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4.0
#15 of 37 hotels in Darwin
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Whether you're visiting Darwin for business or pleasure, you'll love the tropical style of Mantra on the Esplanade. Offering Hotel Rooms, One, Two and Three Bedroom Apartments, all are designed to reflect the local tropical style and comfortable casual laid-back atmosphere. Apartments feature a large private balcony, fully-equipped kitchen and laundry, air-conditioning, LCD TV with Foxtel and in-house movies, iPod docking station and alarm clock and in selected apartments, a dedicated workspace offers WiFi internet (fees apply). Guests enjoy the outdoor pool, beauty salon, same day laundry service (excluding Sunday), business and secretarial services and tour desk. Situated with in the CBD and shopping precinct and in close proximity to Darwin Harbour, Darwin Entertainment Centre, Government House, Cullen Bay Marina, Wharf, Museum and Art Galleries, Mantra on the Esplanade is the perfect choice for your next Darwin getaway. This hotel does not accept cash as a payment method. Credit, debit and prepaid cards are accepted to buy goods and services.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Accor Hotels.
HOTEL STYLE
Lagoon View
Park View
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino, Ukrainian
Location
88 The Esplanade, Darwin, Northern Territory 0800 Australia
Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
2,500 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
This summary was created by AI, based on recent reviews.
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Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin offers a central location favored by many travelers for its proximity to local attractions and scenic ocean vistas. However, guests have called out the hotel for its inconsistent service and additional charges for amenities such as parking and Wi-Fi, which some reviewers believe do not reflect good value.
While the atmosphere is marred by external noise and the decor appears tired, opinions on room cleanliness vary. Travelers often criticize the dated nature of the rooms, despite their size and views.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Distressing
Rooms
Dated
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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We stayed here for five nights over the Easter 2022 long weekend. The great things about this hotel: 1) Its location is excellent. A stroll along the Esplanade, the street behind is Mitchell Street with all the restaurants, convenience stores, coffee shops, Coles supermarket 2) the carparking is underground over two levels and is only $15 per day (at time of stay). Easy to navigate the rental car into and out of 3) the swimming pool is marvellous after a long day sightseeing in 35 deg C. Our hotel room had two pool towels sensibly provided. The pool is salt water chlorinated and enough lounge chairs to sit and read 4) our room was large and comfortable. The hotel had left a pass key in the light switch near the door so we could leave the aircon running in our absence. The room has double curtains, needed to block out the strong bright morning sun 5) at time of stay, housekeeping was only provided on day 7 or at time of checkout. This worked fine for us, as we don't need daily housekeeping. The kitchen cupboard had replacement bin liners, so it was easy enough to take full bags to the garbage bins in the basement. The Coles supermarket (when it was open) provided extra supplies such as more soap, tissues, toilet paper, without us having to ask Reception staff (though they did offer).
Notes to self for our next stay: 1) phone the hotel before arrival to see if their restaurant and bar are open at all. Due to Covid-19 and lack of staff, this hotel, a 4 star, didn't have any onsite catering to offer. We obtained takeaway breakfast from Auntie's in Mitchell St and The Coffee Club each morning. Dinner was from My Friend's Kitchen or Coles supermarket 2) never take a room with a city view. The hotel looks onto three backpackers' hostels (all in Mitchell St) so they compete each night with loud DJs and live music till midnight. It's so loud we couldn't sit on our balcony. The harbour view rooms are more expensive and well worth the extra expense, just to sit on your own balcony without someone else's music (and the hostels' pool parties) 3) Darwin city restaurants and major stores such as the supermarkets are firmly shut on public holidays. Tourists are left to their own devices to find meals.
Despite the disadvantages, this is a good hotel for its location and amenities, and we'll stay here again.
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Date of stay: April 2022
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Â Always choose the harbour view rooms, never the city view rooms.
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.
This Hotel is very convenient to most places in town. Superb location. Through the back door is an alley way with Thai and other restaurants, which leads to Mitchell street which has pubs and entertainment plus Coles supermarket which is great if you have an apartment.
However, as in other's reviews, if you have a city view, be prepared to hear much noise night after night from the backpackers at the rear. May I suggest you pay the extra and get a Harbour view. We had to be moved one Sunday night due to the incredibly loud music.
The Hotel is tired and still has old leaky taps, no mixers, bathrooms need upgrading and are showing signs of age with mould appearing on tiles. It's definitely not 4 star.
