Mantra Esplanade

The Mantra Hotel has outstanding location. It is directly in front of the Woolworths supermarket - the best option in central Cairns. It's also virtually opposite (the esplanade side)the lagoon public beachfront swimming pool. Finally it's just a 5 minute walk from Cairns Cruise Terminal, with outstanding day trips to Green Island, Fitzroy Island and the Reef. I booked a sea view room. When you enter the room, you don't see the ocean, but a building across the road. However, the view from the balcony was amazing. The balcony overlooks the main features of lagoon on the sea front. During the day it is great view - the lagoon pools and sea in the background. At night you cannot see the sea (as to be expected) but you have the amazing lagoon lights, which makes it very desirable and even romantic. Our room was at the end of block, which overlooks a shopping mall (no car noise) - looking right from the balcony is the lagoon view and looking left is a mountain view. However, from 2:00pm to 6:00pm the sun comes directly into the balcony area, which means it unusable until sun sets. Of course if you don't mind baking in the sun on the balcony, this is not really a concern. The room itself is pretty basic. The mini fridge of OK and TV has domestic channels only - no cable TV for BBC/CNN. The bathroom is of a good size. There is combined shower & bath. However, when using the shower, it can slightly flood this bathroom. A shower curtain may be desirable because the glass panel is not sufficient enough. At $225 per night this hotel was not cheap and you can better deals by coming in the off-season OR going bit further down the esplanade, and choosing another hotel. The Mantra does have its own pool and it is wonderfully heated, with normal deck chairs you would expect at 4 star hotel. However, the pool gets very little natural sunlight, because it of its location between 2 buildings. Overall, the hotel has amazing location, and it is still recommended, despite the shortcomings mentioned. My final note: When we checked in, I was impressed with the level of service provided by the receptionist. She had a very welcome attitude and a wonderful personality.

210 per night but only serviced twice per week.