Gecko's Backpackers

Clean and family friendly accommodation.
Opposite the train station and shopping centre.
Very convenient, located with swimming pool.

Peter is a friendly chap, he makes sure that the place is always spotless and clean.

Huge TV and relaxing place.
- no noisy party house, so you will sleep really good. Good beds and rooms. Good value.
We had a great time and can recommend to anyone that wants to relax after a day on the reef.

Stayed for 3 nights in April and was happy with my stay. My room was really clean and spacious and had a high ceiling and wooden floor-that and a good ac and a fan made for probably the best air and thus best sleep I had in cairns. The bathroom was shared but also very nice and clean compared to other hostels. So was the kitchen. Pool was clean and the fridge in my room was a plus.

Stayed here for a couple of nights on our way to our Great Barrier Reef trip. We got a great spot in the parking area and had full use of the facilities while staying in our campervan. The kitchen area was spacious for making food even when busy and the showers were fantastic. We paid a fair price for the our stay and had a comfortable stay. The manager Peter was welcoming and friendly and helped us out with any queries we had. Really enjoyed our stay here and would recommend to others.

(Booking under Nick)

I stayed at Geckos backpackers for three nights this month. The place looks reallly nice, welcoming and cozy.
-The manager is very helpful & will recommend the best tours.
-The location is great, only a few steps from the shopping centre & cairns central.
-It's super clean (nice & tidy toilets and kitchen)

Overall, an amazing place to stay in Cairns.
Highly recommend it!

Pete is very welcoming. The rooms have air conditioning and are of a very nice size. The prices are fantastic. Nice and chilled with a nice pool alongside a nice view. I would recommend this hostel above all else. 5 stars!!!

Easy to access to the train station. The shower and toilet is really clean. Really quite so that you can rest peacefully. They'll do as we requested if is not that big matter. Like me , I requested to have a room with a girl not a boy and they gave me one.Thanks for having me there.

I had one of the best experiences at Geckos!
If you are looking fir a nice quiet place where you almost feel at home then pack your bags and head straight there!
The rooms are always clean as the bathrooms are as well, the kitchen is a share kitchen but is never dirty.
The owner is one of the nicest people you will meet very kinda and always there to help if you want to book a tour or you're looking for somewhere to eat he will point you in the right direction ☺
The pool area is beautiful!
its very tropical and relaxing.

I LOVED GECKOS AND I STRONGLY AGREE THAT YOU WILL TOO!

Easily the most beautiful hostel in Australia - and I‘d even go so far to say the most beautiful I have seen so far! And I am well travelled!
Historic wood house which is nicely renovated and offers a cosy, relaxed beachy flow! Aircon provided in the clean modern rooms but not needed as house is well ventilated and has nice temperature during day and night. Bathrooms are stunning! Peter is very helpful and friendly. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay and immediately extended it for a couple of days more. Would certainly come back again, prices are really fair!

Beautiful place to stay! Seriously the best backpackers in town. The place itself is stunning in all aspects. The service was incredible, the beautiful surroundings (gardens lush with plenty of shade from all the palm trees and mangoes galore! I can't name the rest of the botanical like gardens) the staff where amazing and have the knowledge and wisdom like no other and genuinely interested in making your stay unforgettable! Peter the manager/new friend, is very upfront and can help in any situation and extremely is approachable and honestly knows cairns like the back of his hand. It is an alcohol free backpacker/hotel Which in my case and anyone else that is wanting a peaceful retreat that you could spend all day at this is #1 on my list. I will in the future bring my family there as many others do already. Everything is within walking distance, so no need for a car (I own a car and was worried my battery would die lol) saved a fortune on fuel (and FREE PARKING UNDER TREES THAT SHADE YOUR CAR ALL DAY LONG) as for the facilities,there is everything!!!! Clean,tidy and freshly renovated bathrooms and kitchen) plenty of space for your own time,to read a book and relax by the pool or in the gardens numerous areas) JUST STUNNING!!!!
And I say all this honestly and have never had the time or effort to right a review about a place ever!
Simon (from Australia)

From previous hostels that I've been, Geckos is kind of different. This is a very coozy hostel, where you can really relax during your stay. It's not that big, which means there's no much people, no parties, no noise, nothing! Always clean, the rooms are good and there's also a pool. Well located right behind the shooping center "Cairns Central", and also close to train and bus stations.

Really cozy place. It has induction cooking plates in the kitchen, so the cooking here is super quick. Even though it’s a small hostel it dose feel to crowded in here. Nice little outside area, with clean pool and good showers as well. All in all it’s worth staying here - cheers

Gecko's was great
It is a really quite and really clean hostel .
The rooms are nice and I think no bunk beds at least in ouer room were non and the other rooms we saw .
The kitchen , toilets and showers are pretty modern and clean
I would recommend it to everyone ,it is a no alcohol hostel one of the reasons it is so quit but if you want to party and drink you can just go out bars etc are not far at all

Great quiet hostel. The kitchen leaves a bit to desire. There is no oven or range, only hot plates to cook on. Also, no alcohol allowed on site. Staff is very friendly. Clean rooms/bathrooms and there is even an air conditioner in our room which was very welcome in this hot/humid climate!

Peter has been more than helpful with anything and everything. It's very clean and spacious throughout the rooms, kitchen and common area. It's literally beside the shopping centre so it's close to anything you might need. And we had brilliant Wi-Fi in our rooms!! My boyfriend and I spent 8 nights here and loved it!

