Royal Palm Villas

Rude, incompetent staff, uncomfortable beds and no sound proofing on rooms. Just a few of the reasons you should not stay here. I’m fortunate to travel regularly, and having the basics right is more than enough for me but Royal Palm Villas Cairns missed them all, and is likely to be the worst accommodation I have stayed in. All information I was provided with says check-in from 14.00. We arrived at 14.05 to find no staff. A sign at reception says we’re likely out back or upstairs and to call the number. I call and they’re not even on the property. We need to wait 10 minutes for them to get here. Not want you want after travelling. Once the lady arrives, she looks up my booking. She finds it easily but is determined I haven’t paid, despite all of my receipts and emails from ********** stating I have. After some time she calls another manager and fortunately all is sorted, but being treated like a liar is poor customer service. She then asks for a credit card to put against the booking for any incidentals, standard practice and I hand it over. However rather than any secure procedure to do so, she takes a picture of my card on her phone. Needless to say that card has now been cancelled with the bank. The check-in process is complete and she shows me to my room. A quick inspection reveals 1 double bed to sleep 2 adults. The booking is for and always has been for 3 adults. She informs me they don’t usually accept bookings for more than 2. She has a think and says she can provide a rollaway bed. There isn’t one on sight but she’ll bring one later, along with sheets and a third towel. Fine. After arriving back at the apartment after exploring Cairns, the bed is there, but no third towel. I again call and will be told one will be provided when they visit the site in a few hours. I’m hot and sweaty and this is not a great experience given that I’d like to cool off in the shower. I set up the bed to discover an almost paper thin mattress. The most uncomfortable bed imaginable, you can feel every bit of metal in the frame below. I took to sleeping on the sofa, which although significantly more comfortable was not designed for a 6’3” man. We discover more and more issues with the room. The blinds are old and broken with some slats missing, meaning the morning light was not blocked out from the room. The bathroom door does not close, and if we attempt to move it the door jams and gets stuck and doesn’t slide along. There’s absolutely no soundproofing in the rooms, you can hear every noise from neighbouring apartments, think kids screaming, doors slamming and chairs moving, along with the noise of pipes every time another apartment uses water. There goes the little sleep I was hoping to get on the sofa. The room is also in need of a deep clean, the level of dust and filth built up on the air conditioning unit is repulsive. Any one of these things could be looked over, but when confronted with this many issues and rude staff, this makes the Royal Palm Vil