Having seen the Nomads brand at many of the cities I've travelled to I thought it was worth a try - a huge mistake on my part! The best part about the experience was the free transfer from Cairns airport (in a dodgy minibus that seems sure to fall apart any minute), and only because its so much further out of town than all the other hostels.

I booked a private room with ensuite for myself and my partner. The floor in the room was damp and smelt HORRIBLE despite our attempts to air it out during the day. Bathroom was typical backpacker quality. The room was advertised as having air-con, which it did have installed, however the staff refused to turn it on.

Moved to the YHA in town the next day - very clean and helpful staff. Highly recommend.

Haven't tried a Nomads anywhere else in the world, but its very unlikely I will after this experience. Buyer beware!

If you are going through cairns make sure you stay here! its amazing!! i stayed there for a month and had the best time... make sure you dont keep your key by your cell phone cause then you have to walk down those stairs again to get it activated, amazing staff who know how to have a good time. be sure to go down to the bar and enter into all the fun games to win awesome prizes. its a little far from where the action in the main part of cairns is but they have an awesome shuttle service that is running all day till 4am. overall nomads serpent is an awesome fun clean safe place to stay!

Arrival consisted of being picked up pronto from the airport in a speedy automobile driven by a typical Australian young dude - we all knew we'd arrived in Oz well and truly, straight away, the contrast was hilarious. We were then taken to the hostel where we collapsed in the communal area which has a chilled out vibe and a big TV and pool, so we were able to just relax and watch Inspector Morse for a while, (a small thing that made a big difference for four lazy oafs on the road).
A regular bus trip into town made living easy while we were there, and whilst we couldn't always get on board there'd always be another trip round the corner in a few minutes. The driver even helped us pick out the best place to start the night and dropped us at the door on the recommendation that his girlfriend worked behind the bar and that we should say hey!
The ultra-friendly staff helped us book an awesome barrier reef tour which we were more than happy to book through the hostel considering the great service we'd received.
On top of all this, the bar was buzzing and had good food at a variety of really decent prices.
All in all, TOO EASY

After staying a week in Nomads Cairns I would definately recommend it to fellow travellers. After the free airport pickup found out that the hostel is not really central. However it did offer a free bus every hour to drop off and collect from the centre. Really really handy as cab fare one way is somewhere between ten and 15 dollars so will add up.

Had a small onsite shop for little things but every facility you need while travelling. I booked my PADI course through recommendation of Davy and my course was just fantastic, the reef is sensational. Davy's recommendation meant I had a top notch dive company and very experienced instructor who was great.

Room I stayed in was next to the shared bathrooms but always clean and never had to wait to use but the best thing was the air conditioning in the room, was a god send and ensured always had a sound nights sleep. Next to the bar but nothing too loud. I would stay again as I intend to dive the reef again sometime in the future!!