If you’ve been following my escapades so far in 2017 you’ll know that 2 weeks ago I returned from a quick trip up north to the tropical destination of Cairns [read about it here].

During my time in Cairns I stayed at the ever popular hostel, Nomads Serpent, and here’s my personal review of the joint.

The decision to stay here was as a result of:

↠ seeing many of the travel bloggers I follow talk about it,

↠ the competitive price,

↠ the well known name.

So without hesitation it was decided between myself and my travel buddy that Nomads was the place to be.

The Rooms

There are a multitude of options when it comes to deciding what size and type of room you want to stay in. Travellers are given the option of:

↠ 10 bed dorm,

↠ 8 bed dorm,

↠ 6 bed mixed dorm, 6 bed female dorm, or 6 bed male dorm,

↠ 4 bed mixed dorm, 4 bed female dorm [we opted for this one, and cost us $135 each for 5 nights], or 4 bed male dorm,

↠ private twin, or private double,

↠ private twin with ensuite, or private double with ensuite,

↠ private double with ensuite king

All rooms come equip with air con, fresh linen, and individual lockers, and if you’re lucky you may even get a room with a balcony like we did – which really helped when it came to drying our towels or bikinis.

The rooms themselves weren’t anything fancy; our dorm consisted of 2 bunk beds, 4 mini lockers, and access to a shared balcony. Despite having the bare minimum, the room was remarkably clean as was the linen provided.

Facilities

Nomads hosts a variety of facilities including, but not limited to:

↠ a swimming pool

↠ bar & bistro

↠ convenience store

↠ MAD travel tour desk

↠ beach volleyball court

↠ free shuttle bus into the city

They also provide a free breakfast daily, but don’t let the word ‘breakfast’ fool you into thinking you will be given a choice. ‘Breakfast’ is 2 pieces of toast, and a tea or coffee – additional slices will cost you extra!

Wifi is available throughout the hostel, however, the bar area is the only place to access free WiFi otherwise it is $4 per day or $12 for a week.

Nomads will also pick you up from the airport or bus station for free, however, it will cost you [$15 for 1 person, discounts for the more people travelling at once] to get a transfer to the airport for departure so it’s almost worth booking your own airport transfers as some are as cheap as $10 return.

Location

This was one of the biggest cons to staying at Nomads. Unfortunately for us we didn’t realise that Nomads is not located within the city centre, it is in fact approximately a 10 minute drive.

However, Nomads do offer a free shuttle bus that will drop you outside the night markets almost every hour and pick you up from the same spot making the journey a little more bearable. Just be cautious of when the shuttles are running! Some hours they don’t run in order to give the drivers a break and they don’t run before 10am, so if you’re wanting to go out for breaky and treat yourself to more than 2 pieces of toast you’ll have to catch a cab [approximately $15].

Overall Thoughts

For the most part, Nomads was great in terms of cleanliness, facilities [with only a few hiccups when it came to not being very clear with some of the facilities], and vibe.

However, if I were to return to Cairns [and I’m sure I will at some point in my travels] and were to stay in a hostel again, I probably wouldn’t opt for Nomads again.

I think we would have been better off staying some where a bit more central, whether it be Gilligan’s or another hostel – or even a budget hotel. Staying more central would have meant less time wasted travelling and waiting for shuttle buses that weren’t running, and saved us a few pennies as we wouldn’t have had to catch cabs.