Rydges Esplanade Resort Cairns

Resort

Great economical place to stay. Highly recommend it!

Arrived Monday afternoon for a 6 night stay. Staff did not explain much very well. Upon check in we were advised all breakfasts were included and given 1x free drink voucher. We were asked did we require housekeeping daily and we requested yes please. Leaflet supplied to us by staff advised restaurant closed Mondays. We made arrangements to walk for food and return to eat in room. Found out on return, restaurant actually open and leaflet incorrect staff checking us in should have advised us 😡 Later that night found shower to run hot then cold throughout without altering taps 😒 air-conditioning not very cool throughout late afternoon. Tuesday afternoon (after returning around 3pm from being out several hours) we found the room had not been made up or attended to. Advised staff at reception of all issues incurred to date and was advised housekeeping would be around soon and maintenance would also drop by to check hot water and air con Apologies were offered for the mix up regarding the restaurant and 2x drink vouchers issued for the inconvenience. I asked did we need to book for dinner later that night and was advised 'not Housekeeping showed up at 4.45pm but did not make beds — tidied bathroom emptied bins and replaced towels only. My daughter and I went to restaurant for dinner at 7pm to be advised restaurant full, wait time 30mins and room service longer.

It is a quiet and relaxing place and the staff can't do enough for you. it it great.

Terrible place, definitely don’t recommend to anyone. Dirty rooms, cleaned only for requests. Which should be ok, but nobody informed me during check in. A bit of chaos everywhere. I had feeling the staff doesn’t control anything properly. Especially people in reception. They tried to charge me additionally for breakfast (was included in my charge). Not very helpful people (except cleaning staff, they are fantastic). Lots of mould in bathroom. Generally place need deep renovation. When my room lock get broken, it took them 5hrs to get someone and repair it. Staff tried to repair room card asking me to do hundreds of trips room-reception assured me that card is fixed. Was waiting 15 mins in the bar for serving coffee despite no other customers there. Sorry, don’t recommend and will never visit again. Regards Matt.

Magnificent views, great staff, great pool, garden and breakfast. Palm trees swaying and beach across the road. You really feel like you are on a tropical holiday not in a concrete jungle like some hotels.

Great views and facilities and a great location. Everything close enough to walk to.

Beautiful views and convenient location.

Appalling service from the lady at the counter with dreads upon checking out. Tried to charge us for a meal and drink despite us not using any room service then proceeded to be nothing but rude. Everything else before that was completely fine.

The staff are so fabulous
was great value for money
excellent location.

Great Service and atmosphere is sensational.

Outstanding customer service.
Terrific view of the ocean.
Close to the shoreline boardwalk.
Good sized, comfortable room.
Very nice food at lobby restaurant.

Although it is well positioned and the staff are friendly the guests on the floor below me chain-smoked on their balcony so I was unable to open my balcony doors as it smelt like they were smoking in my room. Unless you are a chain-smoker yourself I suggest you stay at one of the other hotels which are smoke free. Very poor for a Rydges as I know some of their other hotels in QLD are completely smoke free.

Thank you to Kelly the manager on shift when I got here for resolving an issue for me and turning what was a frustrated customer into a very grateful one with her exemplary customer service skills.
You don’t always see competent customer service professionals in roles such as these and it was a breath of fresh air.

Great location, staff are very friendly and helpful and the rooms are very clean and spacious. And the food is very good too!

Nice pool. Very relaxing. The staff are cery bice and friendly. Good location too.

We arrived early and the friendly staff accommodate us without hesitation.

Just awful. Do not expect the staff to give a toss… or management. Dreadful service all round.

Rang to see if the restaurants were open as we are not from Perth had a really helpful guy on the phone gave me great info! I had rang the Hilton a few minutes before got a rude customer service so have booked the Rydges!

No customer service, no good morning or smiles, food was terrible, long wait.

Great room with a great view.

Perfect for a few nights away. Great views and beautiful food. Definitely would come back.

Front desk staff member was extremely rude. Might be 1am on 12/08/2020 but no need to be so rude!.

