Cairns · Hotel shortlist
Hotels with a restaurant on the waterfront in Cairns
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
These are my five favourites in Cairns, out of the 22 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.8 down to 4.4.
Sanctuary Palm Cove is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Sanctuary Palm Cove
★★★★★4.8 from 108 reviews
Sanctuary Palm Cove comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.8 from 108 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 5 star property and found under historic centre.
22 hotels in Cairns qualified for this list and five made it. Pullman Palm Cove Sea Temple Resort and Spa is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
All five, ranked
-
1
Sanctuary Palm Cove
★★★★★4.8 from 108 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
-
2Pullman Palm Cove Sea Temple Resort and Spa
★★★★★4.4 from 890 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
3Melaleuca Resort Palm Cove
★★★★★4.7 from 172 reviews
- Pool
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
-
4The Reef House Adults Retreat
★★★★★4.4 from 703 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Kitchen
-
5Alamanda Palm Cove by Lancemore
★★★★★4.5 from 748 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
How this list was put together
22 Cairns hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.