Due to Covid, many luxury items had been removed from the room like cushions, blankets, cleaning stuff and lamps. They can be provided if you ask.
In the pictures they show a super spa with lots of bubbles (jacuzzi) well if you're looking for a relaxing spa after a long day, forget it, the water is cold and the jets have long ago stopped working. False advertising as we chose this hotel partly because we thought they had an operational spa. The staff were less than helpful and said no it's not a spa - well they need to upgrade their pictures.
When we booked, the agent still had the hotel advertising included breakfast. Their restaurant is currently not open due to staffing and Covid. We were offered breakfast at their other Mantra property in the city but parking is a problem so we accepted an upgrade to a one bedroom apartment.
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Date of stay: August 2020
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Â Pay the extra and book a Harbour view room/apartment to avoid the very loud noise on most nights...
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.
Response from Dave Pearson I, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 24 Aug 2020
Thanks for your valuable feedback and we hope to welcome you again soon
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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We stayed in a 1 bedroom harbourfront apartment on level 3, for 4 nights prior to a Kimberley cruise. The sunset view was spectacular, and we enjoyed a drink and dinner on our balcony. If you want a better water view, ask for level 5-7, but we were happy with our view. We really appreciated the extra space, the full kitchen and washing machine and dryer. We knew there was no daily room service and it was easy to dry our towels each day. Staff provided a clothes airer and extra blankets on request, and they were unfailingly friendly and obliging. We were able to start our cruise with clean clothes, and we appreciated cutting costs and eating healthily at breakfast and lunch, by self catering. There is a large Woolworths and a Coles supermarket both within 400m. For dinner, there were plenty of nearby restaurant options. Both the corridor on level 3 and our room looked to have been freshly painted, decorated and carpeted, and the kitchen was also quite modern. The bathroom was showing signs of age but was very functional. There were plenty of bathroom, kitchen and laundry supplies, and if we needed more we only had to ask. The pool was clean and a good temperature, although it was fairly small and had limited lounges. It was no problem to collect a pool towel from reception as we had to walk through there to get to the pool. Obviously, it pays to do your research: pay for a Harbourview room if you don’t want noise from the backpacker accommodation at the rear of the hotel. The rooms aren’t serviced daily. If this is important to you, stay elsewhere.
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
Response from Terence Lee, Other at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 25 Sept 2022
Dear impossible50 Thank you for your awesome review. We are delighted that you enjoyed your stay with us and we look forward to your return. Sincerely, Terence
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When you pay for a hotel room , particularly when it’ costs you about $1500, one thing you would at least expect when staying is the general house keeping services for your room. The hotel does not offer any general housekeeping within its packages unless we booked 7 days. When I spoke to the reception to query this the guy reception said it will cost us $35 more if requested. The hotel did not replenish the shampoos and soaps and toilet paper. We came on holidays to not worry about doing all the general housekeeping stuff and just relax but by not having these services offered within our package really put me and my partner off about the hotel. On our first night we discovered a used razor blade which was from the previous guest in the shower so housekeeping services were not thorough when cleaning the room in preparation for the next guests which was us. Reception did not offer us anything nor apologise to us for this and we found it quite concerning that when we raised this with the staff nothing was done about it.
Another thing we were quite disapointed about was the bedding. The doona/blanket they had on the bed was a sheet and the doona we requested just looked like another sheet that did not provide any comfort during the night and reception made us go down stairs to retrieve it rather than brining it to us.
Overall the location was great, but the lack of services not provided by the hotel (general housekeeping) for the amount of money we paid for staying here was very disappointing. We stayed in the same type of room (1 bedroom apartment) at the waterfront few weeks earlier and in comparing the adina vibe hotel to mantra on the esplanade the service provision at the adina vibe prevails and trumps the service provision and our experiences we had at the Mantra esplanade. We don’t think we would be choosing to stay here next time.
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Review collected in partnership with AccorHotels.com
Date of stay: December 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
Response from Dave Pearson I, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 5 Jan 2021
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your recent stay. We are sorry that your experience did not meet your expectations; please allow me to express my sincerest apologies. We want to provide a positive service experience for every customer every time; therefore, your feedback is very important to us. Please rest assured that we will re-focus our team on delivering great service and exceeding expectations. We appreciate you sharing your concerns, and it is our hope that you will give us the opportunity to provide you with a much-improved experience in the future.
