Shangri-La The Marina, Cairns

This stay was underwhelming, to say the least, and nowhere close to what one would expect from a so called 5 star hotel. Perhaps this property was 5 stars years ago, but that clearly has not been maintained. Overall, the hotel feels tired and outdated. Both the common areas and the rooms lack polish and proper upkeep. Things did not start off well when our room was not cleaned one day, despite us being out for hours and not having the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Every other room on our small floor appeared to be serviced except ours. While inconvenient, we politely informed the front desk and requested daily cleaning at 10am going forward, which they agreed to. The bigger issue came later. We found a "We value your opinion" review card (see photo) next to our bed containing someone else’s nail clippings. That was genuinely gross and completely unacceptable. When we reported it, staff initially seemed doubtful, so we went down to show them a photo. They appeared shocked, took a picture of our picture, and asked us to return after breakfast to speak with the manager. The manager did apologize, but repeatedly asked what we wanted him to do or what we expected. That felt awkward and misplaced. If you are staying at a 5 star hotel and find nail clippings beside your bed, the expectation should be obvious. He offered a $100 room credit, which we appreciated, but he minimized the issue, saying it was a very small thing and that staff would never think to check something so unexpected. Thorough cleaning should be the bare minimum at this price point. It also suggests guest feedback cards are not even checked. We accepted the credit and simply asked that housekeeping remove the card and clean the room. We were told it had been handled. When we returned, the card with nail clippings was still in the exact same spot. That was extremely frustrating. After another call, we received more apologies and excuses about miscommunication. After this, I began looking more closely and noticed black mold in the bathroom grout. Staff eventually came to inspect it and confirmed that it was in fact black mold. At that point, they moved us to a different room, which we did appreciate. Unfortunately, the issues continued. Later that night, in the new so called upgraded room, we discovered more black mold in the bathroom. The following morning we informed the front desk staff. Since we were leaving the next day, we did not want to change rooms again and simply asked that housekeeping clean or treat the mold. When we returned from breakfast, our room had been serviced, but the black mold had not been cleaned or treated at all. In fact, they never came to treat/clean the mold. We informed them at checkout and they just kept saying, "I'm so sorry", which was no real surprise, this was their MO the entire stay, they couldn't care less about the guests' health and safety. This was extremely frustrating and further reinforced the lack of attention to detail and follow through. At this point, it was clear this was not an isolated mistake but a pattern of poor cleanliness, weak follow through, and low standards. This was a 1 star experience at what is at best a 3 star hotel, and even that feels generous. I have stayed in far nicer 3 star properties. I will not be returning, and this stay has made me seriously reconsider staying at Shangri La properties in the future. I would strongly caution others to think twice before spending premium money on a hotel that markets itself as 5 stars but does not come close to delivering.

A really wonderful stay at the Shangri la. Check in was stress free,staff friendly and smiley,what a big difference that makes to any hotel stay. | We stayed in a horizon club room,large balcony overlooking the marina. Our room was immaculate, very spacious, comfy sofa,light and bright. On a personal note,we found the bed to be a little on the soft side,but didn’t stop a great nights sleep. The bathroom was/is light and bright,the shower possibly the best anywhere we’ve stayed. Talk about a power shower!! Tasteful L’occitane toiletries. Great hairdryer, iron and board,no mini bar in the room,but tea/coffee/bottled water. | The Horizon club was such a treat,if you can,it’s well worth the extra.Beautiful brekkie,a great choice of hot and cold food,fresh fruits,yogurts,juice. |In the late afternoon,early evenings,canapés and other food is served,along with alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. Staff there are so warm and friendly-Thank you.| The pool area is quiet,comfortable sun beds,pool towels provided,and the pool bar menu is reasonably priced,and great tasting too. As mention in a couple of reviews,there are a few areas that could do with a bit of maintenance around the pool,but,it I don’t think it detracts from general chilled feel and comfort.| Lots of great places to eat nearby,easy walk to shops,a very short stagger to get a boat to the reef!| All in all,a great stay.Thank you so much.

