Cascade Gardens

We spent three nights in a studio apartment at Cascade Gardens and were deeply disappointed. The accommodation felt neglected, wasn’t properly cleaned and seemed poorly maintained. The bathroom had visible mold and a musty smell, which raised health concerns for us. When we told the front desk, the receptionist showed no interest, dismissed the odor as a cleaning product and said they couldn’t move us because occupancy was high. We also had to ask several times for more toilet paper. The service and standards were unacceptable, and I strongly recommend against staying here.

The apartment was dirty, with cobwebs and a spider on the windows. The bathroom door had black electrical tape holding its bottom together, apparently because of steam damage, and the ceiling had bubbles. There was no ventilation. During our seven-day stay, the sheets and towels weren’t changed, though they would give us extra towels if we asked. They provide only enough tea, coffee, sugar and toilet paper for the stay, so you have to supply your own if you run out. The bed was lumpy and sagged on my side, and it also had bedbugs. I won’t stay here again and wouldn’t recommend it.

As a solo female traveller, I feel I need to warn people away from this place. I rarely leave bad reviews, but this was the dirtiest hotel I’ve stayed in anywhere in the world. It’s quite far from the esplanade, the area didn’t feel safe to me, and you have to get Ubers around. I’d spend that money on a decent hotel by the sea instead. There were stains, rusty tea and coffee pots, rusty bathroom fittings, dirty kitchen mats, black dirt on the walls and ceiling, dusty corners, dirty wardrobe shelves and skirting boards pulling away from the walls. This was a budget hotel, but I still expect basic cleanliness and reasonable maintenance, and it had neither. When I raised the problems, the owner denied anything was wrong with the room. That says enough about his standards.

After arriving on a night flight, I got bitten by a bed bug and found brown stains and lots of hair on the sheets. I called the owner, who was aggressive and swore at me over the phone. The housekeeping manager was kind the next day, changed the sheets and treated the bed for bed bugs. The room was dated, the mattress extremely uncomfortable, the toilet kept running, and cleanliness overall was poor. It was a disappointing stay. I’d choose a hostel or pay extra for somewhere better.