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The air conditioning was not working and the rooms were hot and sticky all night. The separate bedroom had an offensive damp and musty smell. Water out of the tap at the sink was brown. Whilst the hotel is in a good location for access to the 'city centre', prospective customers should check that all facilities and services are fully operational before considering staying there.
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Review collected in partnership with AccorHotels.com
Date of stay: December 2019
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of an individual contributor 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.
Response from Dave Pearson I, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 12 Jan 2020
Thanks for your valuable feedback and please accept our apologies for the a/c issues experienced. This was caused by a compressor which suddenly failed and was unable to be repaired. A new replacement was sourced from Melbourne which has now been installed and the a/c is very cool again. We hope to welcome you again for a more comfortable stay next time. Kind regards Dave.
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Unfortunately, I booked this room before I read the other reviews on Trip Advisor. Normally I do my homework and check out the reviews before I book somewhere but I was in a hurry and thought that even if it was just ok it would only be for one night. How bad could it be?????
Im really big on first impressions and I have to say that my first thought was "this is a mistake" the reception area was pretty basic to say the least. There was no "Welcome to the Mantra Hotel" it was pretty much the man behind the desk staring at us and waiting for us to say hello. No customer service at all.
I asked for a quiet room for two reasons, firstly I was recovering from major surgery and was in a lot of pain the other reason was I had read several reviews where everyone said that the noise from the building next door was very loud. We got room 702 and I can tell you that even with my ear plugs in I could hear very loud music, we both had a terrible nights sleep.
The room was very dated, the bed was old and lumpy. The shower, bloody hell. It was in the bath! Really? Getting in and out was a scary moment for me.
I would like to say thank you to those people who placed reviews on Trip Advisor, one of the main things that was mentioned was that you need to ask for extra pillows and blankets (apparently this is due to Covid-19 which Im not sure about, other hotels we've stayed in this year all had extra pillows and blankets available). When we checked in I asked for extra and its just as well I did as we had 1 thin pillow each and only a sheet on the bed. Luckily I travel with my pillow from home so I was ok but my husband needed extras.
I need to warn everyone who has a 4WD and plan to park underneath the building. Firstly you have to pay $15 I think. Secondly if you have something like a Hilux and a roof rack, dont bother. You won't be able to fit getting into the car park. Luckily we dont have a roof rack so we just squeezed in. Once your in the car park the spots are tiny. Good luck.
Upon checking out, we weren't asked how our stay was the girl behind the desk just looked up and said "yep you're good you can go". Seriously that was it. No thank you for staying at the Mantra we hope to see you again.
This was not a good experience for us at all. We weren't made to feel welcome and I like others who have left a review on Trip Advisor will definitely not return.
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Date of stay: October 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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.
Response from Dave Pearson I, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 18 Nov 2020
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your recent stay. We're sorry you were unhappy - we'll work hard to fix the issues you experienced. Thanks for letting us know. We appreciate your sharing your concerns, and it is our hope that you will give us the opportunity to welcome you for a much-improved stay in the near future.
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Negatives: Our room was across the road from the the Youth Shack which is backpacker accommodation. Thankfully with the door closed you could block out the music that runs nearly all day and night. We could not get the TV guide up so finding what to watch was a challenge. Needed spare blanket in room for bed. Hubby and I run on two different thermostats and I was cold. Provision of dishwashing liquid, soap, no dish brush, etc was sparse, hardly any bin liners was also a problem and would encourage guests to keep things tidy. We bought our own but many wouldn't. Positives - good location for first timers to Darwin. Staff allowed us to store baggage whilst we went on a trip before our official stay with them that was greatly appreciated. Accommodation has a beautiful fresh scent when you walk in from the street which is delightful. Staff ordered a taxi for us for pickup which was appreciated. Room supplied towels for pool which we have never had which was a nice addition. Room had hairdryer and iron and ironing board provided and Wi-Fi which was good. We had a very comfortable stay whilst at the Mantra. Good value for what we paid - special. Price was usually $3000 pw and I would not pay that.
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Date of stay: August 2021
Value
Location
Service
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.
Response from Dave Pearson, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 22 Aug 2021
Thank you for your review. We’re glad that you enjoyed your stay overall and our convenient location. We appreciate you sharing your concerns, which have been shared with our operations manager who will work hard to fix the issues you have highlighted. Thanks for letting us know and sorry for the inconvenience. We appreciate your business and look forward to your return.