I had the most wonderful holiday at this hotel. Every staff member was incredibly polite, friendly, and attentive — their service exceeded all expectations. They even surprised me with chocolates for my birthday, which was such a thoughtful gesture. The hotel itself is beautifully positioned right on the marina and the views are stunning. The bed and pillows were so comfortable, and our favourite start to the day was having delicious buffet breakfasts on the waterfront. So tranquil and relaxing. I loved my stay, and highly recommend this hotel — I can’t wait to return! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had such a fab time at Shanghai-la. The staff are exceptional. I was greeted as soon as I pulled up and luggage was taken. Then I checked in at reception and I have never had such a warm welcome greeting in all my travels. Our room was fresh, clean and comfortable and we had the most amazing view of the cairns waterfront. We had the best seats for NY fireworks. I want to commend the front desk lady who resides in Clifton Beach. She had such a warm friendly demeanour. She made us feel so welcome. Commend your staff. They make your business next level.

We stayed here on our second stop of our honeymoon. This was a solid 4 star hotel. The lobby is beautiful, the attendants were extremely kind and helpful, bringing our bags directly to our room. Our room was gorgeous and overlooking the water. Would have given it 5 stars but the sheets felt starchy/stiff plus we didn’t get any housekeeping or water bottle refresh. The pool was beautiful and we loved the bar service. The location is nice if you want to hang out at the restaurants and shopping on the pier. If you want to go into town, it is an 5-10 min walk. Overall, there is room for improvement and some things felt outdated but we really enjoyed our stay!

This stay has been very disappointing and well below what I expect from the Shangri-La brand. Parking is charged at AUD 30 per car per day. With two rooms booked and two vehicles, this added a significant and unexpected cost over a week. For a hotel positioned at this level, non-complimentary parking is not reasonable and was not clearly flagged as a material cost. The rooms are dated and do not reflect a premium or well-maintained property. The overall experience does not align with Shangri-La standards. There was no visible concierge or staff presence on arrival, and no one available to proactively assist. The hotel feels transactional rather than hospitable. Throughout the stay, many basic items and services that I would normally expect to be complimentary instead come at an additional charge. I do not object to paying for services if pricing is transparent and justified, but in this case it feels like being nickel-and-dimed rather than cared for as a guest. In hindsight, staying at a standard three-star hotel or serviced apartment would have provided better value and a more straightforward experience. This property does not meet the expectations associated with the Shangri-La name. Edit: Since posting the above, additional issues further detracted from the stay. Restaurant service was poor on two separate visits. There appeared to be sufficient staff, however they were inattentive to waiting patrons and focused on cleaning and deliveries instead. We were not the only guests waiting, and several tables around us expressed the same confusion as to why service was not being provided. Parking continued to be problematic. Each time we attempted to exit the car park, we were required to call for assistance to be let out. On multiple occasions this required two to three calls, causing vehicles to queue behind us with drivers becoming understandably frustrated. On one evening, our room was not serviced. Additionally, on the first night the television repeatedly turned on with hotel advertisements approximately every hour, making sleep difficult. Individually these may seem minor, but collectively they significantly detracted from the stay. The overall experience does not meet the level of service, attention, or comfort I associate with the Shangri-La brand.

I arrived at 10 pm and the hotel looked abandoned. Nobody to help with the luggage or greet me. Room was okay but very dated equipment. Especially the TV is at least 10 years old. Breakfast was a disappointment with serve yourself buffet (no barista coffee - everything is extra charge) like you would expect at a 3 or 4star hotel. Pool needs maintenance and restaurant options are limited. Overall: cannot recommend unless you’re on a family vacation and need a pool for your kids

Updated review - I had a wonderful stay at the Shangri-La Cairns. The hotel was comfortable, well-located, and the service was excellent throughout. A special mention to Alastair Underwood, who provided outstanding service — friendly, professional, and genuinely helpful. He really made the experience memorable. I would happily stay here again and highly recommend it. Definitely would recommend coming here.

Perfect location when in Cairns, you're close to everything. The fun, the adventure and the leisure. Rooms and service are top notch, and the views are picturesque.

Amazing location and got a stunning view of the marina. It's an older hotel with a confusing layout, but the guest rooms are renovated. This hotel couldn't have been in a better location. It's right by the boat terminal so we walked across the street to meet our tour headed for the Great Barrier Reef. My favorite restaurant is right next door too! Highly recommend Salt House. There's a little shrimp boat restaurant right outside, but you do need reservations.

