Mad Monkey Jungle — Hotel in Cairns City

If you're over twenty-five don't bother. ||Cheap and lousy pillows, they are the equivalent of sleeping on a washing up sponge; No dissipation of weight. Constantly being disturbed by noise from outside or even inside the dorm from other backpackers. Some of whom who have no regard when they enter a dorm room. No privacy curtains so you are continually disturbed sources of light from other room mates in your doom (from digital devices or their bed light). ||It is impossible to get any rest or sleep staying here. ||One of my room mates became acquainted during the evening keeping the entirety of the dorm awake. The next day when I mentioned this lack of basic respect to the staff at reception and was met with well, frankly, what do you expect? There's a bar and a pool etc. As I hadn't had breakfast at that point I thought it would be pointless to try and explain that dorm rooms should operate on a collective responsibility. ||Further to this, staff pick and choose when they want to respond via Goki and if you raise any issues you are met with the classic "Thank you for your feedback" which of course means they have no interest in doing anything beyond replying and zero interest in resolving anything. Given that the entire hostel is "staffed" by volunteering backpackers you can understand why there is no level of service. ||After this ghastly encounter, I will try my upmost to avoid any hostels in which the staff are not in paid roles to undertake their duties. ||If – Bounce Cairns – are indeed interested in anything it is promoting their coveted bar upstairs. You check in and are provided with a token for a free drink. Immediately it becomes clear that their business model is not hospitality but the provision of alcohol. What is also noticeable is how placeless and generic their events are. ||House rules are seldom (if ever) adhered to; the kitchen has had two broken electric hobs for some time. There are no available scissors and the knives are not stored adequately and just placed in the utensils holder. Fridge space is slightly better organised with boxes but remains a Wild West of allocation. Due to the sheer volume of people not washing their own dishes, cutlery and utensils – a member of staff will sit in the kitchen with their own curated Spotify playlist playing loudly. Coupled with a sign which informs you that your mother isn't here to wash your dishes. The invocation of a parent really does inform you where you are staying. Not for adults indeed. ||Bizarrely despite the in-person surveillance in the kitchen, it didn't stop my food from being used. Coupled with bad electrics – two of the sockets at the front didn't work. It has ovens but I wasn't there long enough to try them (given how unclean they were probably for the best). The toasters are cheap and there is no hot water boiling point just a few cheap plastic kettles. It is reminiscent of a second hand shop with its mash-mash of items. Of course all of the pots and pans are scratched beyond belief. ||The kitchen is very small and proceeds to become very warm indeed when a number of people wish to cook at peak times as there are no staggered timings – you either have to wait till someone has finished cooking or choose a meal which can be microwaved. There was no free breakfast when I stayed. ||The labelling of your fridge items or dried goods is provided by some paper and sellotape. Unlike other hostels there are no elastic bands and tags for you to easily use. ||The beds are a slightly better affair. The mattress is sturdy and has an accessible plugs and light socket. Guests looking for a USB-C and USB-A socket should bring their own plug charger. The dorm rooms are also en-suites which vary in fittings (from the dated to the slightly refreshed) but are generally clean. None of the beds have any privacy curtains which having enquired with the hostel directly about this was informed that upper management believed they were perfectly fine. In contrast to the people in my dorm who had to use multiple towels to cover their beds. Other hostels in Byron Bay, Melbourne and Sydney understand that privacy matters and provide curtains at a similar price point per night. ||The lockers will not be able to use a standard padlock so you will need to ensure you bring a small padlock to ensure you keep your valuables safe. ||There are hostels which provide a place to sleep in Cairns. This isn't...

