26-28 Bunting Street, Cairns Bus 1, 1A, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1G, 1H, 1X, 7 Tel (07) 4041 1521 Websitewww.tropicdays.com.au
BUG Review
Like its sister hostel, Travellers Oasis, Tropic Days is a home away from home. It is in an old house, but everything is beautifully maintained. Dorm rooms are cosy with brand new beds, fresh paint and personal touches from the cheerful owners. There are three clean kitchens with free tea and coffee and six single bathrooms with spacious showers and some with hairdryers. There are a couple of lounges with internet access, TV and a DVD library plus a gorgeous swimming pool surrounded by tall palm trees and gardens. It has a quiet atmosphere, but it is still a fun place to stay. They put on an excellent weekly barbecue with kangaroo, emu and crocodile and have free didgeridoo lessons. There is a regular shuttle service goes into town, and they can book tours for you in reception. When you stay here you feel like you are surrounded by family.
Price Dorm bed $25 Single room $42 Double room $59-69 Twin room $59 Camping $11 per person
Prices include an evening meal at the Woolshed Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Pros:
Friendly bus driver woman.
Cons:
You have to pay extra for air con.
Edward
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
On arrival at the airport I checked my guide and it said you could be picked up by the hostel. Upon ringing the hostel the lady informed me that they don't pick you up if you are on your own. She was also pushily insistent on taking a reservation fee via credit card over the phone. At the hostel the room I was in was right next to the front desk and accessed via the communal kitchen. To use the shower and bathroom you have to walk through the kitchen. Great if you want to be an exhibitionist. Also there is no air conditioning unless you want to feed a box in the wall coins to get it for 3 hours at a time. how primitive and how tight is that.Also the room has ceiling to floor windows that are completely visible from the common area in the centre of the hostel so you can be seen completely at night with the light on. The TV room was quite small and is kept at the top of one of the builidings. The main light didn't work there so it was dark at night. Being small all the seats were taken up by a group of people so I couldn't watch TV.The worst thing is the distance this hostel is from the Cairns town centre. Its 20 mins walk to the top of the town and about 35 to the esplanade which is where the lagoon is.There's a free bus from the hostel but its obviously restrictive when you just want to wander around the town or come back. I tried walking back from the town one night and found you can't actually go through the train station that sits at the top of the town as its locked down at night so just gave up and went back to wait for the bus.So basically if you don't mind being in one of the furthest out hostels in cairns i'd recommend this. if you want to be actually within the center of cairns where there are other people and pubs then use another one.
Pros:
the cleanliness and there are lots of bathrooms
Cons:
no privacy and money grubbing staff
sunnyday
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(4)
This was the first hostel on the East side we went to and what struck us first was the lack of any privacy. Our room was entered through the kitchen so we could never leave the door open or come back from the bathroom with a towel on etc.. There was also a huge window that was barely covered by curtain that backed onto the communal area so we could always be seen, That wasnt a nice feeling, ok if you are an exhibitionist though. The kitchen and bathrooms were clean - cleaned everyday by miserable travelers who worked for their accomodation. Another thing that struck us were the two ladies that worked behind the desk were like vampires for our money - whether it be for trips or car rental. They really made us feel uncomfortable. The 'free meal' if you could call it a meal should be upgraded to something other than toxic sludge on spaghetti for a fee of about $7.
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(Review ID: 825)
Only for young public wishing to be taken in charge 100%, September 14, 2006
Pros:
price/facility balance
Cons:
confiscation of customer caution
Woolli
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
Be aware that bookings or car rentals are paid in advance (50%) at the reception of the BP and it happended to us that a rental was refused by the rental service, just because we wanted to pay cash. So, we decided to change the supplier. Again at the BP, we asked several times its owner for reimbursement, but she found childish excuses not to do so. We never got the caution back - make sure to get informed about their conditions BEFORE any booking...
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(Review ID: 568)
great atmosphere, great service, July 5, 2006
Reviewer: boeit_niet from The Hague, the Netherlands
Pros:
atmosphere, friendly staff, quite location + bus to centre
Cons:
room was a bit smelly
boeit_niet
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(5)
This was the first place we stayed during our visit to Australia, but we immediately felt at home. A nice, cosy place with a great staff. A 20 minute walk from the city-centre in a quiet area and the hostel offers a free busservice to the centre.
Our double was comfortable, clean but a bit smelly. Very good price/quality
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(Review ID: 510)
Best time of the overall time I was in Australia, June 19, 2006
Pros:
atmosphere,kindness,warm,homey,clean,entertainment,prices
Cons:
there is no worst
Robinl19
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
June 19 2006, RotterdamDear BUG Australia,I wanted to suggest a very nice hostel, actually 2 hostels. The first 1 is called “Tropic Days” it is located in Cairns, about 10 min from Cairns central on Bunting Street. When I and my partner started our journey through Australia we flew into Cairns. Via a lot of other people with connections we arrived the same day at Tropic Days. This hostel was so warming and homey, that it immediately felt like home. The hostel has about 6 bathrooms (which get cleaned everyday, and when I say clean it is clean that you can almost eat of the floor).
There are several kitchens with all the appliances you name it, they got it. You also get a free meal for every night that you stay. We travelled to and from several places in the first 3 or 4 weeks. And every time we came back to Tropic Days. We bought a car and travelled all the way around Australia and finally arrived back in Cairns. Because we had an open year ticket sometimes we thought about going home from another place, but every time after thinking for a while we decided to go back to Cairns and stay at Tropic Days. Once we came back in Cairns we were walking down the street and all of a sudden, I heard someone shout my name. I was surprised as it was the owner of the hostel pulling over and running towards us. We heard they had bought another hostel in the time we had travelled around. This one is called “Travellers Oasis” this is located on the beginning of Scott Street. Another piece of heaven on earth, also with a number of bathrooms and super clean kitchens. You don’t get the free meal but it is a 2 min walk to Cairns Central. They both got a really nice pool and hammocks in the garden. There are several places throughout the hostel to hang out, read or just chat. They both also have courtesy busses with free airport pick-up and drop-of. The rooms have got air-conditioning and it is even possible to camp in the back yard. A double room costs $48.00 per night; a camp spot for one person costs $11.00. They also have dorm beds and twin beds. Doubles rooms have got their own fridge and television. We loved the people that helped us and supported us in times of need. For example we bought a car, but had nothing. The owner gave us chairs, gas cooker, cutlery and all other kinds of things. They really deserve the best of all and people should know about this place, they deserve to get to know this place and have a really great time there. On Monday and Thursday night they have entertainment nights. Monday there is a barbeque where you can taste and try to eat crocodile and kangaroo and lots of other pasta’s, salads and snags. Usually there is a quiz after that and everyone has the best time. Winners always get rewarded with either a very nice t-shirt of the hostel or sometimes you can even win a trip for example out to the reef. Thursday is pizza night, you pay $8,- and they order as much pizza as you can eat and you get 1 free beer or wine, it’s absolutely fabulous!!!It is also possible to book your tours there; they are of great help and in general get the best prices. I truly hope that you will take these comments into consideration when composing the next lonely planet. You have been of great help to me when I was travelling I’d like other people to have the same chance.
All my best regards, Robin Langbroek
Pros:
This place was just great, with freindly staff
Cons:
We wanted to stay longer but had to leave for our plane
annie moo
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
This place was just outstanding.Very clean and cosy with good rooms,kitchens and bathrooms.the staff, all of them went out of there way to help.
The location was great for us as we did not wants to stay in town but some where nice and quiet. This is the spot to relax.
Just loved the gardens, really check it out
- make sure to get informed about their conditions BEFORE any booking...
