Hotels near Muddy‘s Playground in Cairns

This was my first solo trip to Cairns. It was also my first time staying in a hostel, and with my limited English, I arrived feeling quite anxious. However, everything from check-in to getting my room key could be done online, and since the online system supported Japanese, I had no issues at all. Any questions I had were quickly answered via chat, which was a huge relief. Being a hostel, I didn't have high expectations for cleanliness, but I was pleasantly surprised by how incredibly clean and comfortable it was. Before check-in, I used a locker to store my luggage; it was past the front desk and cost around 800 yen. My room did have a locker, but it didn't have a lock, so remember to bring your own padlock. I was able to borrow a hairdryer from the front desk by leaving my passport as a deposit. For my first solo trip, my first time abroad alone, I was extremely satisfied with my stay at this hostel!

The rooms aren't as new as the ones in Railay, but the suite's terrace offers a great view. The pool is decent too, and the location is convenient. The front desk staff are friendly and can speak Chinese. The surrounding area has excellent amenities, making it easy to find food, drinks, and entertainment anytime, anywhere.

The room layout was cozy, and the room service was quite good. The pool was beautiful, and the food was also nice. The hotel is within walking distance of the city center. On a side note: avoid the trendy pasta restaurant Vila Romana (pictured in Figure 4). We're from Melbourne, and they thought we were tourists from China. An old man who spoke some Chinese kept trying to rip us off and was vague about wanting a tip. Figure 3, IMM Thai Cafe, was delicious; we ate there three times, haha.

I accidentally booked this hotel and found out it was non-cancellable when I tried to cancel, so I had no choice but to stay. Overall, it was okay; the room was a bit small but quite tidy and clean. The front desk staff were very friendly. The restaurant was under renovation during our stay, so we were given vouchers to have breakfast at the hotel across the street. Clearly, for an extra AUD$80 a day, we could have stayed somewhere much better. The hotel hallways had no air conditioning and were very stuffy and hot. However, there was a free coffee machine downstairs with complimentary coffee. The swimming pool looked dirty though, and no one was using it. The location is a bit far from the Reef Terminal, about a 17-minute walk.

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!

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.

The hotel is conveniently located near the Esplanade, with only a 10–15 minute walk to Cairns Mall. The staff were helpful and accommodating, which made the stay pleasant. The only downside was the Wi-Fi, which was slow and not always reliable.

Great hotel at a great price. Big, clean room with a lovely balcony overlooking the pool and garden. The pool was also great and refreshing. Walking distance to all restaurants and major shops. They make good coffee in the hotel bar too! They don’t clean your room for stays of less than 7 nights, but we were able to get clean towels daily if we wanted them. Friendly staff and overall a great home for us while we visited Cairns!

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.

Stayed here for one night. Location is good, reception staff were friendly, room was okay, was pretty clean and the bed was comfortable. WiFi was decent inside the room and had a good TV. Some disturbances throught the day and night from some local guests staying there. Room was a little run down but clean and overall an okay place to stay for the price.