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Reviewed 24 August 2011

We have just returned from our first family trip in four years. We were very excited when we were shown the brochure on 'the lakes resort' and looked like a great place to stay. The room /apartment was nicely appointed, however, don't stay in room 613. The bed bugs will eat you alive. I have in excess of 50 bites on my legs and torso, thankfully my wife and three kids didn't get as eaten as I did but they each have well over 10 each. The tap washers in the bathroom all need replacement (I'm sure the neighbors cringed every time we turned on the shower, the basin taps leak from the spindles and the loo leaks water down the back of the pan- constantly).
The grounds are kept in excellent condition and the pools were very tidy, pity the grounds staff don't clean the rooms, perhaps the hairs on the bathroom floor upon arrival may not have been there, and the tiles on the bathroom may not have had so much dust on them.
The food from the restaurant was well cooked and well priced however the 'two fat ladies' in the restaurant must either own the place or have been there forever as their customer skills are 'non existant', they didn't seem to want to be there on any of the occasions that we dined in the restaurant.
The reception staff were very helpful, check in was easy ( even though our room that was booked three weeks prior, wasn't ready upon arrival, only took about 3/4hr).

If this resort is really 4 star, spend the small amount extra and go 5 without the extras (beds bugs and unhappy staff).

Overall the stay wasn't too bad, I'll just be happy when my legs stop itching.
I wish I'd found this site before we booked the holiday and not when researching about the bed bugs.

Date of stay: August 2011
    • Value
    • Location
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
4  Thank BertsFindings
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.
TheLakesManagement, Manager at The Lakes Cairns, responded to this reviewResponded 29 August 2011

Dear Traveller

Thank you for providing your comments. We are very sorry that you were bitten during your stay with us and take the comment that you concluded that you were bitten by bed bugs whilst staying with us very seriously. We have had the room in which you stayed checked extensively for any signs of bed bugs. No evidence of bed bugs or lice activity is present in the room (either in any of the bedding or furniture). As bed bugs are only eradicated with treatment and we have not treated your room since your departure, we have to eliminate bed bugs from The Lakes Resort as the source of your bites and discomfort. We can assure you that no other guest staying in this room, or indeed the resort, has presented with similar issues. We have an intensive program monitoring any potential outbreak of bed bugs, and no instances have been reported or verified as this being the case. We do have a number of guests confusing bites from mosquitoes and midges, which are prevalent at times in North Queensland, but these certainly aren’t bed bugs. We would like to discuss your concerns further, and if you could please send an email to sales@visionhotelsandresorts.com with your contact details and our Resort Manager will be in contact.

The mention of bed bugs obviously causes much stress to future guests, and we are at pains to reassure guests that actual cases of bed bugs are extremely rare in any hotel or resort in North Queensland.

Regards,


The Lakes Cairns Management Team

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Reviewed 22 August 2011

On arriving we were checked in then our bags were loaded onto a buggy and we were given a lift to our apartment.
Our apartment was soooo nice! We had 3 rooms, one with en suite (which me and my fella got) which had a shower, hydrobath and a great big mirror and twin sinks. The only negative was a slight smell coming out the drain in the floor, but no biggie!

Our living area was huge and all open plan. The kitchen was fully equipped and nicer than mine at home! We had a dining area right next to glass doors that led out to the patio area which also had table and chairs. The doors and windows of this area could be fully opened. We had a little gate off our garden leading to the pool which has a a BBQ area so you can just buy your food and go have a barbie! We did this twice - fab!

We visited the restaurant just once, as we were on a month long holiday doing Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney we ate in or off the resort most nights.
Although the food in the restaurant was great, the service could have been better.

We also had a power cut whilst there, we ended up sat round the patio table with candles playing on my fella's psp for a few hours!

Overall I would highly recommend The Lakes, it was part of an unforgettable holiday and i wouldn't hesitate to go back

Date of stay: September 2010
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
Thank JemmaJ85
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 20 August 2011

We have just returned from the best holiday staying at the lakes. Everything about this resort was perfect for our holiday. We are a family of 3 with a one year old baby boy. The resort its self is amazing, so clean on the streets, gardens, pools and bbq areas and rooms. The facilties were fantastic, the amount was pools provided great choice, sand around some of the pool was great fro our wee boy and alot of older children were enjoying playing in the sand. Having the bbqs around the resort wasgreat for an easy tea, or even lunch (in your room you have everything you need for the bbq). There is a playground, tennis court, basketball hoop, restaurant, bar, spa, hair salon, shop. You name it its all there. The resort is a bit out of the main part of town, but we walked in one day (which is a great walk along the esplande) and it only took about 40min.You can get a shuttle bus which you pay for right from the hotel and home again. You can hear planes flying over, but that didn't worry us. I would be surprised if at every hotel in Cairns you didn't hear planes beacuse of the flight path that they come in on. Finally the staff at the resort were amazing!!!They were ALWAYS helpful and went the extra mile to help you out. We talked to other guests who were staying there and all of them said the same things we thought, great resort, fanatasic staff. So if you want to go somewhere to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather, we highly recommend this resort. There was also a huge range of people at the resort from families to young couples, to older couples. So I think this resort ticks all the boxes.