Arrived early and WONDERFUL got into room early. Continental breakfast was rubbish but got refund for that BUT asked for room service Monday was asked what time I was out, I said from 9 to 1 got b back into room at 4pm and WAS NOT DONE, rung reception they said B THERE IN 1 HOUR. 5pm comes still no house keeping so we take towels down to front desk after waiting 10 mins lady from kitchen helps SHE WAS GREAT. Back at room about to head out for dinner, at 530pm knock on door HOUSEKEEPING. I answer and tell her what's going on and I was told " the lady ment to do your room went home at 2pm and marked your room off as done, so we thought it was done. " I was then asked if wanted room made up for Tuesday I said NO we leave in 3 days please don't bother.
The next after we get home at 4pm the room was made up and there are lumps in the bed, it was clothing that I had left on the bed THEY MADE THE BED OVER MY CLOTHING. So rung down to reception AGAIN and said stay out of my room.
Wednesday we get back in the arvo and GUESS WHAT THEY DID IT AGAIN left house keeping chock in room, only took half rubbish didn't make bed why CAUSE I MADE IT THAT
MORNING, so ring again.
Thursday comes THEY STAYED OUT OF MY ROOM BUT… I get down to my car and leave for breakfast, I go wash wind screen as there are white house spots, they don't come off WHY CAUSE ITS PAINT SPLATTER.

Great place to stay when in Cairns. Great rooms, Views and Friendly staff. Definitely staying again.

We were booked in at Holiday Inn for our whole stay at Cairns. Because of COVID 19 HI decided to close down. We were booked in with Rydges and HI great staff helped us book the Rydges. Awesome and quick check in before we went to Cape Tribulation.
Had dinner in the room, food was awesome and even though menu didn’t have Veggie pasta, they made it for us and the brownie with vanilla ice cream was yum.
All the amenities are great as well. My daughter wanted to stay at Rydges from the beginning as the Cairns trip was for her birthday (which is today). Her wish came true
Thank you team for taking us in, putting yourself at risk more in this difficult time. We all in it together and let’s keep social distancing and keep each other safe.
social distancing.

Fire and ice was an awesome buffet and great service.

Enjoy staying in this hotel. Great location, very helpful staff.

Loved staying here. Beautiful room, attentive staff, great location.

Great location. Stayed 7 days from 25 Nov 2019. Excellent service. Staff friendly and helpful. Close to shops. In walking distance to everything. Highly recommend. Rooms large and clean. Buffet breakfast great. Fire and ice seafood night excellent.

Great spot and great staff.

Buffet: I felt the food wasn’t fresh? Taste like frozen food, they were bland considering you pay $60! Especially the oysters. The one I had was frozen.
Service was average.
To give you the benefit of the doubt, I would try the ale carte next time?

Amazing view. Great seafood buffet and a super price.

It was a clean, spacious room & beautiful look out and friendly staff. Would love to recomend to my family & friends.

We stayed here 5 nights. Throughout our stay the staff were friendly and helpful. The facilities including the spa and gym were really good. Only complaint is the sauna was not working. The rooms are also well maintained and cleaning staff are excellent. Overall happy with the stay but would be better if the location is slightly closer to town centre as it takes about 10mins walk to town amenities.

Beautiful view. Beds very comfortable and we had a king size. Great position as it’s a quick walk to the promenade for food etc. Staff are good with a breakfast that could be improved for the price. Coffee very average. However we would stay there again.

This was my second stay at Rydges Esplanade (I had even forgotten I was a Rydges member). Check in was easy and my room ready even though I arrived quite early. Staff are all very friendly and helpful. My luggage didn’t arrive with me but when the airline dropped it off, staff bought it straight up… then took it back downstairs for me to weigh it. I didn’t have tea here this time, but had dessert (pavlova is to die for) and a cocktail later.
My only complaints are no chairs on the balcony for my ocean view and bathroom is a bit outdated… and if they must have shower curtains don’t have crumpled ones.
Overall though… I think I have found my Cairns home away from home.

We had a lovely view over the water. The room was clean and spacious. Food at the hotel (dinner) was not very good.

Great room, lots of space and nice balcony outlook with super-comfortable bed. Choice of air con and/or ceiling fan which is nice in the tropics. Nice staff at reception and in the restaurant. Nice comfortable lobby area with many seats and couches providing a nice spot to wait. Staff were very happy to facilitate an extra hour until check out for me to align better with my departure flight time. I would stay here again and recommend it. The only downside was that the bathroom was a little outdated but still very clean and functional with good lighting and a nice Methven rain shower head.

My wife & I spent 2 nights at this hotel. The staff at reception made us feel most welcome & even provided an upgrade on our accommodation. We had a party of 12 people in our group staying at the same place, no one had any complaints. Within walking distance to a lot of good eating establishments. Would recommend anyone to stay there when visiting Cairns.