The Shangri-La hotel in Cairns has a beautiful location. The rooms overlooking the bay and facing east have spectacular views. The rooms are well appointed and very comfortable. Unlike Shangri-La hotels in Hong Kong, Bangkok or Singapore, the staff are poorly trained. The service in the restaurant was very variable - from rude to friendly. The hotel is old, but could have been cleaner. The bathroom had mold around the tub. The flush leaked and flooded the bathroom during the night we arrived. The duty manager was quite blasé about it and gave us a key to another room 20 doors down the hall to use the bathroom during the night!!! We are senior citizens, so a toilet that far away at night is terrible!!! The next day, they never offered to comp the room for the night of inconvenience. When we asked, the duty manager was bargaining with us and finally said he would give us the room for half price for the night when we barely got 3 hours of sleep and had to run down the hall to use the toilet at night and shower in the morning. This was a terrible start to almost a week in Cairns. That said, the hotel has a wonderful location. It needs to train the staff and management on customer service.

I ordered a king bed and was placed in a room with two twin beds pushed together. I kept falling in the gap in the middle. It took them awhile to find a single king mattress, which was in an upgraded room luckily. In the meantime, they were trying to get me to cancel my reservation at 11pm at night and find another hotel. They told me that pushing two twins beds together is their norm in this hotel to make a king bed! Never in my lifetime have I experienced such a thing. Shame on them. The once in the new room, I couldn't cast my iPad to watch Netflix. Reached out again for support and no one to figure out the problem about why it was still casting to my old room. I know I couldn't be the first person in that hotel to change rooms. So stuck with just hotel tv for the days I was there.

We booked this hotel for one night on our honeymoon. It's within walking distance to some great restaurants, and we had a nice harbor view from our room. Great location if you're going out on a reef tour as you can walk right across the street to your departure boat. The room itself was nice but a little older. Robes, slippers, and bath products were nice. The shower door wouldn't close all the way so we got puddles of water on the floor whenever we showered, which was a little annoying. We missed a connection from Sydney and couldn't go on our scheduled dive, so we visited the concierge who wasn't very helpful. Basically, after noon, it is too late for any tours but not her fault. The front desk was very helpful and gave us lounge access. Happy hour provided some decent drinks and light bites. Breakfast was pretty decent too, but it's probably better in the actual restaurant downstairs. The pool looked nice, but we didn't make time to use it. One thing that is not a big deal but was bothersome is the layout. It seemed like we walked forever from reception to get to our room. The hotel is actually kind of confusing, like a maze, and we had to ride two different elevators to get to our room. Not a deal-breaker, but worth noting. Overall, this is a decent place in Cairns.

Nice 6 night stay at the Shangri-La. It's definitely one of the nicest hotels in towns and is on a beautiful property with a nice pool and gardens. My room was amazing with an incredible sea view. The room was very large with a comfortable bed and nice shower. The service was also great - free shoe polish, laundry services, food downstairs at the backyard, and really helpful staff. My only complaint is the WiFi in the room sucks so I kept going over my daily data plan while in cairns as opposed to other places. I even switched rooms to try and get better WiFi and it was still really spotty for me. Now if you don't need the internet you should be fine, but I rely on the internet to keep up with work while traveling so it was tough for me. Regardless - beautiful place and lovely stay!

Nice resort Had no nice view just overlooking the car park and not overlooking the pool like i was told i was getting over the phone. Got room service everyday, nice large pool just needs more seating, Only a short walk to restaurants. Just a walk to cairns main shopping mall.

