Originally Posted by lpeterman
Has the renovation work been completed at the Cairns Hilton?
(Writing from the Cairns Hilton Executive Lounge...)
Just checked in after a wonderful 3 day scuba diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef... (I highly recommend ProDive Cairns! I'm off shortly to meet up with all the great folks I went diving with at a local restaurant for dinner and drinks.) Everything's been good so far, the property is fairly nice, and I did get a nice fruit basket (arrived in the 5 minutes between when I left my room for the lounge and went back to unplug my portable access point in the room so I could get on the wireless from the lounge! Impeccable timing in missing me being in the room.
)
I got upgraded in advance from a regular room to an HHonors level room on the top floor with a pretty nice view of the harbor. The room is fairly nice, but could be a bit better; bathroom could do with a bit of updating particularly (it's not bad in any way, just slightly spartan from what I'd expect from a waterfront Hilton property in a major touristy city in Australia.) Got a 2 nights + 3rd night free-if-you-pay-with-Amex deal so I'd be pretty happy with whatever.
(Though I was just mildly annoyed when I mentioned the Amex promo on the phone to the hotel's reservations folks since I couldn't book it on the website or via Hilton directly without getting quoted a full 3 night rate, and they offered me a harborview room for AUD260 while I saw a regular room for AUD215, which I asked for and got, and obviously got the upgrade and HHonors floor anyways. No big deal, but I'd expect the hotel reservations staff to offer both from the start rather than just the more expensive option.)
The lounge itself could be larger. It managed to fill up in the hour I've been here (7PM now, it's open from 5 until... 8 I think?), though I don't know if this is peak season or not around here. The lounge staff and food/beverage selection is excellent, though. There's one attendant in the lounge who seems a bit overworked, but she's provided excellent service despite. AUD29/day for Internet, which is normal around here from what I've seen, but still rather annoying compared to Internet rates in the US...
I'm not sure if they've completed renovations. There doesn't seem to be any renovation work going on, but I'll ask when I get a chance.