A hostel is basically a type of hotel for travellers looking for budget accommodation or people looking for a short city break with cheap and easy accommodation. The typical trademark of hostels is shared dormitories with bunk beds. Over the years however the industry has grown heavily with many hostels offering a wide variety of facilities and room types. Hostels are less formal than hotels and focus more on offering a lifestyle and having fun.

Reef Backpackers is located in the centre of Cairns right in Grafton St, making us one of Cairns’s most central hostels. For more information and a detailed map please check our location page.

We’re very easy to get to from all the main airports, train and bus stations in and around Cairns. The easiest way to get to us is to take a bus or taxi to Grafton St, we are a very short walk from the bus station and train station. For more detailed information please look at our directions section on the Getting here page.

We have a variety of private rooms and dormitories available.

The private rooms we have are single, twin and double rooms.

The dormitory rooms and beds we have are in 4 bed, 6 bed, 8 bed and 4 bed female only.

If you book a private room such as a twin or single room, it will only be you in the room no one else will have access to your room. If you book a dormitory bed you will share the room with anyone else who has booked, if you wish to have a private dormitory room you will have to book all the beds in the room.

We try to keep the rooms single sex but due to our size we cannot always guarantee this. We do offer female only dormitories if you do not feel comfortable sharing a mixed dormitory.

All our rooms have shared facilities. There are a minimum 2 toilets and shower rooms on each floor.

You can book via telephone, email or book online. We would recommend you book online as it’s the fastest and easiest way to book, you also receive a discount for booking online.

A twin room is a single bunk bed, a double room is also a bunk bed but the lower bunk has a double bed.

Anyone travelling with a party of more than 8 people we classify as a group, for more information please look at our Group FAQ section further down.

You can check in from 1100, reception is open 8am till 12pm and then 4pm till 8pm and don’t worry if your arriving late at night we can arrange something for you. Check out is at 1000am, luggage storage is available during the day for free if you’re arriving before check-in time and for a small fee if you’re checking-out.

We have always operated a full no smoking policy. As of July 2007 it is illegal to smoke in any public building within the Australia.

We have a 24 hour entrance that is locked with access only via secure key system this ensures that only guests or people with reservations are allowed entry. We also have CCTV coverage the inside and outside of the building. At night a security company partols the building along with our live on site night manager.

Only guests staying in the hostel are allowed entry to the building, no friends or family will be given access. If you wish to meet someone they will have to wait in our reception area.

We accept all ages at Reef Backpackers. If any persons between the ages of 16 to 18 wish to stay with us they need to be accompanied by an adult or have a letter from their legal guardian giving them permission to travel. If you are travelling with anyone under 16 then they will have to be accompanied by an adult. We do not permit under 16 year olds to be put into a shared dormitory, they must be booked into a private room or all the beds must be booked in the dormitory, please call us to ensure that all your beds are allocated into the same room. Any questions please contact us.

We are an independent organisation and accept anybody, you do not need to be a member of any organisation or a student.

We take your card details to secure the reservation, if you don’t show up or don’t cancel your booking, the card will be charged for the first night of the reservation as a no-show. Payment is done on arrival in a method of your choice. No deposit is charged to your card.

We take full payment on arrival as we do not charge any deposit if you book directly with us. Please note that we don’t accept cash as a payment method we accept card only.

Reception is open till 10pm. Check in after this time is done via arrangement only.

There is no curfew and no lockout.

The rooms are cleaned from 1000 until 1200 which is why you cannot gain entry to your room before these times.

You don’t have to book to stay with us, you can arrive to the hostel and stay as a “walk-in” but we would highly recommend that you either call us or book online before your make the journey as we’re busy year round.

We accept all major credit and debit cards. We don’t accept cash or travellers cheques

If you need to cancel your booking, you need to contact us either via email or telephone before 10:00 the day before your arrival date, if you do not contact us you will be charged for the first full night as a no-show.

No, we don’t give refunds but we give you a credit for the days you paid already for.