This restaurant has lost its appeal. We have been to Fire and Ice many times over the years. It will have been 10 mths since our last time and the change was enormous. The cold food selection has been cut back quite significantly. The chef who is cooking is doing a great job but she shouldn't have to keep running to the kitchen to get more trays of raw seafood/meat. Twice (when I was ordering) she had to leave her station to refill the empty seafood and meat. In the meantime customers are standing and waiting. The dessert bar selection has been reduced significantly. Large tray fresh fruit, jelly cups are actually shot glasses, a half filled mousse, two slices to select from. We are locals who enjoyed frequenting this restaurant but will rethink next time. Management needs to do something to bring this restaurant back up.

I'd probably give this place 3.5 stars. The staff was fantastic and really nice. They were very helpful and accommodating. Breakfast every day was okay but I wouldn't pay extra for it, definitely caters to an Asian palette as most places in Australia does. The rooms were nice but the bathroom and entry area definitely needs to be updated. It was okay but borderline okay, it's time to upgrade!

We checked in for 4 days and paid for breakfast included. Got the the room which was full of mold and stunk. The hot water couldn’t be turned off boiling hot and fluctuated from freezing to boiling within a matter of seconds. My mother got a burn on her shoulder and all she was offered was some ice — spoke to the manager who made us look like idiots for complaining and asking for an incident report which we never got to fill out. The manager tried to say that the temperature of the water had something to do with the new shower heads they installed — what a joke. Apart from one staff member at the front desk the rest of the staff were very arrogant and didn’t care about us as guests. Absolutely disgusting. We checked out and asked for a refund to which the manager told us he would only refund us for the fourth night. After extremely rude service from the manager we got offered a 50% refund and we never got an apology.

Check in was great all considering it was 12:30am! We were greeted with a smile, quick service and on our way to a clean, comfortable and view room with a large balcony overlooking a park & beach. What a welcome sight upon our awakening! Great breakfast which included hot and cold options, we especially enjoyed the omelet station and fresh fruit and veggie selections. Great location to beach, restaurants and walking areas. Will definitely stay again!

Stayed here for 5 nights mid April 2018 with my wife and daughter. The executive room (1206) was very quiet, comfortable and had great views. Great room, great staff and great food. Just as I expected as I normally stayed at Rydges when I went on holidays (Canberra, Port Macquarie and Lake Jindabyne).

Very nice staff at reception. Nice room. Some Restaurant staff were very friendly, some unfriendly and not really attentive. Food from a la carte was okay. Dinner buffet was not good and definitely not worth AUD 65. Breakfast buffet was very good and tasty. Nice pool but too cold in the evening. Area is quiet. 15-20min walk to Night Markets and more lively area. In general a good hotel.

Every time I stay here, I discover new ways in which this place is awesome. Rooms are consistently big and spacious and comfortable, staff always really make you feel looked after, and the whole experience is easy and relaxing. Parking is also great, location is walking distance to the cafes and restaurants, and they treat you to a $10 voucher if you choose to go 'green' and skip the daily cleaning service. How thoughtful! I can't wait to come back!

The rooms were lovely and a good size, Ocean view is worth it. The hotel is within walking distance of a few nice pubs bars and restaurants. The pool was great it wasn't huge but there were always plenty of chairs and shade. The only negative thing would be the prices at the bar and restaurant I thought there were a bit over priced. If you love seafood however the buffet would absolutely be worth it.

The lobby and entrance was very modern. But the two bedroom apartment on the north tower was very old. It had furniture that my grand ma has. Needs lots of updating. Very friendly staff. Next time would find another place.

Well equipped hotel not far from the beach. Parking for hotel guests free of charge and in a garage.

This is a nice hotel only one street back from the beach. The entry way and general dining areas are nice and the pool is large, accommodating many swimmers at the same time. However, the place does look a bit tired. I heard that they are renovating their rooms, but I am not sure where they are up to with that program. The first evening we were there it was a Monday night. My work colleague and I were sitting in the general bar area, we noticed that there were two staff members, still in uniform and having drinks. They both sat there for quite some time, more than a couple of hours with the bar tender handing them more and more drinks during the evening. It was not a particularly professional look for the hotel, given that everyone could see and tell who they were. I would go back here, but just hope it gets updated a bit more before then. And they need to pull their staff in somewhat too.

