 8 min walk to Cruise Club Cairns
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The Espy Hostel

Google (162) 4.0
Tripadvisor (1) 3.0
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What reviewers say

Visitors frequently praise the Espy Hostel for its excellent location and friendly, helpful staff. However, a significant number of reviews mention a roach infestation, with some guests reporting seeing them on their beds.

70
/ 100
GayOut Score
G4.0 🦉3.0
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Address
83A Esplanade, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia
📞
Phone
0404 354 444
🌐
Website
hotels.cloudbeds.com

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About this place The Espy Hostel

The Espy Hostel is a backpacker hostel on the Esplanade in central Cairns. It is a mainstream hostel listed as gay-friendly, not a gay property. The location is the main draw: the free Esplanade lagoon pool, the night markets and the marina where reef trips leave are all within walking distance. It has a reasonable Google rating from about 160 reviews. Room types, dorm sizes and facilities are not confirmed, so check when booking.

Features

Gay-friendly (straight venue) Day venue Evening venue Year-round Gay-friendly (straight venue)

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Community Reviews

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Google Reviews

Verified by Google
4.0
★★★★☆
162 reviews

Based on 162 Google reviews.

Reginald Holloway Jun 2026
★★★★★

I had a great stay at Espy Hostel Cairns. The staff were thoughtful, conscientious, and always willing to help with a friendly attitude. The location is excellent, making it easy to explore Cairns and access local attractions. A comfortable and welcoming place to stay—I would happily recommend it to other travellers.

María Luisa Josa Jun 2026
★★★★★

Great value for money. Totally worth it! Staff very nice and friendly.

christian brito May 2026
★☆☆☆☆

i would like to reply to the review the roaches were shown to management i even left a roach in a piece of toilet paper that said open me which i know you guys saw because i heard the scream this place is dirty and they genuinely don’t care , infested and disgusting place

Eva Larsson May 2026
★★★★★

Everything is best! The top 10 is the team, clean, no instects, atmosphere, service, TV, kitchen, clean room, bathroom/ shower/toilet, luggage storage, no Keys - pin code access and the area right on the Esplenade. Extra towels and schampo, body wash. You only need to buy tooth brush and tooth paste. Thousand thanks Eva Attention: Hurry up to book it will be quickly booked with the cheap price and they try after 10 pm. have it quiet. Thousand thanks for everything! Eva

Djamila Askri May 2026
★★★★★

I had a great time at espu hostel the staff was super friendly :) The location is THE BEST!

Leidy Rodriguez May 2026
★☆☆☆☆

This hostel has wooden beds & a roach infestation. If you stay here, you are guaranteed to see them. If the roaches weren’t in the direct space I was sleeping in, I probably could’ve ignored them but the fact that it got to a point were my sleep was getting interrupted because everytime I turned the light on I saw roaches running ON MY BED was actually disgusting. We raised a complain to management and tried getting refunded for the remaining nights of our stay because we truly didn’t feel comfortable staying in a bed where roaches are guaranteed to come out every night, especially when I sleep with my mouth open…. At this point we had 3 nights left, & just wanted to look for a new hostel where we can sleep comfortably without worrying about critters being on us. We moved hostels from Gilligan’s to this one because we wanted a more chill vibe. Within the first few hours, we realized we were probably better off in Gilligan’s, even if that meant dealing with music blasting all night. We were told that roaches were expected when being in Australia & that they wouldn’t issue a refund, the best the did was change our sheets & pillow, which in retrospect does nothing to truly address the roach infestation we were dealing with in our rooms. The fact that they tried blaming the issue on Australia’s ecosystem felt like they were trying to gaslight us, especially when i have been in Australia for the past 3 months & never dealt with a roach issue like the one here. The kitchen counters also had roaches there which proves it’s a cleanliness issue they have. I reckon they start advertising that you are paying to sleep in wooded beds with a roach infestation within it. If you are planning a stay, you are better off staying literally anywhere else, but here.

Daymon Johnson May 2026
★★★★★

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Last updated on 14 November 2026

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