I highly recommend Gecko's after I stayed 6 days in May 2015. Each night I walked into Gecko's I felt like I was at home. I really loved the fantastic heritage listed building, the beautifully maintained front garden and the great atmosphere. The bedrooms were spacious and toilets/bathrooms were very clean morning, noon and night. Peter, the owner, was dedicated to creating a safe harmonious environment and the no alcohol policy worked a treat to create the safe environment.The staff were so helpful and friendly and the other backpackers were considerate and friendly. It's right across the road from the shopping centre. Gecko's is fabulous and I will definetly stay again at Geko's.

I rate Gecko's 5 star, I was treated with respect and welcomed in by the owner, And noticed straight away that it was very clean, well maintained, and reasonably priced place to stay.. And being an Australian I have to mention the acceptance and courtesy I was treated with when I wasn't turned away. If you want a respectable place to stay that's not a madhouse, Geckos is the place your looking for..

Stayed in the hostel for 8 weeks while I was working in Cairns. Absolutely nice and super clean as like the owner and staff take care of the building all day long. Kitchen fully furnished with all you need to cook, rooms really spacious and bed with real matress, defenally the best sleep I had in an Australian hostel! Location is great too, it's just behind the big shopping centre and train/bus station. Towel provided to everyone (first place where I found this facility ) and 24 wifi which is excellent! The best thing is NO ALCOHOL permitted which makes this place safe and quite! I defenally recommend this hostel to everyone!

I booked one night in a double room because the next day I was taking the bus to Mareeba to start bicycling N in Cape York. That WAS my intent. Because of a sudden, and serious foot infection I stayed for 23 days being treated by very competent physicians.

I saw all sorts of folks stay here at Geckos (I am here on my last day). If you want to stay here, REMEMBER that there are 2 basic conditions:

1. Paying guests only.
2. No alcohol.

There is no discussion about these two "rules". Both are strictly enforced by Peter, the owner and host. These rules are for everyone's safety, and I have seen Peter enforce both. Eviction with no refund results because of non-compliance - no discussion (and NO refund)! In my 23 days here, I (along with other guests)
was/were disturbed by noise by two groups drinking in the evening. Peter took appropriate action! After evictions, the following nights were quiet!

There are plenty of showers and toilets on both floors of the main building, and in the separate building too. The double rooms in the separate building have small fridges. All public areas are cleaned several times daily. I never saw a toilet without toilet paper. Each guest gets a towel. I never had to wait for a shower in my 23 dsys at Geckos and wonder why some complain - what is wrong with waiting?? Besides, what is wrong with co-ed showers/toilets. Every home I have been in does NOT have separate toilets/showers for males and females. Same with airplanes - you know, those metal tubes used to bring the complainers to Australia and to Cairns. Some folks just like to complain for no reason.

The kitchen has hotplates, kettle, toaster and microwave and 2 fridges. There are cabinets to store your foods. Too bad that some folks don't clean up after themselves, but Peter cruises around making sure the counters are neat/tidy. This is all about OUR health and safety. Plenty of room for cooking - if guests don't hog all of the hotplates. There is a need for co-operation/sharing (and sometimes having to wait your turn.) Wonder why anyone wants to pull the knobs off the hotplates - don't you know that the knobs must be turned not pulled?? These knobs don't just "fall off". Didn't Mommy teach these complainers anything??

This is also true of using showers/toilets (I say this to the complainers wanting instant access to all facilities).

In looking at recent negative reviews, I think these reviewers show immaturity and entitlement. They illustrate foreign travellers to be malcontent and uncouth. Not so! Geckos is clean, safe, and quiet. If they are niggling about this hostel, these reviewers should go back home and live with Mom and Dad. They obviously cannot see past their own needs and don't understand anything about living co-operatively with others. When more mature, then these malcontents may realize that hostels like Geckos offer comfortable, clean, and quiet accomodation at a reasonable price. If you want "cheapest and best" then you will find a drunken "party place" elsewhere - but NOT at Geckos. Laughed at Peter's response to "Beth's" negativity - there has not been a Beth booked here at Geckos. Hummm, trolling are we "Beth".....

Geckos has room for some tents and camper vans, but the main offerings at Geckos are the dorms and double rooms. This hostel is right across the street from a big mall and near to inexpensive pharmacies (which I needed for the anti-biotics the physicians prescribed) and a walk-in clinic. There is FAST 5G internet access and it works everywhere - the complainers should check their equipment as my Android tablet worked fine for the 3+ weeks at Geckos and I mean everywhere. No weak signal and fast downloads.

All in all, after 23 days at Geckos I give this hostel a 5-star rating!

Highly recommend Gecko's. I'm a late-twenties backpacker and arrived in Cairns after the horror that is hostels in Airlie Beach so a dry hostel was exactly what I needed. It was clean, quiet, had excellent wifi (and my standards are really high), and had a great bathroom/kitchen setup. Located right by the mall and the bus station which was so handy.

Gecko's Backpackers in Cairns is a great place to stay for a quiet, comfortable and clean environment. No rowdy drunks or screaming fools - you get a good night's sleep and are ready for another day in paradise.
Free WiFi, tea/coffee, cereal breakfast, free evening meal voucher on arrival and great friendly management. Relaxing garden area and pool, but for mr the test in these hostels is always cleanliness - and this establishment is the best I have seen in my travels.
Keep up the good work and i will always stay here on vivits to this area