I ate here with my family. The food was very good quality and the service was amazing! They even treated us to a free dessert and cheese platter… such a nice surprise! Highly recommended :)

Stayed in a beautifully renovated room it was very roomy, clean and comfortable. Staff are very friendly and helpful.
We also joined my brother and Family from Adelaide for The Christmas Seafood Buffet. Delicious, even a Visit by Santa with gifts for the children under 12. This was our 7 th in a row. Best place in town for Christmas Dinner.
Only improvement would be to add more wine glasses in the rooms (no flute glasses for Bubbley wines.
Other than that 5

Went for Xmas lunch. Food was delicious beer cold. Special thanks to all the staff who provided excellent service. Could not fault the day. Highly recommend this to everyone.

Good service. Fridge was broken/ not working so everything was defrosted. Breakfast was great. New rooms look nice.

I liked that the restaurant food was available for room service. The staff were great, there was one girl in the restaurant, young, long brown hair… she was so helpful to us, the restaurant looked busy but she still made our experience great and the wait was short. The room was great and reception staff nice. Only thing didn’t like was the travel adventure guy misinformed us on a reef trip. Location is great, it was quiet. Oh and the pool is epic.

This hotel was excellent, had amazing room service, the pool was very neat and warm (Cold when it was hot). I enjoyed the great views you get from 6th floor. I really liked the beds as they were very soft and nice. The room was quite large and was very well maintained. The lobby was the best part of them all as it was large and had many activities along with tour guides. The food was great as well. I really recommend staying at this hotel if you are visiting cairns.

Got a room at a affordable price when most motels were near on fully booked. Good parking. Hotel fairly close to the main area and on the esplanade. Food was great and the Ridges burger for room service was awesome. Room service was very quick and always lovely and polite. Best part was All Rydges employees I dealt with were friendly and polite. Negatives: Cairns a busy place so plenty of road and building noise from the street. Will be the same all over cairns as it is always growing. Found the pillows slim and would turn to rock overnight. Some drilling noise from the adjacent room before 9am.

Nice hotel and is situated in front of the cairns esplanade. It has a restaurant that is open breakfast to dinner. Rooms are nice and spacious for the price. Hotel has two pools and a spa. Easy parking on site or on street.

At the moment I'm thinking do not ever stay here! I'm such a relaxed guest that is just happy with a comfy good bed etc… Sadly, our sliding door stopped working and important items were left outside including my partners phone. I was told it was my fault because I sounded a drunk and what did I do to the door? Seriously? We have now been relocated to another room with a double sized bed. My partner is 6 feet 5, and I'm not happy. This is the only break we're going to have off this year, and I'm really pissed off atm!

I was at the hotel for a function on Saturday (26th).
The first point of contact was Blaise, a great welcome, with smile and attitude to complement, she could not be more helpful also good on the checking out. All the staff from the girls at the Bar at the function and also the staff in Restaurant so happy and helpful (the Restaurant Manager very pro active with customers)
Room/Bed food, I will have it on my go back to list, alround.

Enjoyed my stay at Rydges rooms were clean beds were comfy staff were lovely. We ate in the restaurant and had the seafood buffet… James the chef cooked our meals to perfection wow the garlic prawns were to die for. Thanks Rydges.

Impeccable! No complaints.

Decent chain hotel in cairns for a good price. The hallway decor needs a bit of an update however the rooms themselves where a good clean modern North Queensland style room, the only complaint is that the lighting in the bathroom could be better. The staff where extremely friendly and helpful with every interaction so no complaints there. The main downside was the lobby was extremely crowded and busy at multiple times during our stay, and it just appeared to be people waiting for various reasons, so a larger lobby area would be nice. Overall a good place to stay while you are in Cairns.

The selection of buffet food was enough to ensure that there was something for everyone without it being that much that the food would sit around. Having the cooks in the centre of the room to cook on demand was also a winner. Reasonably priced as well. Left fill and contented.

Near perfect. Clean and airy rooms. Stylish foyer. Great service. Good amenities. Not as close to local attractions but it is still conveniently walkable.

Looks beautiful from the outside, great location and views. Tennis courts were closed for resurfacing, fabulous gym, but it seemed to close fairly early every night so I did not get a chance to actually use it. Room was somewhat rough: clean, but could stand a refurb. Room was musty due to the high ambient humidity, ventilation system couldn't seem to keep up.

Brilliant! I stayed here, from the UK, for 5 weeks whilst on a course, it was a real pleasure to stay here and enjoyed every week, nothing was too much trouble, staff extremely helpful especially as my luggage was delayed a week. They also gave great advice on what to do, day trips or half days etc. The food was delicious, I couldn't fault it at all. Thank you for making it a memorable 5 weeks in Cairns!

