By Antoinette Milienos,Editor

Copyright dailymail

READ MORE: New travel warning for Aussies headed to Bali

By ANTOINETTE MILIENOS, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 06:01 BST, 18 September 2025 | Updated: 07:20 BST, 18 September 2025

A holidaymaker was left disgusted after claiming to have discovered black mould covering the ceiling of his apartment.

Ethan Thomas, who runs a hair salon at The Entrance on NSW’s Central Coast, had been excited about his small getaway to Cairns in Far North Queensland.

Mr Thomas booked a seven-day stay at 181 The Esplanade Cairns through the third-party accommodation website Booking.com for $1,700.

He explained that when he went to check in, nobody was at the reception desk and there was a note advising him to ring a number.

A woman then appeared at reception and handed him a key to his apartment.

Mr Thomas said that everything initially looked ‘fine and great’ when he first entered the apartment.

However, things quickly turned south when he went to use the bathroom, claiming he instantly smelled mould when he opened the toilet door.

‘I went to go to the toilet. As soon as I opened the door, all I could smell was mould,’ Mr Thomas said.

Ethan Thomas, who runs a hair salon at The Entrance on NSW ‘s Central Coast, had been excited about his small getaway to Cairns in Far North Queensland .

Mr Thomas shared pictures showing mould covering the ceiling of the apartment he was staying at while on holiday in Cairns

He shared photos of the ceiling, pointing out the ‘black mould’.

Mr Thomas added not only was the mould covering the bathroom ceiling, but it was also in the bedrooms and had even made its way to a lampshade in the living room.

‘That is the ceiling of the shower. Look at it – all that black mould – and that is what I could smell as soon as I opened the door,’ he said.

‘Not only was it in the bathroom, but it was in the main bedroom. The smell, I just can’t get it out of my nose.

‘It even made its way to the living room on the lamp shade. Every single vent looked like it had never been cleaned. Ceiling of the second bedroom, mould. Everywhere.’

Mr Thomas said he tried to find himself another place to stay, but claimed ‘there was nothing available’ as accommodation was booked out due to a festival being on at the same time.

When he returned home from his trip, Mr Thomas immediately visited the doctor, claiming he was feeling unwell.

‘I got home and I got sick. So I went to the doctor and I had a sinus infection. I was on all these antibiotics for like five days to a week,’ he said.

Mr Thomas had booked an apartment at 181 The Esplanade Cairns (pictured) for a week-long stay for $1,700

Mr Thomas snapped a photo of the ceiling above the shower, which showed the area completely covered in black mould

A 181 The Esplanade Cairns spokesman told Daily Mail they were made aware of Mr Thomas’ concerns after he had checked out.

‘We are addressing this matter promptly following receipt of the complaint,’ he said.

However, Mr Thomas told Daily Mail he has yet to hear from 181 The Esplanade after reaching out to Booking.com.

‘I still haven’t heard anything from 181 The Esplanade. In the meantime, I reached out to Booking.com’s customer service to investigate,’ he said.

‘They asked me to upload some documentation and photos, and they’ll get back to me in about 48 hours.

‘I’m not too hopeful since 181 the Esplanade hasn’t responded yet.’

The 181 The Esplanade Cairns is rated ‘very good’ with an overall average of eight out of ten from 716 guest reviews on Booking.com.

Social media users were outraged at the condition of the apartment, with many claiming Thomas should be refunded for his stay.

Mr Thomas added the mould had spread from the bedroom and bathroom ceilings all the way to a lamp shade in the apartment’s living room

The hairdresser also showed a picture of a vent in the apartment, claiming it looked as though it had ‘never been cleaned’

While many explained mould was a prevalent issue in Cairns due to the humidity, they added the level of mould in the apartment was unacceptable.

‘Lived in Cairns my whole life and whilst mould is something we deal with, THIS ain’t normal – get your refund,’ one wrote.

‘As someone who lives in Cairns and has worked in hospitality , that is abhorrent, unacceptable,’ a second commented.

‘I live in Cairns. It does get mouldy easily because of the humidity and rain, but thats so gross!’ a third chimed.

Others defended 181 The Esplanade Cairns, claiming they have had no issues when staying at one of the apartments.

‘Oh wow!!! We literally stayed there this weekend. We were in room 31 and it was so nice. Sorry you had a bad experience,’ one wrote.

‘I’ve stayed there twice now and have never had issues. The managers are lovely and both the rooms we had were clean,’ another explained.

‘From my understanding, they are all individually owned apartments that are rented as holiday rentals, so maybe you got a bad one.’

Share or comment on this article:
I was looking forward to my week-long holiday at Cairns… then I made a horrifying discovery in my apartment

Add comment