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Reviewed 13 June 2015

I booked a room at this motel at the last minute on Wotif for the busy Queen's Birthday weekend. The description and photos were promising, the price was pretty good for a city centre motel although not much cheaper than some reputable chain motels and hotels. I should have had an inkling that there would be a problem when no one at the airport shuttle bus counter, not the driver, had heard of this place or were aware of its existence.
The motel is not visible from the street, if it were I would not have handed over my money. It is hidden behind a rental car lot and reception is a combined car rental, tourist information and motel check in. Even though told to check in strictly between 2 and 5pm when I arrived the office was closed, I had to call for the receptionist to come and open up, The lady was pleasant enough and assisted me with questions about things to do and see in Cairns. She explained the motel was behind a security gate and told be the room number. When I went through the gate I felt as if I'd been transported to a Thai brothel or Tijuana crack den.
The property is in extremely poor condition; old, untended, dilapidated and neglected. The room was large and tidy with an appearance of being clean but was furnished with old, damaged furniture, the couch was stained and torn. There was an air of grim despair. The sheets were clean, but worn, as were the towels in the bathroom. The kitchenette and bathroom were clean enough, but everything is so old and second hand it gives the impression of being covered in a sticky dirty film, even if it isn't. Nothing has been done to update this place for many, many years. The room door did not lock properly, the only lighting was bare fluoro tubes, there was detritus everywhere on the landing, the stairs looked dangerous. I did not even bother to look at the pool area, it looked abandoned.
I was shocked that I had paid so much for such a dump, no wonder there is an explicit no refund policy. I was also not surprised I appeared to be the only person staying, apart from a woman in the room below who appeared to be a resident and yelled at me every time I went up or down the stairs. I checked out the first thing the next morning and moved to an 4 star hotel a few blocks away, paying not much more than I had for the experience of staying at the A1.
For what it is the A1 Inn is way overpriced and should not be listed as an option on any hotel site. Even on a budget you can find better and do better than this "motel", pay a few dollars more and stay somewhere decent.

Room tip: There is no good room.
Date of stay: June 2015
  • Trip type: Travelled solo
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
1  Thank plush74
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 26 February 2015

Ideal location, nice owners, ideal for those on a budget. Good location for exploring further north and the reef. Travelled as a group of students and we were not disappointed. Also hired a car for a few days - pretty reasonable.

Date of stay: February 2015
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Thank JK2405
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 15 November 2014

I transit through Cairns regularly on my way up and down to Papua New Guinea and like to stay in good value, comfortable accommodation walking distance from the main drag (the Ibis Styles hotel in Florence St is my favourite in this regard). I have already tried many other hotels around Cairns and this time decided to try something different and booked A1 Inn the City Motel on Wotif for a one night stay. The one and only other review on TripAdvisor offered dire warnings about this property but I wanted to see for myself.
My understanding is that this property used to be conjoined with a backpacker place at the rear but this has now been sold off and A1 Inn the City Motel now consists of only 4 units located at the rear of Billabong Car Rentals also known as A1 Car Rentals which also doubles as the reception for the motel. There are actually 6 units but one seems to be occupied by the owner and one by the manager. Of the four units available for letting, two are typical motel-style studio rooms with a double bed, and two are one-bedroom flats. I booked a studio motel room but was "upgraded" to a one bedroom flat due to a double booking for the motel room.
Reception closes at 6pm and I arrived around 7.30pm and had to ring the manager's number (given to me in advance and also printed on the gate leading through to the back) to get her to come and check me in. This could be problematic if you are a guest arriving very late at night, or if you have just arrived from overseas and don't have a mobile phone that works here, so I would actually not recommend this motel if you are arriving at night.
The quality of the accommodation is 2.5 star, clean but tired and in need of a makeover and new furniture but then that would bump the price up which would remove one of the attractions of staying here: a motel room in central Cairns under AUD 90.
The tiled floor in my flat was clean. The beds each had clean sheets and a duvet. The one-bedroom flats have a double and a single bed and a built-in wardrobe in the separate bedroom, and another single bed in the living area outside. So the bedding would suit a family with two kids, or a triple for three adults sleeping apart, or four adults if two don’t mind sharing the double. There is a dining table with 4 chairs and a flat screen TV but I didn’t use it. The bathroom was very big with a separate toilet room within the bathroom. No bathtub but the shower recess was large and the water pressure was strong. Some upper reaches of the bathroom had not seen a broom lately but the “business end” of the bathroom was well cleaned. Small soaps are provided but no other toiletries.
Apart from the big bathroom which is always a boon for fatties like me, the best part of the unit was the kitchenette. Although not new and flash, the kitchenette has enough crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils to host a dinner party. The cupboards contain electric frying pan, toaster, sandwich maker, microwave, all manner of mixmasters and other cooking appliances, plus a full shelf of condiments and spices that I assume were left behind by previous tenants and carefully saved instead of being turfed out in the trash. So there are half used bottles of soy sauce, sesame oil etc that will be very useful if you want to cook for yourself: you will only need to buy the main ingredients. Of course one night transits like me don’t cook for ourselves: we head to the self-serve Asian food buffets at the night markets for a cheap feed, and come home with a kebab from Oasis Kebab on the Esplanade (best in Australia!) for the late night snack.
There is of course no restaurant at this tiny motel, no room service, no breakfast service. The nearest soda machine is in the laundrette a few doors down, the nearest hot food outlets are on the Esplanade or in neighbouring motels, and the nearest convenience store is the IGA mini mart near the Esplanade which is open till 11pm I think.
Just one caution: the rear windows of the rooms are not very secure (my bathroom window wasn’t able to be locked at all) so don’t leave valuables in your room when going out. I imagine there has never been a break-in otherwise the windows would have been fixed and security grilles would have been fitted by now, but be aware of the risk if staying here.
Would I stay at A1 Inn the City Motel again? Yes, especially if travelling with a family or a couple of mates and needing triple accommodation. (This place and Ibis Styles in Florence Street are two of the few motels in Cairns that have rooms with a double and two singles). There are better places for the same price all the way along Sheridan Street as far as Cairns North but who wants to walk all that way to and from the action centre of the city all the time or, worse, who wants to pay for a cab to get out and back to your hotel all the time?
Yes the manageress and the owner are a couple of “handle with care” ladies but this is not another Fawlty Towers – yet. Just be polite and they will look after you just as well as anywhere else, won’t they Sybil?

Room tip: it's worth the extra $20 to get the larger room with full kitchen.
Date of stay: October 2014
  • Trip type: Travelled on business
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Service
1  Thank PNG_Travel_Geek
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.