Hilton Cairns {AUS}
 

I am staying in Cairns, Australia the middle of July and thought about using the Cairns Hilton. Anyone have any comments about the property or the service there. I guess my gold Card won't be of much help.

No info on that hotel. I did just stay at Il Palazzo Boutique Hotel and wasn't disappointed. Ask for standby fares and get 1/2 price.

Bad thing is, no points for stay since it's an independent hotel.

Visit http://www.ilpalazzo.com.au/ if for nothing else, to see the word "plethora" used in a sentance.

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g'day
wl

Hilton - Cairns
 

We'll be there for 5 days in mid January.

Any experiences at the Hilton in Cairns?

Anything we simply must do while were there?

Thanks!!!

Yes, it's very nice IMHO, with a fine Ex lounge and you should probably DIVE the GBR for sure! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Absolutely must dive the reef.

Ask for an oceanview room on upper floor.

Cairns Hilton is a very nice hotel, with excellent service. Staff is very well trained (kudos to the General Manager, John Ingram). I concur with doc, Ex lounge is very nice, both for breakfast and for pre-dinner drinks and appetizers. Diving at the Great Barrier Reef is an incredible experience, but also make sure you'd rent a car and drive to Cape Tribulation. Rental car companies deliver vehicle to your hotel and pick it up afterwards. Beautiful drive along the coastal highway. BTW, make sure you wear "real" shoes, not sandals for a night boardwalk there. Also, January could be very hot and humid!

Take the OLD train to Karanda too if you like that kind of thing! I feel asleep on the way home and the conductor rremarked "Too much for you eh?" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

There is/was also a fantastic butterfly museum/zoo there!

I have stayed twice at Port Douglas Sheraton and find it far too far away and too expensive. On my last stay I did one night at the Hilton at the end just to check it out.I wish id stayed there all along. its close to everything the boat to the reef pulls up out the front. theres heaps of fabulous restaurants outside the door and the staff are great.The exec loungs is really comfy and its half the price of Port douglas. id stay there for the whole trip next time.

The comments previous to mine are all very positive. I, however, only thought the hotel was OK… nothing special. In fact, it was the worst hotel I stayed in while I was in Australia!

Hold on… that only means all the other hotels were exceptionally nice and well above average leaving the Hilton rather dull in comparison. BTW, I stayed in the Westin Sydney, the Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast, the Conrad Brisbane, the Green Island Resort, the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas, the Thala Lodge (near Port Douglas – FANTASTIC away from it all feeling), the Radisson Cairns, and the Sheraton on the Park Sydney.

Some of the small towns outside of Cairns are wonderful just because they don’t have strip malls, suburban sprawl, Mercedes SUV’s, and Starbucks. It is so nice to see a real live small town with a couple of pubs, a market, and even a butcher

Thanks for all the info.

If your are a diver then have a look at this URL. I've booked a 5 dive liveaboard trip with them and they have been very helpful. They also do 1 day trips.
http://www.prodive-cairns.com.au

I disagree with the earlier comment about Port Douglas, which overall is a far more charming and pleasant town than Cairns. There's also more to see north of Cairns than in Cairns. I would advise renting a car, spend a night on the front and/or back end at the Hilton Cairns, and staying in Port Douglas (at the Radisson, near the Sheraton, we stayed in a two-story, two bedroom apt. unit last Nov. for a mere $110 US per night--call their 800#).
By all means visit the Reef, which can be done from either Cairns or Port Douglas. Also well worth seeing is the Tjupukai Aboriginal Theme Park between Cairns and Port Douglas, and the tropical rain forest nearby at Daintree Village. For an unforgettable hotel experience, book a night ortwo at the Daintree Eco Lodge where you stay in a specially built cottage on stilts in the middle of a rain forest (the only one in Australia). They also offer a sunset jungle cruise that is like something out of "Animal Planet." If staying there isn't feasible, go for dinner as the Lodge's restaurant is very good and will give you the flavor of the rain forest environment.
One downside you should know is that while there are beautiful beaches, you probably won't want to swim in them at that time of year due to jellyfish. You'll see nets set up to keep them out at public beaches but we were told they're far from foolproof.
For more info on the region, pick up a good guide book before you go; I recommend Frommer's Australia 2000.

I second LAXGUY's comment about Port Douglas vs. Cairns. The Sheraton is nothing special, but the town has character, something missing now-a-days in Cairns.

Cairns Hilton (Australia) how can i get it cheap?
 

