Darwin: The Cavenagh (Hotel)

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Address: 12 cavenagh st , Darwin , Australia
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Lonely Planet review

This converted '80s motel features stylish doubles and decent dorms convening around an enormous central pool. It's an informal, sociable kinda joint with a perpetual pool-party atmosphere and a rowdy on-site bar. The restaurant serves good-value meals if you want to line your stomach before your first drink.

Popular with touring rock bands and backpackers alike, The Cavenagh has palm fronds, beer taps and banana lounges aplenty. When the sun's shining, residents adopt an easygoing Californian state-of-mind - good-looking brown bods linger by the pool, caught in a palpable undercurrent of possibilities. It's all very Melrose Place! Take your pick of small or large poolside dorms in the old motel rooms, or pay a bit extra for a schmick, boutique double in the newly renovated complex next door (think daring colour schemes, flat-screen TVs and generously tiled bathrooms). The new doubles are well insulated from the bar hubbub, which, if rugby is screening, can approach improbable volumes. The bar assumes check-in duties after reception closes in the late afternoon.