Room tip: We had a one bedroom apartment which looked out to a reserve. Which we love!
Date of stay: August 2011
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
Thank NZtravelbug22
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 14 August 2011

We are a family of five and after being on planes and travelling all day from Adelaide we were thankful to have finally arrived. The man who served us in the office was quite helpful in explaining how everything worked but that was where the help stopped! My children are 3,6 and 8 and there was NO offer of help in getting all our luggage to our block and up the stairs to our apartment. We were simply given a map and sent off on our way in the dark.
The 2 bedroom apartment was quite spacious and well set out with all the appliances you would expect in an apartment however, I was horrified to find that it wasn't very clean - particularly the bathroom - long black (some short!) hairs everywhere. Room was generally quite dusty and staff obvioulsy just sweep around furniture (if at all).
The room was serviced every day but the quality of the service was dependant on the staff member and/or their mood. e.g. one day we came back to find room very well cleaned and dishes that we had left in the sink had been packed in the dishwasher and cleaned. On another day we were about to go out at 9.30am when two cleaning staff knocked on our door to clean the room. I explained to them we were about to go out and could they come back in half an hour (I didn't think this was unreasonable given the time). When we came back that day the room really hadn't been cleaned, beds were simply made and the bin was emptied however the RUBBISH BAG FULL OF RUBBISH WAS LEFT SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR DINING TABLE!!!
The resort is 3 or 4 kms from central Cairns - not really an issue if you have a car (something we didn't have). We had to rely on taxi's or the shuttle bus (business hours only). Taxi fares cost about $20 either way and the shuttle bus (which should be free) was about $22 for our family of five, so it made travelling into town quite an expensive exercise everyday.
We ate in the resort restaurant only the once and wish we hadn't have bothered. We chose to eat their on our first night (having done the whole travel all day, navigate our way in the dark, lug suitcases up stairs, greeted by the dirty room, etc...) We arrived there at around 7pm. Stood at the desk at the entrance for about five minutes while the sour faced staff walked around us and ignored us (no - there was no line-up either). After we were eventually seated it took a good 20 mins for a staff member to take our order. ONE WHOLE HOUR LATER we still hadn't eaten - this is close to 8.30pm and my six year old daughter (who ordered a standard kids meal of fish and chips) was reduced to tears. When my $24 dollar steak finally arrived it had quite obviously been sitting uder a warmer for quite sometime - it had dried out and was only luke warm. I understand that it's usual practice to serve everyone's meals at once but surely a simple kids meal can be served to small children before the adults. This was our first night in this resort and I must admit it left me with a feeling of disappointment about this resort before our holiday had even really started.
The restaurant prices are quite pricely, particularly given the poor service. And to top it off, if you want to get food to take back to your room you can expect to pay the same restaurant price. I highly recommend buying your own food from a supermarket or go to one of the multitude of restaurants in the city centre (I HIGHLY recommend Adelfia, 16 Aplin Street Cairns - a greek restaurant, superb food, very family friendly and great service.)
The resort grounds are kept nice and tidy. The pool areas look lovely. However, I could barely stand to put my foot in the water it was so cold (let alone swim in it). It really was freezing!
We paid for a deluxe apartment but in no way received a deluxe service. I certainly wouldn't fork our that amount of money again to stay in this resort. It really wasn't worth it.

Date of stay: July 2011
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
2  Thank mouseyfred
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.
TheLakesManagement, Manager at The Lakes Cairns, responded to this reviewResponded 15 August 2011

Dear Traveller,

Thank you for providing feedback on your recent stay. I would like to discuss your service issues in further detail. If you wish to do this could you please send an email to sales@visionhotelsandresorts.com with your preferred contact details.

Regards,


The Lakes Cairns Management Team

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Reviewed 10 August 2011

Don't bother staying here. I have an agressive from of Arthritis and so was careful to ring this place and clearly state my needs. They do have a note of this on their file, and a note that I needed a wheelchair accessible room with access to the pool with no stairs. BUT they choose to ignore this and put us in a ground floor room (great) that is almost totally inaccessible (bad). The pavements and stairs everywhere make this place a nightmare for anyone with mobility issues. The ramp to the bistro is good, but the access door is locked and I don't think the very unhelpful staff will assist there. The pools are unaccessible to me because of stairs everywhere. The bathroom is unaccessible and I have no idea how I am suposed to clean myself. No use complaining to the admin staff who showed no interest at all. If that isn't bad enough the noise from the airport is unbelievable, and when stops noise from the bar and noisy guests kicks in. This was our first family holiday for 15 years and we have been robbed. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than stay here a minute longer.

Date of stay: August 2011
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
3  Thank MelbourneQuilter
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.
TheLakesManagement, Manager at The Lakes Cairns, responded to this reviewResponded 15 August 2011

Dear Traveller,

Thank you for posting your comments on your recent stay. We are disappointed that on this occasion we were not able to meet your requirements. We do expect that we are able to provide all our guests with a positive experience during their stay, and are disappointed when we cannot deliver this.

I do understand that our Resort Manager contacted you to try and assist where possible. Unfortunately, when it became clear of your circumstances, and that we were unable to fully assist, we certainly waived any fees for leaving early to find more suitable accommodation.

As a result of your feedback we are conducting further training with our Reservations staff to ensure that we clearly explain our facilities to all guests. We will also be reviewing the content that is provided to our external suppliers to ensure the information they are providing is correct.

If you wish to discuss your stay further please email sales@visionhotelsandresorts.com

Regards,


The Lakes Cairns Management Team

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