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My company did not book the room with concierge therefore no room cleaning for 3 days, which in normal hotel room meant no dishwashing facilities etc. Luckily there were some spare towels in the wardrobe as the couldn't dry due to the humidity. Limited breakfast options but staff offered to make eggs any way you would like. Aircon either is on or off, no way to regulate the temperature. Overall acceptable but they need to lift their service & presentation.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled on business
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.
Response from Dave Pearson I, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 3 Feb 2020
We very much appreciate your comments regarding your stay at the Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin. It is always a pleasure to receive positive and negative feedback and I will share your comments with our team and we'll work hard to fix the issues you experienced.Thank you again for sharing and we hope to welcome you back soon. Kind regards Dave.
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Came to Darwin to storm watch for 8 days. Choice of hotel was perfect for the price. It’s a little outdated but it’s in a great location within walking distance to main streets, The Waterfront, eateries, supermarket, grog shop etc. The staff were lovely and check-in and check-out were a breeze. The view from the balcony was amazing. Spacious lounge, bedroom and bathroom and all very clean. Kitchen had fridge and microwave (may have had a stove top but too many eateries to stay in and cook). Bathroom had shower over bath with a safety grab rail, as well as a washing machine, dryer and laundry sink all hidden behind a cupboard door. Large, clean swimming pool. Was advised upon arrival there was no restaurant open downstairs for food/coffee, and only room service once during our stay. However if we wanted more frequent room service to just ask them. Only complaint the cushions in lounge need a clean as they smelt and probably the lounge suite also needed a clean. Apart from that would highly recommend.
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Date of stay: February 2022
Value
Location
Service
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.
Response from Dave Pearson, General Manager at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 15 Feb 2022
We very much appreciate your comments regarding your recent stay. It’s always a pleasure to receive positive feedback and we will share your comments with our team. We hope to welcome you again soon.
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They waited until we had booked in to tell us that the bar and restaurant were permanently closed! The restaurant that was recommended was at Cullen Bay, a 40 minute walk away! Having read the reviews we decided against it. The view from the room over the sea was spectacular, especially at sunset. The hotel is fixed in the 1970's. Hot water was available in the kitchen some days and in the bathroom some days, but never both. The room is only serviced once during the week so you have to go and ask for coffee, toilet paper and bathroom products. There is only a thin sheet and cover on the bed so we had to turn the air-conditioning off or freeze all night. There was a space for the microwave at eye height, but it had been installed down by the floor which made it really hard to operate safely. Only two bath towels are supplied-no hand towels. The pool is OK but has no privacy and is open to the street. What looks like a spa pool is not and there is a notice stuck on it to let you know. There is no shower near the pool and you have to go in and out through the front hotel entrance as the doors straight from the pool used to go into the bar area. There is a whiteboard with daily recommendations. That included events that had happened two week previously but did not include things happening this week, (The cocktail festival and the Darwin Cup!). This room cost us over $700 per night and we stayed for 7 nights. That's the worst value I have ever experienced in my life. I am an Accor Gold member, but that's the last time I ever stay in an Accor Hotel.
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Date of stay: July 2022
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Â Make sure you face the sea. The rear of the hotel adjoins a very noisy street.
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.
Response from Terence Lee, Other at Mantra on the Esplanade Darwin
Responded 11 Aug 2022
Dear Five-star-critiques Thank you for your review. We deeply apologise for all the inconvenience that you experienced during your stay at Mantra on the Esplanade. I would be grateful if you could please contact me through the hotel to discuss further. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again for a much-improved experience. Sincerely, Terence
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Hi Norman, thanks for your query and for choosing to stay at Mantra on the Esplanade in November. Please note that you have booked a city view apartment and one of our team will be in touch with you soon to discuss you request. Kind regards Dave.
Yes, there are nine free unreserved parking spaces in the front of the hotel. There are multiple undercover secured parking spaces under the hotel for a fee of $15 per night.
There are more places to choose from in the Darwin area.
PRICE RANGE
S$150 - S$195 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
mantra on the esplanade hotel darwin, mantra on the esplanade darwin
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Saville Park Suites Darwin
LOCATION
AustraliaNorthern TerritoryTop EndDarwin
NUMBER OF ROOMS
204
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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