Hi, i'm a HHonors Gold and want to stay on the exec floor of the Cairns hilton for about 4-5 nights on a trip up to Cairns from Sydney. Does anyone know where i can get it the cheapest? Ideally I want to pay US$50/night - A$100/night (i know its crazy, but are there any coupons etc, out there?)

I don't really care if i get frequent flyer or hhonors points, but i do care about showing my card so as to get exec floor access. Hope you can help!

kawoh

if you want to join the Diamond club for $225 for a year you get coupons which cut the cheapest published rate by 50%.
You also get 3 X $A100 a night vouchers AND 20% off anything on your bill.
Its really great if you travel in asia or australia

Tinkybelle,

I can't find any information about paying to become Hilton Diamond on the Hilton site. Could you send me a link for this or post more information here about how to join and get those great coupons. Is the joining price in US dollars? Thanks for the help!

Aussiemate

Hilton in Cairns, experiances?
 

I've only been able to find a few comments on the boards about the Hilton there. Anybody who's stayed there have any thoughts on it? Possibly in comparison to the Marriott in the Palm Cove area. Thanks!

The Cairns Hilton is a nice property. Its in a great location.....at one end of the Esplanade on the water between the Casino and the marina. Public areas are huge and it has a very nice pool/spa area. People are very friendly and helpful. It seemed like every time we walked up the steps and reached for the door someone appeared to open the door for us. No problems getting the free breakfasts...which were excellent.

I haven't been at Palm Cove Marriott, so can't compare the two, but Cairns Hilton was great. Very nice property, great location, excellent service, and one of the best lounges. I would highly recommend this hotel.

Very nice property indeed ... especially with a GLON reward !
The lounge staff ladies are so helpful, they will peel your mangoes for breakfast!
Great vacation memories at this hotel.
We were very disappointed by the Sydney Hilton afterwards.

We've stayed at the Sydney Hilton right after Cairns too, and while we really liked the location and the view from our corner room at the Sydney Hilton, I agree with Sylvest941 - service was rather impersonal (they cater more to business travelers rather than vacationers). I guess Cairns Hilton spoiled us (thanks to Mr. John Ingram, their GM at the time, and his staff).

The Cairns Hilton is a nice property, but if you're going to that part of the world to see the sights including the Great barrier Reef, Port Douglas (about one hour drive to the north) is a much nicer/more atmospheric town to use as a base (no Hilton there however). There's really no comparison.

The Cairns property is nice for a few days. I wouldn't spend more than two days in Cairns however. Getting an upgrade to an executive room as a Gold VIP was no problem. There is no beach on the property. However, you can take a ferry from the dock directly behind the hilton to Green Island for about $10 dollars for a half to full day visit. You can snorkel directly off this island. Highly recommended. This is however no substitute for the Great Barrier Reef. This can be reached from Cairns as well on various tours, but it is more accessible from Port Douglas. The nicest property in Port Douglas is the Sheraton. The Raddison property is fair.

Port Douglas gets my vote as well. We stayed at the Radisson Treetops, which was fair at best. Sorely in need of updating. But it was easier to get to the Quicksilver to the Reef, and the Kurunda railway.

Quicksilver runs their Wavepiercer catamarans from Cairns (right from where Hilton is located) as well as from Port Douglas. For more information see http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/OBRTransfer.html .

I guess I'd have do disagree that two days is all the time you need in Cairns although I guess that depends on if you want to take full advantage of all that the area has to offer. Besides the drive up to Port Douglas and the Great Barrier daytrips the highlight of our stay was the combination morning hot air balloon followed by rafting in the afternoon. Also worth doing is the train to Kurunda and the Skyrail back over the rainforest. Thats four full days and doesn't allow for potential bad weather. It would be a shame to travel all that way, set aside two days in Cairns only to have a day or two of rain.

Stayed in the Cairns Hilton in February and I thought the hotel was great. Since my stay was free with HH points, I didn't get upgraded or get access to the lounge, but I got a nice room with a great view. The pool area is nice, but difficult to get to, since you have to walk down 2 flights of stairs after exiting the elevator to get there (they closed up the outside access to it). The tour desk can help you with any day-trips to the Reef or local sites. Location is across the street from the casino, and about a 5-minute walk from the main "downtown" area. Cabs available "on call" from the desk, with about a 2-minute wait and a $1.00 AUD surcharge, but cab rides are cheap in Australia compared to the US. Restaurant is OK, but high priced compared to the many local eateries in town. Night life is great, as there are lot of backpackers who wind up in Cairns. If you go to the casino, try playing "Pontoon" blackjack, which I found favorable to regular blackjack (also available) because of better payouts (e-mail me for more details on this). Have a good trip--it's beautiful up there, but it does rain.

