Travellers Paradise Heritage Historical Place Travellers Paradise

Hostel

Highly recommend Gecko's. I'm a late-twenties backpacker and arrived in Cairns after the horror that is hostels in Airlie Beach so a dry hostel was exactly what I needed. It was clean, quiet, had excellent Wi-Fi (and my standards are really high), and had a great bathroom/kitchen setup. Located right by the mall and the bus station which was so handy.

I booked one night in a double room because the next day I was taking the bus to Mareeba to start bicycling N in Cape York. That WAS my intent. Because of a sudden, and serious foot infection I stayed for 23 days being treated by very competent physicians. I saw all sorts of folks stay here at Geckos (I am here on my last day). If you want to stay here, REMEMBER that there are 2 basic conditions: 1. Paying guests only. 2. No alcohol. There is no discussion about these two "rules". Both are strictly enforced by Peter, the owner and host. These rules are for everyone's safety, and I have seen Peter enforce both. Eviction with no refund results because of non-compliance — no discussion (and NO refund)! In my 23 days here, I (along with other guests) was/were disturbed by noise by two groups drinking in the evening. Peter took appropriate action! After evictions, the following nights were quiet! There are plenty of showers and toilets on both floors of the main building, and in the separate building too. The double rooms in the separate building have small fridges. All public areas are cleaned several times daily. I never saw a toilet without toilet paper. Each guest gets a towel. I never had to wait for a shower in my 23 dsys at Geckos and wonder why some complain — what is wrong with waiting? Besides, what is wrong with co-ed showers/toilets. Every home I have been in does NOT have separate toilets/showers for males and females.

Small and cheap hostel (23$ for a 3 bed-dorm). The kitchen is okay, rooms too. Toilets and showers were clean — But there are only 2 showers and 2 toilets for the whole hostel! Furthermore they should have more sitting areas.

Listen, don't stay in this hostel, it's a terrible mess. As much as its manager, Peter Hoare, he's just crazy. And very violent and dangerous. If you want to work for accomodation in the hostel, you have to pay him $200 and stay at least 2 months. Of course he doesn't give you the money back, he insults the guests and the employees and can be physically violent. Don't give your money to him, he shouldn't be working in a hostel if he doesn't know how to deal with people. He's mentally unstable.

Gecko's was great It is a really quite and really clean hostel. The rooms are nice and I think no bunk beds at least in ouer room were non and the other rooms we saw. The kitchen, toilets and showers are pretty modern and clean I would recommend it to everyone, it is a no alcohol hostel one of the reasons it is so quit but if you want to party and drink you can just go out bars etc are not far at all.

Beautiful old Queenslander restored. Very well kept. Twin room was a decent size & bathrooms kept clean (there's only 2 though) Great location, right across from the shopping centre & close enough to the city centre without being directly in it. Would definitely stay again.

Were standing there with the camper in the backyard. 15 Euro pp. Room in itself would have cost only 16 pp. Not quite proportional but very central.

Very pleasant atmosphere. Also suitable as a family with children. But the rooms are very noisy. The room was very clean and the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Quiet, clean, good price and safe.

Amazing little hostel! Staff are great and friendly! Rooms are perfect clean and tidy and at a decent price! Highly recommended!

While searching for accommodation in Cairns I looked at the reviews for this hostel. The owner leaves abusive messages responding to poor reviews. In one he wrote "that's why I abused you", call people things like "gutless freak" and frequently says the people writing reviews have mental health problems, says they are all liars. Check out the other reviews for yourself. Leaving a review not because I've stayed there but because it sounds unsafe and I'm concerned for the wellbeing of anyone staying there.

Single bed for 4ppl room Nice speed of free Wi-Fi Free tea & coffee Close to shopping centre & transportation Just a liitte bit small everything is good.

Peter has been more than helpful with anything and everything. It's very clean and spacious throughout the rooms, kitchen and common area. It's literally beside the shopping centre so it's close to anything you might need. And we had brilliant Wi-Fi in our rooms! My boyfriend and I spent 8 nights here and loved it!

Stayed for 2 nights. The only problems were the shower was cold and the Wi-Fi didn't reach our room, otherwise very pleased. They had a nice kitchen and the laundry was useful.

Great quiet hostel. The kitchen leaves a bit to desire. There is no oven or range, only hot plates to cook on. Also, no alcohol allowed on site. Staff is very friendly. Clean rooms/bathrooms and there is even an air conditioner in our room which was very welcome in this hot/humid climate!

Decent price, okay location. It's next to a mall but on the wrong side so it's a bit of a walk to get to the downtown area. Private room came with air conditioning, which was a life saver. No alcohol allowed anywhere (they're very strict about that) which kinda sucked since we couldn't have a beer with dinner. The kitchen is small and doesn't have much, just some hot plates and a kettle. Don't plan on making anything too fancy. Rooms are clean. Overall a nice hostel more catered to families than young travelers.

We stayed in our camper van, it was cheap and the facilities seemed nice and clean though we didn't use them. Worth a visit!

Decent rates. Fairly clean overall. Rooms are pretty basic. Manager is helpful. No air-conditioning. No free breakfast. You get what you pay for.

