Sails In The Desert Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
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Yulara Dr, Ayers Rock Resort Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Red Centre, Northern Territory, Australia, 0872, 08-8957-7888
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Travel Blogs by Travelers Who Stayed at the Sails In The Desert Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Ayers Rock/Uluru... Ah huh...the big question: Is it worth the hassle and expense to get there? Well, let's see if you can understand this bizaar comment: I'm glad that we went, but if I could do it again, i probably wouldn't have bothered. Does that make sense? Or more likely, we should have stayed longer and did Alice Springs, Kings Canyon etc...but, hey, we got to see the Red Center, so not complaining! We arrived at 10:00 am and left the next day at 2:30pm, so we weren't there a long tim...
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia anita63
Ive arrived and guess what it isn't raining...though the captain did say on take off that a few showers where expected!!!! It isn't too hot about 34 which is fine for me with clouds and the occasional sun poking through. Hotel room is fabulous.......cant believe the size..........and hey prices ar'nt too bad for drinks!!! Had a walk about to the shopping center....washed some clothes (free use of washer I've got clean clothes now!!!) and had half an hour in the sun. my room looks over the poo...
Yulara, Australia gill_prior
What a laugh....a camel ride through the desert to see the sunset...didn't get much of a sunset but the camel ride was so much fun. Much better than getting a coach to see the sunset that didn't really happen!!!! Rain well I missed it last night...they had the worst thunder storm they have had for years!!!! Sound of Silence diner was canceled, sunset tours where canceled and fire brigade was called to another hotel Desert Gardens as water was coming in through the light fittings in the roof!!...
Yulara, Australia gill_prior
We saw the Rock! Of course, it's huge (350 metres above the desert plain) and in the middle of a desert and the boys weren't terribly interested. We had a very long day travelling from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock Resort (5 hours with stops) and then had to hop back on a bus for the tour of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta, another 4 hours. But on our trip from Alice Springs, Chris and I got to ride camels. A pretty weird experience but really fun, according to Chris who rode once with me and...
Ayers rock, Australia jmusters
Today I flew to the center of Australia. Despite living here for over a year, never made it to Ayers Rock. To get here I flew from Melbourne via Perth which turned out to be a great way to go if you are a sightseer like myself when flying. I can't fathom not having a window seat. Flying in to Ayers Rock, we over flew the Olgas with the Rock and Mt Connor in the distance. What's lacking more here are hotels and competition. There is a virtual monopoly on hotels. I stayed at Sails in the Deser...
Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia juicer0
The alarm went off way too early this morning...4.30am! I have to meet the guide at 5.15am to go view Ayers Rock at sunrise then do a walk around it. I wanted to climb the Rock, almost 200 feet up but unfortunately it was "closed" while I was here due to strong winds. Apparently people do die. 40 total so far. Just as well, I wouldn't want to be number 41. Today I stuck to the 11.6km trail that circumnavigates the Rock. I was surprised how many older people were walking. There were a couple ...
Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia juicer0
Greetings from Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, in the hot heart of the Australian Outback.This morning we did a guided sunrise walk around the base of Uluru. Walking on the rock is legal, but considered very insensitive to Aboriginal beliefs. So the done thing is to walk around the base, about 11 kilometers on a well trodden footpath.Seeing the colors of the rock change at sunrise is quite spectacular, and that alone may be worth the trip. That said, the walk was a character-building ...
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia peterbaird
Today Dad and I braved the curse and political incorrectness to climb Uluru [pronounced OOlaroo] with Clare our fearless guide. Ayers Rock or as it is now necessary to call it to avoid criticism and outright alienation from metropolitan Australians Uluru is probably not going to be available for climbing much longer. The native tribes who inhabit the area have control over the National Park it is in and for the time being can only close it for safety reasons. Pressure from this tribe and Aust...
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia scotf
The flight from Cooper Pedey to Uluru was our longest to date lasting just under 4 hours. A favorable wind aided us and shaved many minutes off our flight time. The terrain along this flight remained desert but the views were becoming more interesting. At the very beginning of the day we spotted a dust cloud off in the distance. This turned out to be a land train. Land trains are over sized tractor trailers towing giant double decker trailers sometimes 3 trailers long. This one was towing onl...
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia scotf
Historical Traveler Reviews of Sails In The Desert Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
A place to stay
Avoid if you can!
Service. Check-in went smoothly but from then on it was downhill. Call room service and you are always answered by an answer machine. They then call you back anything up to 20 mins later. On our second night we placed an order which still hadn't arrived over an hour later. At that point we called the duty manager and logged our complaints - he certainly got an earfull as by that point we were desperate to escape from the Sails.