I spend on average 275 nights a year in hotels, sometimes I decide to roll the dice and let Hotwire choose for me, that's exactly what I did on my recent stay in Cairns Australia. At face value I was excited to have landed your hotel, it was a 5 min walk from where I needed to be for my daily excursions and I had heard good things. Knowing the brand I expected very good things, boy was I wrong. I arrived earlier than expected and made my way over to your check in desk; you know the first opportunity a hotel has to exhume exceptional customer service. This is far from what I received; the lady behind the desk had a worse attitude than a New York cab driver. After I had given her my name and my confirmation number the next words out of her mouth were about how many people were in my party since I had "2" on my reservation; and that I would need to pay for additional guests. Mistakenly when booking I must not have checked that there would be 3 people in my hotel. I'm also not sure what the additional $60aud a day covered? Let me better explaine, I was staying in a two queen room, for the reason of 3 guests; the desk informed me the charge was to accommodate for the additional guests. Which would make perfect sense if changes had to be made to accommodate for said guest. I'm not sure if it's expected that people who use Hotwire are cheap, unseasoned travelers or simply put "stupid", but the tone and attitude was so condisending that I almost turned right around and left your hotel. Let me reiterate when customers pay premiums to stay places they would anticipate customer service to match. The attitude and presentation given by your 5 star staff is far from 5 star service. I have stayed in 2 star hotels which have shown better hospitality, and customer service than I received inside your hotel. After check in was compete my additional charges were "told" to me I was offered to leave our bags at bag check and informed I'd be called as soon as my room was available, which "should only be an hour or so". My companions and I proceeded to grab food and waste time while waiting for our room confirmation call. It NEVER came. So I've now very rudely gone through check in and was then never informed that my room was available. Once up to our room we do stop downstairs for some food. Here we meet Tyson behind the bar, he was the first genuinely nice person we encountered working at your hotel. Night one goes well until 6 am when construction starts 12/3/2018 - that's quite a wake up call. Opt for breakfast outside of your hotel because at this point the less time I spend there the better. When we arrive back in the afternoon we shower and then call for fresh towels so we'll have them in the morning. Five hours latter when we return from dinner, guess what ? No fresh towels. One of my companions decides to walk down to the desk to retrieve towels for us. Night two goes fine until 06:25 must have had a delay in construction on 13/3/2018 - again hammering and drilling. This was enough for us, we gathered up our belongings and proceeded to checkout; we were in Cairns for two more nights but I wasn't going to extend my stay at your establishment. My opinion was slightly changed at checkout, here I dealt with Dean, he didn't deserve to deal with the fallout of my experience; but he was very attentive and apologetic. This helped me to realize that maybe not everyone on your hospitality team was placed in the wrong roll. When customers come in your desk person has one opportunity to set an example of the service which they are about to receive; your front desk missed the mark by a long shot. It isn't about money or cost it's about service, and your team lacked all around. There was another person at the desk who I would assume was a manager and saw my dissatisfaction upon check in, but they chose to just keep their head down and ignore the situation unfolding. This shows me that the issue isn't with just one employee, but top down. Hopefully you can fix your issues before loosing any other customers. I'll be sure to pass this information along, as my group is expanding into your chains coverage region.

Overall, this hotel was fine, but did not perform above and beyond. We arrived early and they were unable to get us into our room until about 15 minutes before check-in time. I know this is not required by hotels, but I couldn't believe that after being there since about 9am, they couldn't get a single room clean for us to go in. The rooms were nice - no complaints from that perspective, and I liked the location. The concierge was helpful with trip planning. The pool is much less impressive than it looks online. The little restaurant by the water does have a nice little view. This was a fine hotel to stay in, but I certainly wouldn't pay more to stay here than some of the other hotels.

We stayed at this Shangri-La Hotel for our nights in Cairns and overall enjoyed our stay. - We got upgraded to the Horizon Club level with free breakfast, free coffee/sodas all day, free happy hour and appetizers at night. We didn't even ask for it and we didn't pay extra so we were pretty A-OK with it. - The people working here were so nice. From the bartender at the pool, the ladies at the front desk, to the people in the club level, everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. - Room was big with a patio overlooking the water, so that was nice. Bathroom was enormous (I think it was designed for persons with disabilities) and the shower flowed right in the floor with just a curtain to keep it from being everywhere else. It also had a large picture window that opened out to the room. You had to put down the shade if you wanted some privacy...but the BF said he could still see me. It was like his own free shadow show or something. Ha! - Downstairs in the lobby there was a coffee shop/cafe/bar where we bought wine to take to the room a couple of nights. - A mall area was connected that seemed to have seen better days as far as number of stores. There were a couple of cool bars in there that had some lively activity, so we appreciated that! - This was close to everything, walk to the water, walk to the Esplanade, market, restaurants, bars, whatever. Give the Shangri-La a try if you need a home base in Cairns, especially if you can magically get upgraded to the club level with the free breakfast and happy hour.

The marina view (from the room) is spectacularly breathtaking. You can even enjoy it while in the bathtub if you dare. We stayed at the Club level. The room is very spacious, bright and contemporary. The Club Lounge unfortunately was under renovation, so the makeshift one (on another floor) was more like a conference room. Availability of food was disappointing, not too many to choose from, and definitely not the greatest. The concierge who seemed knowledgeable arranged a cruise for us. Location is convenient. I am sure the experience would be better if the new Club Lounge was ready.

Ok, I am giving them 3 stars based on the staff and location, but absolutely agree that this hotel is in dire need of updating/renovating. We stayed here for 2 nights in April 2013 prior to heading further North to Silky Oaks resort and beyond. Our room had a great view of the marina, and a nice balcony. The room itself was quite spacious, but the bathroom was very outdated, and the room could definitely benefit from some refreshing/updating. We did enjoy the saltwater pool, and pool area. I really hope that this hotel invests in itself and makes the necessary updates, as the location really is perfect.