Clean rooms, quick check-in, quiet, good air conditioning in the deluxe room, good location, walking distance to the mall/market/esplanade, helpful managers, and relaxed atmosphere.

Loved my stay. Nice, convenient location. Respectful, professional and clean. Beautiful atmosphere, that's all without mentioning the price… Really great place with lovely staff.

I'm very late check in 0000am They have the fast way let me in, very good! And kitchen very clean, But the bathroom is not good, hard to use.

I had one of the best experiences at Geckos! If you are looking fir a nice quiet place where you almost feel at home then pack your bags and head straight there! The rooms are always clean as the bathrooms are as well, the kitchen is a share kitchen but is never dirty. The owner is one of the nicest people you will meet very kinda and always there to help if you want to book a tour or you're looking for somewhere to eat he will point you in the right direction ☺ The pool area is beautiful! its very tropical and relaxing. i loved geckos and I strongly agree that you will too!

Room was nice, clean and had a/c! Kitchen was well equipped and staff were friendly. Would recommend staying if looking for a quiet hostel stay.

My advice — Don't waste your cash here. Hostel is nice if you like small yellow rooms with no window and blue out of order bathrooms. The staff were as bland as the decor. Unhelpful and rude at best and he atmosphere was none existent. Having read the other reviews about the place I can only assume that the manager has a bi polar disorder. Great some days and terrible others. My girlfriend and I arrived after 3 days without sleep, 2 boats and 5 planes later we just wanted an easy check in and friendly smile. With 9 years on the road I have witnessed plenty of cheap places and bad management skills. Geckos certainly excels in both of these areas. At the time there were 2 managers — both lacking in people skills and compassion. Their attitude would suggest they were running a 5 star Sheraton Hotel in London not a small back backpackers in Northern Queensland. The manager had clearly lost interest in the business years ago and is now only interested in making more money at the expense of your hard earned cash. We were forced to pay for 3 night when we only wanted 1 night. The staff insisted that they were compromising and we trying to force more out of them? They kept telling us how lucky we were that they had beds for us when it was clearing the start of the quiet season and plenty of beds available. The website advertising 'The friendliest backpackers in Cairns' must surely be a joke? Rude and condescending attitude towards the guests.

Wow — Gecko's Backpackers gave me the Best Hostel Experience in Cairns. Its Extremely Large/Huge Heratage Building is located right smack in the Middle of Cairns CBD, just across the road from Cairns Train/Bus Stations & Cairns Central Shopping Centre covering all your Shopping Needs I. E. Coles/target/kmart etc. Becouse Geckos is so Spacious all the rooms and amenities have ample of room to move around, not like most of the other more crampt hostels. Gecko's is super spotless as the staff are always constantly cleaning everything thoughriuly throughout the day. Gecko's offers Amazing Support when it comes down to all your needs and comfort. Gecko's also gives you a discount when you book your tours. As there is a "No Alcohol policy" allowed on the premises making this hostel a really FREINDLY and QUIET PLACE to TRUELLY RELAXE & shoot the breeze. If your looking for the best hostel experience with a peaceful atmosphere, Super Clean Amenities, Tons of Space, Freindly Supporive Staff then look no further. Highly Recommended — FIVE STAR RATING.

Very quiet location, the hostel is very near at the shopping centre, very cheap and safe hostel, clean day and night, the badrooms were very clean, there were mini bar fridge and windows, fans in every rooms, very clean kitchen, floor. There is the pool, WIi FI free! tea and coffee for all day. The staff is very kind and the night you can sleep very good! It's a very convenient hostel to Cairns!

I highly recommend Gecko's after I stayed 6 days in May 2015. Each night I walked into Gecko's I felt like I was at home. I really loved the fantastic heritage listed building, the beautifully maintained front garden and the great atmosphere. The bedrooms were spacious and toilets/bathrooms were very clean morning, noon and night. Peter, the owner, was dedicated to creating a safe harmonious environment and the no alcohol policy worked a treat to create the safe environment. The staff were so helpful and friendly and the other backpackers were considerate and friendly. It's right across the road from the shopping centre. Gecko's is fabulous and I will definetly stay again at Geko's.

The review written by Lina Gahamdi is absolute rubbish. Her experience had absolutely nothing to do with Geckos Backpackers. I was going to accept her application for my unit until she decided to willfully continue to force the main entry door until the latch in the socket gave way after I told her the previous day not to do that. The combination of her aggressive arrogance and ignorance with no bond paid left me with the only solution which was the termination of renting the unit to her. She willfully stole all the brand new appliances, cube oven, dual cooking hot plate, dinner set, a chair and the television. The real funny thing about this nut case is that she actually told the police that she owned the furnishings and appliances and then asked them to help her remove them. She also then told the police officer Mathew Shield and partner that she was going back there to smash the table. Well the officers thought she was just joking, well off she went and smashed it to peaces. Wow what a freak show by an actual doctor. Lol hahahahaha… Anyhow now shes being served with charges for stealing and willful damages by the police and court. She willfully smashed my glass table top valued around 1, 000.00 and smashed the brand new fridge to the floor that I just paid 400.00 for. So everyone rest assured I am nothing of what this mental case is talking about and she may need to check herself into the mental ward next door.