The website didnt lie, but didnt tell the whole truth either, balconies are tiny, beds werent the very comfortable at all but each to their own. The Gentleman that greated us was very polite and helpful, couldnt say the same for the lady behind the counter. Their internet payment set up is not very clear either, even they admitted it was confusing, so why wouldnt you change it?

I stayed last May and had the worst bed I'd ever slept in, Manager was fantastic and compensated me. I've just gone to book again for October and was told they can't guarantee that I won't get the same horrible bed, I can request a renovated room, but no guarantees can be made. At least I gave them another go.

Very nice hotel. Rooms were recently renovated and kept quite clean. The bath and toilet didn't look like they were replaced in the renovation. The staff were exceptional helpful and friendly, particularly those in the restaurant. The buffet was good and the Beef Cheeks are a must! Nice views over the water, but a bit far away from the best parts of the esplanade.

Place was clean and tidy and staff were helpful.

I can not compliment more. The whole time we were there we had a ball. The suite we had was excellent. The staff friendly and the pool… aghhhhhhh sooooo relaxing. Will be back for sure.

Very nice hotel. Friendly staff. Good facilities and a nice location. Room service prices are reasonable and the quality of the food is outstanding.

The hotel was conveniently situated near the hospital (work was the reason for the visit). The staff were lovely and the restaurant looked inviting but I didn't check in until late so ordered room service instead. The 'famous' sirloin was a disappointment — overcooked and full of gristle. The room was nice. I must have gotten a family room as there were kids bunk beds with x boxes. So convenient if I had a family. I would consider returning with a family of kids.

Best place ever. Good is great.

Location, rooms recently refurbished or in the process, free Wi-Fi friendly helpful staff, in all all good.

A nice hotel but nothing overly special. The price is ok and I would stay again.

I booked through QANTAS for an overnight transit stop. The resort is ideally located not far from the airport and the city. The staff are very friendly and courteous. The room was well appointed with a view over the sea. The bed was very comfortable. The bar food and wine selection fine. I regret that I could not stay longer but hope to do so later in the year. The bar food and wine selection excellent.

Friendly staff at front desk. Didn't use the dining or bar facilities so can't comment on those. Room was clean and well appointed. Only issue was that I left a room key card in the power slot before going out for the afternoon only to find that it had been removed by the cleaners? Not so nice to enter the room to find it in darkness.

We found our room very comfortable and your staff very friendly and ready to meet our needs. It was a catch up with my daughter and her family.

Enjoyed the crabs and the bread pudding.

Booked a Cairns holiday through Virgin and chose this hotel. Great location overlooking the Coral Sea and right opposite the beautiful Esplanade Boardwalk, only a short walk into the CBD. The resort has a terrific swimming pool with towels provided for guests (also able to take off site — just make sure to return them the same day), complimentary umbrellas (a must in the wet season), tennis courts across the road if you feel like a hit and undercover guest car parking. As other users have described, the place is a bit tired and could use a freshen up. My wife and I booked a room with queen bed but got a twin double (2 double beds) and were told we could upgrade for an extra $40 a night (no thanks). The beds have definitely seen better days — lumpy and sagging, the springs go 'boinggg' every time you move and are far too short. I'm only 5' 8" and my feet hung off the end. On the plus side the water pressure was good and the air-con worked well. There was a flyer in the room advertising in-house movies for Jan 15 but reception told us they don't actually have movies available (weird). And get this — in room safes need a key to open instead of a digital key-pad, which means you need to carry a key around with you. And don't lose the key or it'll cost you. The dining experience was ok.

Hotel looks like it's from the 80ies and never refurbished! Bed is too soft and we got the wrong room! Reception was not particular keen to fix this (and didn't).

Wrong room, staff not helpful, old and too soft bed, very very slow internet, staff wakes you up at 9.20 to check the minibar.

Did not get the room we booked and looked much better in the pictures. Would not recommend this hotel.

Excelent service and good value. Will definately use you again.

We stayed for two nights over the easter break, although the hotel has been refurbished it is still a bit rundown and the rooms have a definate old smoke odour. Our biggest dissapointment was the bed, very small for a queen and my feet hung off the end, im only 6 foot also the mattress was very old and uncomfortable. Other than that the facilities were what you would expect, although the breakfast buffet was very dissapointing at $25 a head. There are much better value places to eat within close proximity of the hotel. When the staff were questioned if the bed in our room was a double we were told it definatly was not, even though I sleep on a queen size bed in my home every night. This place is definatly a case of you get what you pay for. I will not be staying here again.