Was having a good time at the hostel until it was time to check out. I hadn’t paid for my previous night so I went to reception to pay. However I was waiting for money to go into my international count from my home account which can take a few minutes. While I waited I felt the staff were rude and intimidating. They said I’ll be nice once you’ve paid, it shows you’re not appreciating staying here if you’re not paying, you had all day yesterday to pay etc. I had my own reasons, there was an outage in my home bank, at I was unwell the day before. I asked if they were being sarcastic to lighten the mood and they didn’t reply so they were clearly being serious. I felt very uncomfortable and in distress and they showed no sympathy , as if I’m a bad person dodging rent , when it was ME who had approached the counter to pay them not them having to chase me. It’s unfortunate as I was having a good time at the hostel and recommending it to people until that experience. When I came back later to complain, they said they weren’t being rude and just sitting there, but I had clearly asked if it was sarcasm and there was no reply. It’s not difficult to smile , show empathy, make someone feel more comfortable. If you don’t have the people skills to talk to people kindly and make them feel comfortable, I don’t think you should be working behind a reception desk. For people who speak English as a second language I can understand there being more miscommunication and let that go, but one of the staff was British so I’d expect better. Also side note, during the scenario they mentioned you have to be a lot more organised with the price of accomadation changing etc and I said I’ve been busy sorting out medication/ Medicare for my chronic illness (so that I don’t die from running out of medication) and there was complete silence in response from them. You’d have to be pretty inhumane to show zero empathy towards or response to that

Also I needed to pack my bags and checkout and offered to leave my debit cards with the receptionist to show I won’t run away without paying and she said 3 bank cards with no money on them is useless to her. I had stated that I have transferred money into my wise account and it hadn’t arrived yet. Unless she thinks I’m hacker who can hack into the banking systems and stop that money from transferring, there’s no way that money won’t end up on my wise so NO the bank cards aren’t useless cos unfortunately I don’t know how to Hack into banking systems. There was clearly a lack of trust in what I was saying and an assumption I was a bad person/ had bad intentions. I felt like I was a criminal. And they kept saying I stayed the night for free. I’m standing there TRYING TO PAY THEM . It’s complete disrespect and it’s lies for me to come back for the receptionist to deny she was being rude. She KNEW she was being hostile and even admitted it herself when she said ‘I’ll be nice when you pay’, instead of apologising and saying it wasn’t her intention

I even vocalised that the situation was giving me anxiety and they did not care or say anything in response. I cannot understand why they care so much, I don’t think their salary / bonus is dependent on company profits or that they have equity in the business. My only conclusion is that they enjoy making good people feel uncomfortable and watching someone suffer and it have zero effect on them

She also suggested I just pay them using my UK bank card. There’s a reason I have three international cards, because my UK bank is not designed for overseas payments and i will get extra charges and poor exchange rates, which I’m sure she’s aware of. God forbid they wait a few minutes while money transfers into my wise account, and they must make me pay more than I need cos I’m such a terrible person and deserve to be punished for my lack...

I stayed at this hostel for about ten days. and I have to share how terrible it was. First off, it’s impossible to sleep here. My roommates were making a crazy racket at all hours, zero respect for anyone. The music is blasting all the time, and there’s no one around to keep things in check. It felt like total chaos—music, shouting, and random people just walking into our room like it’s nothing.

The funniest part? The main door has a code to get in, but the rooms have these sliding doors that anyone can open at any time. So, yeah, security is a joke. And then, of course, right outside the sliding door, there are chairs to sit on, so once the music stops, everyone just goes out there to keep the party going smoking and drinking , and you can hear everything inside. Plus, it’s no secret that illegal stuff is being dealt right there, and nobody’s doing a thing about it.

I’ve got photos and videos to back this up, but I’m being nice and not reporting them, even though they totally deserve it. In ten days, I managed to get just three hours of sleep because I had to get up at 6 AM for work. It’s was frustrating !

There was no space for anything in the room; the lockers are tiny, so you’re forced to leave your luggage all over the place,and the bottom bunks don’t have curtains.

The kitchen is a disaster, way too small for all the people crammed in there. Half the cooking stations don’t even work, and the ones that do are filthy. The staff does clean, but it’s just not enough. It’s hard to find space to put your food bag, and you can consider yourself lucky if nothing gets stolen.

Oh, and if by some miracle you manage to get some sleep in the morning, the cleaning ladies will come barging in, shouting, singing, and blasting music at full volume with zero respect. So, what can I say? What a lovely experience, obviously, I’m being sarcastic, wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone .It’s not worth a single penny of what they charge. Seriously, the absolute worst hostel I’ve ever been to.

And now I’m talking directly to you who responds to all these fake 5-star reviews, don’t even think about replying to my review with the usual “thank you so much” because it just feels like a slap in the face to me and anyone else...