Desert Gardens - A member of Novotel Hotels 4.5 stars

You cant ask for more in the middle of nowhere than a large well equipped room, restaurants, pool, close to everything in the vicinity thanks , very nice staff and so on. Recommended

My husband and I spent 1 night in this hotel in a deluxe Rock View Room in early November and were glad it was only one night. When we made the reservation we were advised that check in was 3pm, but as we had a very early flight into Uluru we were assured that this would not be a problem and that the hotel would be able to look after us until our room was ready. How wrong this advice was. We arrived at the hotel at 9.30am and were indeed told our room wasn’t ready. The gentleman on reception was not remotely interested in our request for priority to be given to preparing our room as we were only there one night. No offer of possible things to do was made. We then sat in reception and watched other people arrive and be given keys to their rooms. We again queried why our need couldn’t be prioritised when we supposedly had a superior room. Eventually we went for a walk and learnt from people we met about the free shuttle bus that ran twice a day to the Rock as well as other things to do. By this point we had missed the final trip, but if we had been advised of it on our arrival it would have certainly helped pass sometime before our room was ready. We returned to the hotel and continued to sit in reception until 2pm when we were eventually allowed to check in. When we reached our room we were impressed by it’s size, but not much else. We felt it was tired and in need of renovation. We didn’t have a problem with our room not being ready. We were fully aware that was a distinct possibility. What was disappointing was the complete lack of sympathy from the hotel staff. We felt they had a captive audience so little effort on their part was required. The Rock itself and related activities are fantastic, but don’t go expecting a great hotel and fabulous service because that certainly wasn’t our experience.

Desert Gardens Hotel We stayed in a Deluxe Rock View Room. The view was spectacular but there was nothing deluxe about the actual room. Whilst the room was spacious, the decor was dated and in need of refurbishment, The bed was uncomfortable and would benefit from a new mattress. Housekeeping standards were poor. The carpet was stained and the room looked like it needed a thorough, deep clean. There were fresh blood stains on the edge of the bed sheet, it appeared as though the bed had been made by someone with a bleeding finger. From the moment the reservation was made, I was subjected to regular, hard sell marketing efforts from the parent company, Voyages. Unfortunately, I succumbed and booked a Field of Light Uluru Dinner and a Sunrise Journeys Breakfast. Those “experiences” are worthy of dedicated reviews that I will post under the respective locations. Having ignored the marketing emails trying to pressure me into purchasing Hop On Hop Off Bus tickets that cost $170 per person for a 2 day ticket, I then received a phone call from Voyages. The claimed “flexibility” of these tickets was false because in addition to advance purchasing of the tickets, I was also informed that I needed to book seats on the specific buses that I wanted to travel on before I had even arrived at the Uluru. Further enquiries revealed that we were able to hire a car for a similar cost to the bus tickets for 2 adults. Voyages appears to monopolise most of the infrastructure at Uluru and once they had my reservation, they pursued me in an attempt to ensure that our money didn’t venture beyond their network.

I have mixed feelings about Desert Gardens Hotel. We loved exploring the Uluru area, understanding more about the Anangu and their connection to this incredible piece of the earth. But at the same time the hotel really wasn't good enough for the price they charge. Our room was supposed to be premium, with an amazing view of Uluru. Yes you could see Uluru, but between the room and the red semi arid land of the Anangu was a very busy road, and a building site. The hotel claims it informed the agents about the building work, which we can neither prove or disprove, and we know the agents didn't pass on any dietary or allergy information, so it may be possible the hotel told them. But under no circumstances can our room be described as premium due to its proximity to the road. Basically the main entrance to the resort is right in front of the window, and the pick up and delivery area is right outside the room's door. So from 4am to midnight there is constant traffic movement of large coaches, mini vans, lorries, the resort shuttle and cars. You get the full cacophony of reversing beeps, revving engines and diesel coaches. We were in 384, and that block of 8 or 12 rooms is basically a roundabout. So if the hotel puts you in one of those rooms and tries to tell you its premium, they are being very very economical with the truth. Sadly it took 2 days to discover the noise, as we had a late return from our first tour on our first night and a very early start the next morning. It wasn't until we wanted an early night after a 4am start that we realised how noisy the room was, and then our supposed sleep in the next morning was disturbed from 4am onwards. To be fair to the hotel, they did offer to move us, but the hassle of moving for just one night seemed more than the noise factor. What I made clear to the manager was they should never have put us in that room, in actual fact that room block should not be sold to anyone who actually wants sleep. And the option to move rooms in high season simply won't exist. In terms of the actual facilities for the hotel, they are ok. The room was a decent size, the resident gecko was friendly. The bathroom was tired, there was a fridge kettle, hairdryer and coffee machine. But the full width window and balcony overlooked the road. The wifi was patchy, as it is across the whole resort. The bar and breakfast were pretty good. We didn't eat dinner or lunch at the hotel. The pool is pretty small for a large hotel, and often full of kids, so not a relaxing place, but nice temperature when you went in. It looked like there was a pool bar, but it wasn't open when we were staying. Like a lot of the facilities bits are falling off, so the pool shower didn't work. There were some surprising maintenance decisions by the managers. They had a staff member jet washing the pathways, yet hadn't dealt with the litter in the gardens, or the piles of leaves gathering at some of the doors and steps. I was disappointed with the reception staff who seemed unaware and unconnected to the wider resort and the local area. I've found this before at Accor hotels, with receptionists seemly unaware of the place they are in. Such a shame. We wanted to know about a potential trip to Kings Canyon, and when we asked reception (when they were very quiet) they wanted us to go to the main information centre to find out more, and didn't even really want to make a quick phone call to find out availability. It definitely felt like the reception team hadn't explored the amazing Uluru offering as part of their training. The two photos I've attached are from the same view, one zoomed in to show Uluru and one showing the reality with the road and building work. All in all I've given the hotel 2 stars, because I'm still incredibly angry that the hotel feels they can sell a room as premium, when its surrounded by road noise, in a location that sells itself wirh the strapline 'touch the silence'. But Uluru is well worth visiting and I think other room options and hotel options may offer a better night's sleep.

I wouldn't class this as a 4 star hotel. It was OK but a bit ragged round the edges. Only stayed 1 night so was OK for a stopover. Bed was ok, wifi worked eventually & the bathroom was jaded & stained ( with a notice saying it was because of the high mineral content )