7 Craven Close, Port Douglas Tel (07) 4099 5422 or 1800 892 800 Websitewww.portocall.com.au
BUG Review
This YHA hostel is small and a bit tired looking at first, but the dorms are immaculately clean and extremely well maintained. Each is air conditioned and has a spotless en suite bathroom with a hairdryer. Facilities include a TV, fridge and lockers in each room plus a , laundry, internet access, bike hire, swimming pool, kitchen and a nice dining area. However the focus is on the bar/café, which has outdoor tables and cheap food. They have a full service tour desk and offer free transport to and from Cairns. It is an eco-friendly place running on solar energy.
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Price Dorm bed $27-32 ($24-28.50 HI/YHA) Double room/twin room $77-110 ($69-99 HI/YHA) Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Credit cards MasterCard,Visa
Reception open Mon-Sat 7.30am-7.30pm, Sun 8am-1pm & 4pm-7pm
Pros:
Great Rooms, restaurant, pool etc
Cons:
Mosquitos here are vicious!
melkiwi
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 437)
This place made our holiday! Staff are great and so friendly and upgraded us for free! Room was lovely with good, non-noisy air-conditioning! Pool was gorgeous - so tropical and landscaped beautifully! Staff recommended a great tour which was the highlight of our trip!
The restaurant here is amazing - we ate there every night! Great food and huge portions at a low cost!Port Douglas is amazing - what a lot of wildlife!Just watch out for nasty mosquitos - they bite through your clothes!!!
Disappointingly characterless, poor facilities in bunkhouse 16 April 2006
Pros:
At least the beds were comfy.
Cons:
poor facilities
edlake
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 302)
on arrival, staff weren't overly friendly. The place had no atmosphere. The kitchen was filthy and the common lounge was dirty and consisted of about 3 sofas with the stuffing coming out. There are also ensuite rooms, which looked good, but we were in the bunkhouse - nicely maintained and brightly painted, but ONE female shower/loo and ONE male bathroom for 9 double rooms and 2 six-bed dorms - we were lucky that the place wasn't full as they were starting to get skanky already and the men's urinal made the whole bathroom area stink. There were no bins in the rooms, no mats to wipe dirty, muddy & wet feet on so you just slip and slide on the tiled floors. And when the fire alarm went off in the night, noone even called the fire service and didn't even tell us when we could go back in - they just walked past and checked it out from the outside. One of the worst hostels I've stayed in over months of travelling. One saving grace - comfy beds.
Clean, friendly and relaxed- the best in Queensland 29 March 2006
Pros:
The staff were very friendly and helpful.
Cons:
too much sun
wendysmith
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 254)
This hostel is amazing with private bathrooms and even hairdryers, fridges. The tropical pool was great. Everyone was friendly and the free bus to Cairns was excellent. Highly recommend this place- good value and great, cheap bistro food.
Very disappointed! - small, dirty, overpriced bunkhouse room 9 January 2006
Pros:
Motel rooms are good
Cons:
Stay away from bunkhouse rooms!
luv2travel
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
(Review ID: 53)
We were very disappointed by the room given to us during our stay in Port O Call and also with the attitude of the staff. I had asked for a Budget double room almost a month before our arrival and had made a reservations. Inspite of this we were given a very small room (room 30) in the corner of their bunkhouse building. The room seemed like it had been made as an afterthought outside the building. The regular price was $59 and we were charged $69 since "it had a private courtyard and that was the rate quoted". The courtyard was a dump to be frank.. the table and chair were covered in mud - even before the rain. Supposedly the other "bunkhouse rooms" are even smaller than that room!!!We were given another much better room the next day after we asked for it. The difference was only $8 and this budget room was much better with private bathroom and a fridge (hence the 2 stars and not 1 in the review)! We felt cheated and duped and discriminated against that we were not even offered this budget room in the first place inspite of having the reservation. We felt $69 is too much to charge for the dump of room that was given to us on the first night. That room is not worth even $40. the air conditioner was so loud that we could hardly sleep a wink! When we expressed our displeasure and mentioned this to the staff, the reply we got was "I just work here". not a word of apology!!!BTW the rates advertised on their website and quoted for reservations are much higher than the rates they offer to walk-ins! (Thats how the better room was $77 while on website and initial quote was $99)
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6 people found this review helpful
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ben0001
New Zealand
what a find....! 3 February 2005
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
ben0001
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 10108)
After reading your reviews, I was apprehensive about staying in the bunkhouse double room... Things have really changed! The new owners have fully renovated the entire property and the bunkhouse doubles are the best value i've seen. Air con, new double beds, bar fridge and v. quiet outlook and ... can you believe it - hair dryers in the bathroom!
3 of
4 people found this review helpful
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Anonymous
Beckenham, UK
DO NOT BOOK THE BUNKHOUSE DOUBLE 27 August 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 10109)
I'm sure we got bitten by bedbugs or something whilst here and we did in fact move out to Dougies. The other proper dorms are meant to be great, but since we were a couple, the receptist convinced us to book this pokey little room instead of sharing a 5* 4 room dorm with ensuite bathroom.
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9 people found this review helpful
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georgie
somerset,uk
A real treat! 27 July 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
georgie
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 10110)
Port O Call really is a treat! The rooms are fairly large and 'motel' style, ensuite bathroom, and very very clean! Good self catering facilities, tv room, and area for dining. The bar/bistro here is v. good too, the food very reasonably priced and huge servings....so good infact that lots of locals eat here too. The pool is really nice and the staff here are very friendly and helpful, give great advice on the many activities there are to do in Port Douglas. The beach is only a 5 min walk away, marina,town, and main hub of activity only just over 10 mins......you wont want to leave!
2 of
3 people found this review helpful
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Sven Ubik
Czech Republic
Excellent location and great staff 12 July 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Sven Ubik
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 10111)
The hostel is about 10 minutes walk from thePort Douglas centre and from ships departingto the Great Barrier Reef. The staff was veryfriendly and helpful with recommendingthings to see. Rooms are clean and there isa fast Internet access available.
1 of
3 people found this review helpful
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sonia
uk
One of the BEST hostels I've stayed in 26 June 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
sonia
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 10112)
Spacious,clean 4 share ensuite dorms with a patio door that opens out into an outdoor seating area.The kitchen was well equiped & clean,and the pool area was pleasant.The bar had a great atmostphere without being too rowdy & attracted a mixed crowd both local & non local. Def recc staying here!