201 Lake Street — Hotel in Cairns North

Stay away!!! Overall, it’s the two worst things for any accommodation: 1) an old and terrible mattress where you wake up with a sore back, and 2) a dirty environment where you can find cockroaches and ants, and loud noises! We stayed in apartment 4 for three nights. Never again. The bed is extremely uncomfortable and I woke up with a sore back for the first time in my life. We didn’t notice this at first, but the queen bed is actually two twin beds joined together. One of the two mattresses is indented and sinks in as soon as you law down, so it’s very hard and uncomfortable. ||The pillows are also old and flattened out, with a huge indentation. There’s screaming kids in the pool, when we’re trying to go to bed. I had to step outside and ask the parents to please keep it down and i understand the pool closes at 10, but the room is not soundproof and we can hear everything in the hallway, including the activity in the pool, the recycling bins being used, and suitcases rolling on the floor. Also, the internet is terribly slow and I’m not even able to post a picture or have a proper call with my family. But all that is very small compared to what happened this morning. When we woke up to catch our tour, we were brushing our teeth in the bathroom and we saw a big cockroach on the bathroom floor. It was so horrible and absolutely not what we expected for a $500 stay. We’re now having to look at every single part of the floor where we step, where we put our bags, our toiletries, our food, our pillows, our faces, everywhere. It’s so so unpleasant. When I brought it up to Suzi, she apologized but said it’s common to see them in the tropics. While that might be true, I lived in the tropics for 16 years and not once did I see a cockroach inside. They live outside and only come inside when there’s filth and opportunity. A consistent fumigation schedule with synthetic chemicals or with organic deterrents would prevent them from coming into the apartments. And even simpler, how about getting a plastic strip for beneath the front door? It would deter pests and also control the noise. Now, inside the shower there’s black mold everywhere: black mold on the walls, mold on the floor, mold on the caulking, mold near the shower drain, and mold on the grout. Mold doesn’t just appear overnight. It takes weeks or even months to create an environment. So it shows that the shower hasn’t been properly cleaned in who knows how much time. A simple scrub with Zep or lemon with sodium bicarbonate would get rid of this and prevent it through regular cleaning. The hair dryer was full of yuck, grime, and dirty. We decided not to use it, not only because of the filth, but also because it stunk whenever you turned it on. On our second morning, we found lots ants crawling on the kitchen table, the kitchen counters, and the coffee table in front of the couch. The lobby also had a very bizarre smell, at first I thought it was vinegar and that they used organic products for cleaning, but after seeing the chemicals in the office and under the sink for the big killers, the unpleasant lobby smell must be from something else. The cutlery was also filthy and the cutlery covered covered with filth and rust. ||||At first glance, the place looked nice. When we first walked in, Suzi was very nice, friendly, and polite. The apartment had every single light ON so it looked nice, bright, and clean. We had a little basket with toiletries which was nice. However, as mentioned above, this is far from what we expected for our three night stay....

Filthy. We complained with management and requested them to rectify or release us from our booking agreement for a number of days and refund. Management chose to refund without hesitation and we stayed at another venue for the remainder of our trip in Cairns. Copy of my email to the property: "To whom it may concern,

We checked in last night after midnight and was exhausted from our trip. We where looking forward to a good sleep. However, this was not possible for many reasons as apartment 10 that we checked in to is definitely not 4 star which not only saw us going to sleep later but also waking up frequently because of the following reasons: 1.) The place smells extremely mouldy to the point where we where forced to sleep with the doors open whilst ensuring the place gets well ventilated by having the aircon and all the fans on. It still smells strong this morning and cant be good for anyone’s respiratory system or general wellbeing. 2.) The bed does not meet 4 star accommodation standards as its rock hard plus noisy when going to sit down or turning in your sleep FYI I’m 6ft and average built and my partner is half my size just in case your wondering if we are obese or overweight weight but this is really irrelevant. 3.) There is a lot of old dust which had accumulated over time on the lamp cords coming from the ceiling, the aircon exhaust ducts have old accumulated dust, shower is mouldy and scum on the floor it’s really evident that it has not been kept clean over a prolonged period of time. 4.) Its not justified to advertise this unit ready for accommodation let alone charge the similar price as some of the other local genuine 4 and 5 star accommodations that meet regulatory standards. 5.) This is NOT what was advertised and as such we are seeking either: 5.1) a genuine 4 star apartment that is mould free, cleaned to health standards; or 5.2) a refund as we will be seeking alternative accommodation today.

We are really disappointed and disgusted at the condition vs how much we paid. We took photos and videos plus here I have to now focus on writing this to you and waste our time instead of focusing on work. I hope that we can come to common grounds and that this can be rectified...

I stayed at 201 Lake Street with my partner on 2 occasions in November – December 2016.

There is a general atmosphere of poor management and decay about this place, even though it’s only a few years old. It’s located on the noisiest roundabout in Cairns with garbage trucks making a dreadful racket in the morning, cars, buses and trucks honking and screeching all day and half the night and accompanying dirt from the traffic covering the balcony with a layer of grime.

These are NOT serviced apartments (despite the price), unless you call a once weekly perfunctory mopping of the floor and changing towels and linen ‘service’. You will NOT get replacement soap, washing up liquid, dishwashing soap, laundry soap, milk, toiletries etc etc and if you ask for these items you will be told to buy your own. However, there are no decent shops nearby.

There was grime in every corner of the apartment, the washing machine leaked, the hob light did not work and the hand basin sink was totally blocked on arrival (was fixed promptly). Cooking utensils were minimal, no paring knife, the extractor fan thick with grease, no dish drainer, no clothes drying line or rack, the hot air clothes drier squeaked interminably, the furniture was chipped and dated and the ridiculous sofa had to be seen to be believed; it was almost at floor level and very uncomfortable. Mold in the shower. TV and DVD player did not, or could not be encouraged to work.

A few good points …. It’s near the hospitals if you’ve got business there, otherwise a good 30 minutes walk to the Lagoon and town centre, the bedroom OK, the pool OK, parking OK, free wifi, even if you have to log on every time you use it.

If you arrive at night and depart in the morning you’ll survive this place. If you are staying for more than a day you will be tearing your hair out and should seek a quieter, better...