Gilligan's Bar

Fabulous bar with great staff. The outdoor deck is expansive with smoking area with tables/seating that had easy access to bar/toilets. Great atmosphere with music to suit all tastes, excellent drink prices, while pool tables are available, these are located in the non-smoking area so, a little farther if you need a smoke break. Convenient city location and easy to order taxi service via front reception desk. Definitely on our favourite list 👌

I had a great stay at Gilligan’s! The room was spacious and clean, and I was even lucky enough to have the whole dorm to myself one night. I still managed to meet plenty of people, despite being a solo traveller, thanks to the social atmosphere and nightlife. It’s worth noting that the bar/club area didn’t really get busy until late in the evening (11:30pm onwards), and the hostel is pretty deserted during the day thanks to everyone being out on tours/experiences. My room was overlooking the pool/bar area, so did get noisy at night, but the hostel offers free earplugs at reception which did the trick. It was great to have an en-suite in the room, and the bathroom was in good condition. The location is ideal, right within the hub of Cairns City, however I didn’t feel particularly safe as a solo female traveller in the area at night, so it’s definitely important to be aware of that/travel in a group where possible. The on-site travel agency is helpful and approachable, and staying at the hostel means that you can get discounted drinks at the bar and free club entry before 11pm. I didn’t end up going to any of the weekday themed nights, but at the weekend the vibes downstairs were good. I would definitely recommend Gilligan’s to any young solo/group travellers who want to meet new people and experience Cairns’ party scene at a budget-friendly price!

Great location, nearby to everything we needed and super social. Food from restaurant was decent (we had $10 pizzas) and evening events were fun and different to most hostels we’ve stayed in. The layout was nice, each floor had a good social area with sofas and a TV plus a kitchen. However, the kitchen wasn’t the cleanest and quite small for the amount of rooms, you also had to make your own bed but sheets were clean and the rooms were cleaned daily. We also didn’t find it noisy with the club in the night which was good.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Although we didn’t have a room booked this time, the venue itself looked incredibly welcoming and well-maintained from the outside — definitely the kind of place we'd love to stay in on our next trip! We did, however, stop in for a meal, and the food was absolutely amazing. The \$10 specials were an unbeatable deal — generous portions, full of flavour, and clearly made with care. Great value, great vibe, and friendly staff made it a standout stop. Can’t wait to come back and experience the full stay!

We went into the bar for a couple of drinks, and it was a cool space! Security takes IDs very seriously which we appreciated. They had live music playing making it hard to have a conversation but if you’re there to dance that’s fine. The bartenders are all young people so not the most attentive but they got the job done. We went earlier in the evening on a Sunday so it wasn’t too busy but i see how it could be fun on a busier night out!

Nothing but amazing things to say about this place. Stayed in a 4 bed female room which was super clean and tidy. I came with a friend and we were unsure what we wanted to do for the rest of our time in the east coast. We were very kindly greeted by a shift leader, Vera, who planned EVERYTHING for us. She was incredibly inviting and helpful, honestly could not have asked for better service!! Thank you so much :)

Overreaction to a harmless situation After dancing I sat down to reset and closed my eyes for about five minutes. I wasn’t loud or causing trouble. Security escorted me out without a warning and wouldn’t allow me to wait outside for a bit. I get that venues have safety rules, but a quick wellness check, some water, or a simple warning would have solved it. Please train staff to de-escalate first and use judgment instead of a blanket zero-tolerance approach.

The hostel is super easy to get to and in the city center. The rooms were okay but some looked pretty old and worn out already. The kitchen was most of the time pretty clean. If you booked a regular room which is on the side where the club is at, it’s a little louder at night. If you’re a deep sleeper like me, it won’t bother you, but if not I would suggest you to take another, more expensive room. They have a pool which is a big plus for me and that was was always clean and also didn’t smell overly chlorinated. The bar is really good and they have a lot of options. They could play better music though, most of the time it’s just standard white girl music and nothing special.