Caravella Backpackers

The room was large, spacious and clean . Like the pool and area . Could use a bit TLC on the grounds , kitchen and building. Great location to town . No TV room that's a good thing. Only thing is looking ahead seems heavily booked . I differently go back . Thanks for a enjoyable stay.

Hi, Room was spacious and air-conditioned rooms. Location is so close to town and waterfront. Could use TLC in the grounds, been a tough few years. Pool was good. I would go back ,is heavily booked.

I spent a lot time at this place, very good service, big rooms with bathroom, amazing pool and good kitchens Great place if you want to spend some time in cairns Perfect for families on holiday The owner is very available and easy going Thanks

My girlfriend and I are backpackers living and travelling in the van across Australia, and booked couple tours in Cairns and decided to book our accommodation. We found Caravella Backpackers very cheap and was a reasonable location, which was 15min walk to the Lagoon. We booked this place also because the advertised as having free parking, but in front was only 3hr free parking, but there was free parking at the back which wasn't as private or secure at all, just in the middle of a 2 way street. We got to our check-in 30mins late and realized that the check-in time was earlier, so no one was at the reception. The place seemed dead and no one seemed to work here except one cleaner of Bagus Cafe. She told us that we needed to call the number on the sign for after hours, so we did and no answer. We left a message but never got a reply. We were supposed to get an email for our check-in but never got one and they were supposed to give us a code for the safe box for our key. Luckily another guest helped us out and knew the same code and we got our keys. Room 69 was the suite we got, and it was at the very back corner of the hostel. As we entered it was fairly clean, had a private bathroom, couch, fridge, kettle, and aircon. After a night when we took a shower the drain in the bathroom started to overflow, the drainage for the shower and the sink wasn't good, but slowly drained, also the toilet had a little leak as well and wasn't pleasant. We tried to call the reception and after hours phone number, but no one ever answered. We decided to wait the morning to catch them at the reception hours like they posted, but still no one seemed to work here. At the end of our reservation we had to check out and give in the keys, but yet again no one works here so we had to toss the keys inside the reception, and never to return here again. The have a trip advisor 4 star 2012 sticker on their window. I think it's time to take that down. New management needs to be taken.

I don’t like to post negative reviews but I’ve tried to contact the owner by phone (rang out every day for 4 days) and I messaged (which showed it had been read) and I’ve waited 2 weeks for some kind of reply but nothing so here’s my review… There’s 2 issues I have, the first one wasn’t an issue until the 2nd issue happened. The first was, I paid extra for a room with its own bathroom but didn’t get one. This I was prepared to overlook and I figured maybe the next time I stayed would be a 3rd Time’s the Charm thing (previous stay the air con wasn’t working) but the next thing that happened has me not wanting to stay at Caravella again. Since I didn’t have my own bathroom, I followed the map which directed me to the communal bathroom upstairs (there looked like there was a bathroom downstairs but it was locked)... after I came out a woman was standing in the doorway of her room opposite giving me filthy looks. I didn’t ask why, I just left. But when I woke up at 4am and used it again both her and her boyfriend bashed on the door and when I came out they abused the absolute sh*t out of me. Screaming at me that it was their bathroom and called me a c*nt for invading their privacy. I said it was a bit of an overreaction and they screamed at me more. No-one likes being screamed at, especially at 4 in the morning and since I was emotional anyway (I’ve been separated for work from my partner and it was my first night alone for the 6 months I have ahead) I went back to bed frightened and cried myself back to sleep. They were both wide awake and their eyes were huge and judging from their reaction to me using what I thought was a bathroom for everyone, I can only assume that ***** were involved. I was actually scared. If I hadn’t left quickly I really do believe he would’ve punched my in the face or thrown me down the stairs. Or both. Then, the next morning I woke up around 7:30 and went looking for another toilet to use and ran in to her with a friend and she again called me a c*nt and repeated that I invading her privacy by using the bathroom - not to my face of course, but loud enough for me to hear. I’m guessing in the hope that I’d take the bait. Abused twice for, what I think, is not an a abusable offence is not what I came to Caravella for. She could have calmly told me I was using the wrong bathroom and directed me to the correct one and it would’ve been fine. It’s clear they’re living there, the bathroom was filthy and the sink was filled with used dishes and a pile of unwashed clothes on the floor. I ended up having to use the bathroom over near reception. Not ideal. My first stay in the other block was lovely, there’s a nice courtyard, the people were lovely and it was tranquil. But the side where I was put reminded me of the council flats in Melbourne and it’s not somewhere I want to stay again. If you do decide to stay here, request room #49 - that was a nice room with a comfy bed.

Pleasing and nice. Don’t expect glamour sheets and luxury soap. Clean room and great staff. That’s all you need.