You're supposed to get treated the same way on an award stay as you are on a paid stay. Hilton needs to enforce this consistently. I stayed at Sydney and Melbourne Hiltons on award stays and got upgraded in Melbourne and lounge access at both. Sydney I was only at for one night and checked in rather late so was told all the upgraded or deluxe rooms or whatever were gone, but they were apologetic about it.

its a matter of taste: personally i find Port Douglas a wank, fake and cutesy cutesy whereas i find Cairns to be a real town with an organic history and life

Is Hilton Cairns a GLON hotel?
 

Hi,

I'm a HHonors Gold and want to redeem a VIP reward - GLON 6 nights for 100k points. I was wondering whether the Hilton Cairns is a GLON or a GLONP hotel. If it's a GLONP hotel it will cost me 150k points instead of 100k point.

Do flyertalk members know whether the hilton cairns is a preimum or a standard hotel? Do people know whether hilton cairns participates in this promotion?

Thanks in advance.

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Star Gold, HHonors Gold.

This sort of thing can be checked by going to hiltonhhonors.com and checking under Hotel Rewards which will tell you which hotels are in which category

There are no Premium hotels in Australia, it is in fact a Select Hotel as it would seem are all the Australian ones.

Dave

At Select (Level 3) hotels, the GLON should be used only on non-PointStretcher dates, because 6 PS nights can be had for only 78,000 points + you can get any # of nights you want. At Classic (4) hotels the diff. is slight.

Hilton Sydney can be used for the 100K award instead of 150. . . for what its worth. . .

Hilton Cairns
 

Considering staying at the Hilton Cairns next June. Looking for comments from those that have stayed there recently on rooms, location, resturants/lounges, executive floor, suites?

Stayed there last in May 2001. I paid a low weekend rate and was upgraded to a top-floor room overlooking the bay, with a fruit bowl. The executive lounge was very quiet and serves a nice continental breakfast. Overall a nice property.

I spent a 6 day vacation there on a GLON reward in Jan 01.
Great hotel, great lounge service and food for breakfast and (free) cocktails.
Close to the pier where tours to the Great Barrier start. Close to the casino (ouch!).
Only minus point: the dinner buffet, everynight the same one!
Very good memories....

Stayed there in October, top floor suite, pool area is nice but don't expect a beach nearby, very convenient for the boats to the reef, lots of Asian tour groups, executive lounge and staff were excellent, room decor is a little dated but still good. Overall one of my favorite Hiltons.

Same here. Executive lounge staff is simply the best!

Stayed there 3 nights in Jan 2002. Wasn't Gold then, so I couldn't get access to the lounge. But had a airy top floor room with a patio and great view. Very nice hotel located only a few blocks from the tourist area. No beach nearby. Pool is nice, but access to it is difficult since you are going up and down staircases due to the fact they closed up their outdoor access to it. Nice lobby and restaurant. Good concierge service to set up tours of the Reef. Across the street from the Las Vegas-type casino, so any money you win, you can keep. Lots to do at night in Cairns as it is a major tourist town with about 130,000 population. Would definitely return if I ever go back to Cairns.

Wow!!!
Does it get any better than this hotel?
We just returned from Cairns Hilton and I don't hardly know where to start describing how wonderful we were treated. We snagged some inexpensive rooms on an internet deal and I wasn't expecting to much. They had already agreed to upgrade us to the water side of the hotel because we were Gold Card members so I was happy. When we arrived we were very surprised to find that we had been upgraded to the Executive floor with full access to the executive lounge. We were able to get early check in. From there it just kept getting better. An hour after we arrived a bucket of Champagne was delivered along with a bowl of chocolate dipped strawberries. I could hear my wife telling the lady that she must have the wrong room. It wasn't, there was a card from the manager with our name on it thanking us for choosing their hotel. They closed the executive lounge for some updating and we were invited to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which had a GREAT buffet. Received a letter from the manager later in the day inviting us to the hotels main lounge for drinks and snacks each evening. A first class operation in every way. I've stayed in about 40 different Hilton properties and this one is head and shoulders above the rest.

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"A day without Points/Miles is like a day without SUNSHINE"