Perfect Hotel.. very user friendly .. staff are great too. Plenty of great Restaurants nearby.. tha fish, prawn stars, etc ..

The shangri-la has obviously been around for a while; wood surfaces in the bathroom were really worn and bits of paint were missing off the walls.. That said, we had a room with an amazing view; comfy king sized bed; management and staff were among the best I have encountered anywhere in Australia and a real stand out in cairns which I find extremely mediocre in that respect.. Exceptional value (booked thru wotif) considering the buffet breakfast for 2 was included in the tariff.. Would stay here again in an instant..

This hotel is a decent facility. The king sized bed was comfy, and our room was spacious. The bathroom had a nice sized tub and a separate shower. The TV had a welcome greeting in the reserved party's name, which was a nice touch. However, the shower door handle fell off on the first day after a simple shutting of the door. The layout of the hotel is quite the maze...glad we had a room close to the exit to get to the elevators! This hotel is in a good location, very close to the marina where you get picked up for water activities. The shopping center attached to the hotel had many stores that were either closed or out of business, which was a turn off. The front desk of the hotel tried to up-sell us on an upgrade package, where you get a room with a better view coupled with breakfast and access to happy hour for $60 a day. The staff tried to spin it that you get free breakfast and drinks, but it's not really free if you're charging a fee for the upgrade. We had no interest in this since we planned on spending most of our time out anyway. The staff was very pleasant in their offer, though. In fact, all the staff we came across were extremely friendly. Overall, I would consider staying here again, but would probably look into other lodging first before committing.

This hotel is in serious need of an update. I cannot believe it's rated so high on TripAdvisor which is the site I always use for international travel. It's ranked something like 9 out of 64. If that's the case I wonder what these other hotels are like. It smells and the bathroom is wood. I went to the Pullman and was very impressed it is more but I think worth it. It's only 2 stories high with no in room dining. The pool area is also very underwhelming. The room size is good but again I would not recommend staying here. I cannot get the wet humid piss smell out of my nose 2 pros about this place one of the customer service is absolutely excellent. And two if you're going to go to the great barrier reef the fleet terminal is literally steps away

I'm surprised this hotel is part of Shangri-La. This hotel is very dated and in desperate need of a remodel. The design is quite inconvenient as well, making guests walk down 2 or more long hallways before getting to their room as the hotel is only about 4 floors high (technically, the highest floor is the 2nd floor). I found the staff to be prompt and courteous, however after a palm frond fell on my friend while we were at the pool, the manager handled the situation pretty poorly. After asking if she was hurt, he informed us "This is not America, so you cannot sue us." As if the unheated pool wasn't enough, now heavy fronds are falling down around us. Last gripe, a 10 minute telephone call to an area code outside of Queensland ended up costing me $30, (I was only there for a week so when I called a tour guide, I didn't realize their cellphone number was from Victoria). Having stayed at Shangri-La's in Shanghai, Hangzhou, New York, and Los Angeles, I have to say I was definitely disappointed.

Stayed there for 3 night from last Friday to Monday. Room was basic. We chose it because of the brand and location but this trip we did not enjoy our stay at all. Our room 1028 was above a night club! Both Friday night and Saturday night were very loud! We could not sleep, called front desk at midnight and was done nothing. They could have told us when we checked in about the noise... Also, dont pay extra for seaview room, since highest floor is 2nd floor, between hotel and sea there are tall trees. So our room on the first floor, can not see much sea at all. And if you are a light sleeper, better ask them for a quite room since there is a night club on the ground floor and a restaurant/bar too.. And you dont want your room on top of those two...

I loved it....right in the heart of things...there are some fantastic restaurants on the bottom floor that look out to the marina and mountains...check out Tha Fish...really excellent....get a room that overlooks the Marina. The service was excellent....I left for a couple days on a boat dive and forgot some things in my room (including the keys to my house and car) and they retrieved them and had them ready for me when I came back several days later...and the pool is really cool and spacious....its a little pricey but was worth it.

I liked it. I stayed as a horizon club guest and I loved it. Our room was updated and modern. One bad thing: the walk to the room is very long. Hallways are not very well designed.

Hotel was very mediocre. Location was convenient and staff friendly but the hotel was dated, bed uncomfortable, and seemed a little "dirty". I stayed at the Shangri-La Sydney a week earlier and it was far superior. I was expecting this to be more luxurious and was disappointed.