Global Backpackers Cairns Central

The 4th-floor lounge, kitchen and balcony look out over the Coral Sea, though guests need to be more considerate if they want the cleaners, who scrub twice a day, to keep it that way. The location is awesome, and we’ve stayed in five-star places that were much worse. We’re in our 70s and had worried about booking a backpackers, but Michelle and the team made us feel welcome and treated us with real kindness and respect from the moment we arrived. Our queen room is clean, has a very comfortable bed and lovely pillows, and its balcony faces the Cairns lagoon across the road. We bought a $6 airer at KMart to solve the lack of space for drying and hanging things. There are also great discounts at local eateries. So glad we found Global Backpackers hostel.

We paid the late checkout charge, even though we left at 10.30am instead of 10am, after getting very little sleep because other guests held impromptu parties around the hostel all night. The hostel did nothing about the noise. Most of the staff were friendly, but yiphan shouted at us when we raised the extra charge, which felt aggressive and unprofessional. Then Eva kept saying, “If you don’t like the hostel, leave; we don’t like you either,” and was even ready to cancel our next booking. We were shocked by how she handled it. Worst hostel in Cairns.

The location is good, but on Saturday night the music from the bars carried into our room until late if you’re above them. Doors slam really loudly, and you can hear guests on the first floor shouting and talking every night through the open planned corridors. The kitchen is small and gets cramped during the evening rush. I never saw the bathrooms being cleaned. As a solo female backpacker, I found the place isolating despite it being full of people; nobody spoke, and it felt very clicky. I’ve never had that issue in other hostels.

There were lots of long-term guests living in the hostel, and they should probably be kept separate from people just passing through. Our room was a mess, with other people’s things in it, and there were no curtains or lights by the beds. The rooms smelled pretty bad, too. We asked for air freshener and were told they didn’t have any. Not a great hostel.