If you are travelling with your family please be aware unless you book an all the beds in a dormitory room or a private room you will be sharing with other people. If you have children under the age of 16 you must book an entire room or a private room as they cannot be put in shared accommodation.

Breakfast is not included. Tea, coffee and sugar are provided all day free of charge.

All beds have pillows, linen is provided free of charge from reception, but feel free to bring your own pillows you want to. Sleeping bags are not permitted

Linen is provided free of charge on check in, it can be collected from reception. Towels can be rented from reception.

We have a fuctional shared kitchen, so you can cook your own meals and make treats. Our stoves also have a oven.

No student discounts are offered. As most travellers are students we have discounted the rate already.

We have a luggage room located on the ground floor, it is free of charge for people arriving before the check-in time, if you are checking out it will cost you a small fee to leave your bags. Most rooms have there own lockers where you can store stuff in your room, padlocks can be bought from our travel shop.

We can arrange a pick up for you at a small cost, please contact us. There are shuttle buses from the hostel to airports which can booked at our travel desk. and a small cost.

We have dont have payphones but some are located close to the hostel. Wifi is available and is included free of charge.

We do not offer any parking facilities as we are in central Cairns, but there are lots of Car Parking centres very close to us but it is very expensive to leave your car there over night. We would recommend that you park just outside Cairns and take public transport in if you’re driving. Please see our location page for more help.

We have nightly party events to various pubs and clubs in the local area, we also have a common room with a TV lounge and games area, WiFi in the room on selected floors, a travel shop to plan your activities in Cairns and more. Please check out our facilities page for more information.

There are no phones in the rooms but we do have a notice board which we put up any messages for guests on.

We have daily free walking tours leaving from the hostel provided. We also sell discounted tickets for many attractions and tours in our travel shop.

We have 2 washers and dryers located on the ground floor. Washing powder can be bought from the travel shop.

The minimum size for a group is 8 people, the maximum depends on our availability of the date you’re requesting but we do have the capacity to take groups of over 60 people.

Group Leader’s Name: Last name, First name
Telephone number/ E- mail:
Group’s Arrival date: dd/mm/yy
Group’s Departure date: dd/mm/yy
Number of people:

If you want to keep the rooms single sex, please let us know the number of girls and boys, so we can allocate them separately.

A group bookings is for 8 or more people. Along with fully payment being required 1 month before arrival date.

We offer private rooms; single, twin and double. We also offer four and six bed rooms.
Group allocation depends on our availabilities, but we will do our best to accommodate you as per your request.
Please remember that we have limited number of private rooms, so usually we offer them for teachers or leaders of the group.

If you want to keep all rooms private, please remember that, it might happen that you will have to book and pay for additional beds.
Reef Backpackers sells beds not rooms and we do not offer any beds for free.

You can book any time, but we would recommend you to reserve in advance, especially for a large group.

You can park a coach outside our entrance to pick up and drop off your group. However you cannot park overnight outside the hostel. There are several car parks in the local area. For more details please look at our location page or contact us.

For the groups the youngest age we accept is 10 years old. Also you have to remember that children under 16 years old can’t share rooms with other guests, so you need to book all beds in the rooms and keep them private. We will charge you for every single bed in the rooms.

We require a 25% deposit of the total amount within two weeks from placing the reservation; otherwise we will cancel the booking unless we have reached a previous agreement. The remaining 75% has to be paid at least 1 month prior to your arrival.

If you wish to cancel your booking you have to give us at least 1 month notice prior to your arrival. If you cancel after this date we cannot refund the 25% deposit.

Any changes have to be done 1 month prior to arrival; we cannot make any changes after this period.

Reef Backpackers accepts the following forms of payment: posted cheques, credit cards and bank transfers. If you are going to pay via cheque please make it payable to Reef Backpackers.
Please note that credit card is the fastest and easiest way to make payment

The total amount for accommodation does not include breakfast. We also have drink and snack vending machines if you fancy a late night snack.
Also we do not provide any Packed Lunches or dinners.

You can buy large quantities of tickets for events or tours via our travel shop please contact us before hand so we can ensure that can accommodate your request.