Cairns Harbourside Hotel

Great time in Cairns, great hotel

Firstly, I gave 2 stars for “Service” as Michelle and Agnes (I think) at the front desk when I checked in were great. Friendly and efficient…. And … understanding…… UNLIKE AMANDA, the manager. Ok….. the problem I encountered was initially caused by ME!! I owned it, and acknowledged it. I booked the wrong date through Booking.com (the night BEFORE I arrived…. That was the day I made the booking… in a hurry … and I stuffed it up. ) So the hotel had been paid for the room on the 18th, which was not used, (so no cleaning required), and they could have easily given me the room for the 19th and no one would’ve been worse off. However, When the manager came out, her attitude was entirely different…… abrupt and anything but conciliatory. “It’s not our policy” was about all she would say. Or… “take it up with Booking.com”…. Yeah right. As it turned out, Booking.com said “it’s up to the hotel”. As I said….. IT WAS MY MISTAKE…. And wouldn’t it have been so simple, AND JUST A NICE THING TO DO… to help me out. As for the hotel itself….. very tired, (looks like it was built in early 70’s and hasn’t been touched). room was clean but aircon was freezing and apparently “unfixable”. Bathroom door had to be slammed to shut, and main room light not working. Will not be staying there again. UPDATE……… thanks for your response Kristy. The simple straightforward and NICE solution would’ve been to just comp me the same room for the 19th. You had been (or would be) paid for the room by Booking.com, the room was not used on the 18th, and so did not need to be cleaned….. as I said…. A simple solution with neither party out of pocket. And FYI, Booking.com replied with “we’ll leave it up to the hotel”. So you still have a chance to do the right/nice thing. And BTW….. I did ring your hotel prior to booking with Booking.com (as I always do) to offer you the chance to price match. As I was told you couldn’t, I then booked on Booking.com. Also, I apologise if I got the wrong name (Amanda).

Absolutely terrible customer service.

Very good establishment and very well located.

The hotel is very centrally located. It's a 3-minute walk to the beach and promenade, and about a 30-minute walk to the city center. The rooms are spacious and clean.

In the future on my next visit I would rather stay here then anywhere else!!!

Very nice stay, and people there are wonderful!

Rooms are pretty outdated. Food was overpriced and basic

Great location

Staff....mostly back packers....a pleasure to deal with.

We had a lovely family break at this hotel. The stay together family room was great - perfect setup. The food was excellent - the curry laksa was fabulous and the steak was very good. It was nice and quiet so it was easy to find a sun lounge and often we were the only people in the pool. The staff were lovely and laidback. We enjoyed walking along the esplanade into the city and were lucky enough to see fireworks. The hotel is a bit dated and the ceilings are quite low but it didn’t matter. It was very clean and tidy and we felt very comfortable. We all had a wonderful sleep which is rare these days. And the hotel was nice and quiet. I would definitely recommend.

We stayed at this exceptional hotel from April 8-10. For the price we paid, it was hands down one of the best deals we have ever experienced in our decades of travelling. Service was excellent -staff were very friendly and accommodating. Big shout out to Richard for helping us get access to to the breakfast buffet. Breakfast buffet food was top notch (best eggs benedict ever!), and staff were attentive. Location is ideal - right overlooking the Esplanade, great view of the ocean. And the big, beautiful pool was a hit with my wife who likes to swim. Very thankful have had the chance to stay at this very clean, very well run and managed establishment. If we ever once more make it up to this beautiful spot of the world God made, we will be staying here again!