Facilities. There are two restaurants within the hotel. The upmarket restaurant charged the highest prices we had seen in Australia, and we had eaten at some of the best restaurants in Sydney. So we gave that one a miss! And the buffet restaurant had no tables available when we arrived at 930pm. We ended up in an Italian cafe in the "town square" of the complex (these places are all owned by Voyages - you can charge anything back to your room). We sat for 20 mins before our order was taken. By this point we were resigned to the poor service of the whole complex. It really doesn't matter whether you are in the Sails or not, the standards are equally poor throughout.
As I said you will probably not have any choice at Uluru but to stay somewhere in this complex. My advice would be to restrict it to one night (that's certainly all you need to see one sunset and one sunrise at the Rock!) and not to waste your money on the Sails. Rather one of the 4 or 3 star hotels and don't expect too much!
Not very impressed !!
We checked in to our room and had to take our own bags up. We had a quick look around the "resort" it took about 10 mins to walk over to the "shopping centre" and have a look around (all of the shops, hotels and 1 restaurant are owned by Voyages the hotel chain) we then headed back to the hotel where we promptly fell asleep. We woke up at 10pm and rang for room service to be told that the kitchen had closed and we couldn't get anything to eat !! Now, I have stayed in 5 star hotels as the Sails in the Desert suggests that it is, and I have never had any problems getting room service at any time of day, even in 3 star hotels !!! So we had to make do with the tea and biscuits supplied in the room !! Not impressed at all !!!
The 2 restaurants in the hotel are hugely over priced, the continental breakfast alone cost $25.
Overall the hotel is nice but not the luxurious resort I was expecting and for the price that we paid I think it is shocking that they can get away with it !!
Very Tired Looking!
However, the Sails is definitely tired! At first glance you will be amazed to find this neat hotel with it's great architecture in the middle of the desert. A great treat to say the least. Upon further exploration you will indeed find the hotel very "tired" looking. The fabrics are dirty and small things like mildew growing on the bathroom tile are a turn-off. The towels are dingy as are the robes. Also note that for a five star hotel there is no turn-down service in the evening. They are short staffed which made the food service interminable, especially if you are suffering from jet-lag. Room service telephone is answered by the general operatior and one must wait for a call-back from room service staff, at their convenience. Annoying to say the least, especially after waiting 45 minutes and then had to call and remind the operator that we are still waiting to place an order. The food was creative and interesting however, but not worth the wait. I hope that management reads these reviews as it would be a terrible shame to let this neat hotel continue on its downward spiral, because it truly is a unique property in a perfect setting...
What a rip off!!!!
Uluru and Katja Tuta National Park were well worth the $25 entry fee, at first I thought it was a bit steep but then when I saw the rock and it just took my breathe away, it was well worth the money.
A truly excellent hotel
Beautiful base
Rooms were very clean and comfortable. A word of warning however, the swimming pool is shaped like 4 sails, and thus has sharp edges towards the shallow end, as I found out one early morning on a sunrise swim!!.
This is the best place to stay in Ayers Rock though.
Great Start to Honeymoon
When the front desk girl asked why we were here and we answered "Honeymoon". She decided to change our room number. Anyway, when we got to our room (bags arrived by porter shortly later) we found large, clean, comfortable, king bed and balcony over looking the pool and with a view of Uluru!! All in all the resort was more than I imagined. This is a real resort, pool, room service, restaurants, bar etc in the middle of hot red dust. To our surprise on our first day we also got a bottle of champane with a note congratulating us on our wedding! All these little things are what you expect at a 5 star hotel. We were not dissapointed. As all the other hotles (even shops in the shopping centre!) are owned by VOYAGES we found (after wandering and snooping!) that although we were staying at the "cream of the crop" all the other places seemed big, clean comfortable with fantastic amenities. YUP we would stay there again, but wold not be afraid to try any of the other hotles if we wanted to save a bit of $$
The only place to stay if you're here....
An Oasis in The Red Center
This area is so remote, and to find a hotel of this quality is remarkable. It is also so remote tht there are not enough people living around the area to provide the work force...so the staff has there own little village hidden away with dorm type housing(complete with there own bar & restaurant just for them)
The pool is nice and the food and dring for tourist is fine.
In the middle of the summer when it is 120 putside its hard for the A/C to keep up.
Also it is so dry & hot outside...any thing living is going to seek the hotel...and that inlcudes a few
insecs that simply want the humidity, shade, coolness, and WATER that you have in your room.
Also there are lots of little sparrow type birds in the pool area who boom dive the water to get a drink...Hey this is THE REAL OUTBACK after all!
This is however a 4 to 5 star hotel and the best in several hundred miles!
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