Cairns Hotels with Pools

Choosing The Benson Hotel for my Cairns trip was a brilliant decision! The location is absolutely superb – super close to the airport, just about a 15-minute taxi ride. It’s also only a 10-minute walk to the Lagoon Pool and the Marina, making it incredibly convenient for an evening stroll along the waterfront to the pool for a swim, or heading to the Marina to catch the sunset. The surrounding area is incredibly well-equipped too: right outside the hotel, you’ll find a huge variety of restaurants, from local seafood specialties to Asian cuisine, so you can try something new every day. There’s also a large supermarket nearby, perfect for grabbing fruits, snacks, or travel essentials. Shopping here gets full marks! The hotel rooms are spacious and bright, with all the amenities you could need, including air conditioning, making it feel just as comfortable as home. The front desk service was exceptionally thoughtful and attentive; they patiently recommended nearby attractions and restaurants, and any issues were resolved quickly. In short, this stay far exceeded my expectations. I will definitely choose The Benson Hotel again on my next visit to Cairns! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for convenient travel and comfortable accommodation – you won’t be disappointed!

The Executive Seaview Room was excellent value for money. The room had ceilings over 3 meters high, which made it feel incredibly spacious. The breakfast and dinner, along with all-day tea, snacks, and evening drinks, were all of a very high standard. We stayed for 3 nights, and there were no repeated dishes. The Executive Lounge is on an exclusive floor, so there were no other guests to disturb us, making it quiet and the restaurant uncrowded. The hotel also thoughtfully provided complimentary champagne and chocolates packaged from Cairns. Furthermore, the hotel's location is superb, within walking distance to the pier, city center, and night market, which is extremely convenient.

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.

This place is perfect for long-term stays or for those renting a car! ♥ I stayed in a room with a kitchen and washing machine because I wanted to cook with local ingredients in Cairns. There's a Coles (supermarket) nearby, so I had no trouble finding food and drinks. The glasses, cups, cutlery, pots, rice cooker, and various cooking utensils were all perfectly stocked. 🤗 Things I brought from Japan for the kitchen: ↓ Chopsticks, plastic spoons, forks Salt, pepper, herb salt Yakiniku sauce Dressing (small convenience store size) Wakame soup (instant) Wasabi Cooking oil Mentsuyu (noodle soup base) Dish soap About 20 small garbage bags for food waste About 20 plastic bags that can hold two 2-liter bottles Alcohol wet wipes (25 sheets) *Can be used for cleaning 🫩 Things I didn't particularly use: ↓ Plastic spoons and forks 🥲 Things I wish I had brought: ↓ Sponge Steel wool Instant miso soup (I had it ready but forgot to bring it 😣) 👙 Regarding the Pool 🌴 There are 3 pools, one of which is heated. Please bring towels from your room. Regarding Trash. There's a trash disposal area near the entrance. No sorting is required, so just put everything in. 🫙🥫🍎🐟️ 🚘️ Regarding Parking 🚙 The rule is to park wherever there's an empty spot. What if there's no space? (lol) It was crowded, but I managed to find a spot. 🧺 Regarding the Washing Machine 👕👖 I brought gel laundry detergent pods. I did laundry twice during my 5-night stay. There wasn't a dedicated place to hang clothes on hangers, but I managed to dry them somehow. There were some drying options, but not enough. I think there were about 12 hangers in the room. At check-in, there was a Japanese staff member at reception, which was a great help. 💆 Reception hours are Mon-Fri 7 AM - 7 PM. I forgot the weekend hours. 😓 *As mentioned above, early check-in is not possible, so for those arriving early in the morning, I recommend staying one night at a hotel that offers early check-in.

The staff were incredibly friendly. Also, I felt very secure and at ease knowing that a card key was required to enter both the hotel entrance and the rooms, which is a great security feature. The $10 dinner at the attached pub, which was pizza when I went, had a crispy crust and was absolutely delicious – I was extremely satisfied.

The unit is adequate for my family of six for a 3-night stay. Basic necessities are generally met, and the overall stay was acceptable. However, there were several maintenance and usability issues that affected comfort. Some air-conditioning remotes were faulty or missing batteries, requiring us to swap between rooms to find working ones. The telephone/RJ45 connection head was also broken and left dangling, with wiring not properly connected, which gave a poor impression of upkeep. In terms of sleeping comfort, the beds are quite soft and the pillows offer very little support. The positioning of the electrical wall outlets behind the bed also made it inconvenient, as we had to shift the bed forward to access the sockets. For kitchen use, it would be helpful to provide basic dishwashing supplies such as a small bottle of dishwashing liquid and a sponge, especially when only a few items are used in the dishwasher. On a positive note, the bathroom facilities are in good condition. Water pressure is strong and hot water is consistently available, which made showers comfortable. Overall, the stay was acceptable, but there is clear room for improvement in maintenance and basic guest amenities.

I expected much better from a hotel carrying the Ramada name. We arrived just after midnight, exactly as we had advised the hotel in advance. To our surprise, the entrance gates were locked. There was a phone number on the gate to call for assistance, but despite repeated calls, nobody answered. We could see reception from outside, and could clearly hear the phone ringing, but there was no one there to help. After standing on the roadside for around 15 minutes with two tired children in the middle of the night, I ended up climbing over the locked fence just to unlock the gate from the inside so my family could enter. Once inside, we rang the reception bell several times before anyone appeared. Around 20 minutes later, the receptionist (a gentleman with long hair) eventually arrived. Rather than apologising for leaving a family locked outside at midnight, he simply said he had been ”dealing with something”, that there were ”100 guests and just him”, and told us, ”you need patience.” Those are his exact words. I appreciate that staff can be busy, but this was a complete failure of customer service. An apology would have gone a long way. Instead, we were met with rudeness and a dismissive attitude. It was one of the worst customer service experiences I have encountered. The hotel itself was also disappointing. The photos on the website appear to be either very old or heavily enhanced. The grounds look nothing like the promotional images—there are no palm trees as shown, and the swimming pool sits right beside the car park, giving it a very different feel from what is advertised. The one major positive is the location. It's within easy walking distance of the city centre, which was extremely convenient. Unfortunately, because of the poor customer service on arrival and the misleading impression created by the website photos, I would not choose to stay here again

Felt likd my old boss wings was playing head games somehoe ingluencing othersnegativly towatds my life the took advantage of hotel to put me on display felt very uneasy watched anf a vety blank feeli g of what yhe actual fuk happening at same time felt ve tree u sqfe and secure. Not a bad place if you dont have what i can only logicly asaume to be menyal issues very clean

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.

Traveling solo, I found this place quiet and clean. The only minor drawback was the slightly dated facilities, but everything else was perfect. The price was also reasonable. I'll definitely choose this hotel again next time I'm on a road trip in New Zealand.