Our group of 6 girls stayed in an 8 bed dorm on 31 Dec 2013. We have stayed in numerous hostels both internationally & nationally. This one takes the cake! We encountered the following:
CLEANLINESS: I can't comment on the kitchen (but on appearance, it appeared very grotty). However, the room we were given was disgusting.
- The floors were disgusting. Under the beds were covered in dust & dirt along with various pieces of rubbish.
- The bins in the bedroom & bathroom hadn't been emptied for who knows how long. The guy on reception, claimed the rooms had been cleaned & proceeded to empty the bedroom bin.
- The surfaces were covered in dust & dirt.
- There was left over products ie shampoo, soap etc in the shower. Not to mention hair, mould etc
- There was also urine on the toilet seat.
- There was a large louvre missing from the only window.
- The furniture was falling apart, with at least one cupboard door just placed inside the unit.
- The airconditioner had what appeared to be faulty wiring with duct tape covering it. The airconditioner was coin operated, which did not work to start with. We were advised it would be complimentary after 8pm. When this did not take place, we were told it would be 9pm. Upon arriving back to the room at 1.30am, it still was only operational via coin deposit. We were not going to set our alarms hourly to keep the airconditioner running! With the missing louvre, it almost defeated the purpose anyway. This was in the middle of summer!
SECURITY: They sleep in the dorms like the guests do. If there's an issue, the after hours number doesn't get answered. We were lucky 2 other guests knew which room the security guy was in (asleep).
On a side note, their website for Nomads esplanade, is very misleading. If you look at the photo gallery, it shows a swimming pool. This place does not have a swimming pool. It shows lovely clean rooms, not so. It says the rooms are airconditioned, but there is no mention that it is coin operated!
The Hostel refuses to refund our money.
DO NOT STAY HERE! The photos are not indicative of the establishment. There are other better hostels in Cairns!