Sails in the Desert

Fantastic stay at the Sails in December as part of our tour around Australia. We stayed here for a couple of nights as a base for our Uluru/Kata Tjuta trips. The room was super comfortable and spacious and would definitely book here again. We tried a couple of the free experiences which also involved students from around the area which were fantastic. Great stay. My only regret is not booking more days here and trying the restaurants. We ate out at the sunset experiences (which were amazing!)

We spent four nights there and had a great time. The property is excellent, everyone was very friendly, and everything was well thought out. It feels more like a four-star than a five-star resort. Overall, everything was amazing; however, the downside was the room service — the food was not good at all (only the room service). Also, as everything is owned by the same company, the activity prices can be quite expensive. Overall, it was a great experience.

The location of Sails in the Desert really is unbeatable — you’re right in the heart of everything, and it’s such a perfect base for exploring Uluṟu. The food was genuinely great too, and the food & beverage staff were super friendly and welcoming throughout our stay. Unfortunately, a few major issues really overshadowed the good parts. We settled our entire bill the night before check-out, only to find another $300 charged to our account after we’d already left. When we went back to sort it out, the supervisor who handled it was incredibly rude and condescending. A simple apology and refund shouldn’t be that hard. A similar thing happened with food and beverage — we were charged for extra wine we didn’t even have. Luckily we were still onsite to catch it. If you stay here, I strongly recommend keeping an eye on your bank statements. The rooms themselves are also in serious need of an update. They’re dated, a bit worn, and unfortunately both beds in our room had stains on them, which was pretty disappointing. For the price you pay, this property just isn’t hitting the standard it should. Great location, lovely restaurant team — but the overall experience needs work.

Sails in the Desert was a comfortable stay with some positives and a few downsides. The rooms were nice and very comfy, and the air-conditioning worked well, which was great in the heat. Our room even had Mortein bug spray tucked away in the cupboard, which was thoughtful given the location. However, there were a few things that could be improved. The pool isn’t heated, which was fine for us in summer, but I imagine it wouldn’t be very enjoyable in winter. Breakfast was below what I’d consider standard for a hotel like this: the options were quite limited, and there was nothing to stop flies getting onto the food sitting on the benches. Unfortunately, the food also didn’t taste as good as at other places we’ve stayed. Also it was $50 each for us which wasn’t the best. The television in our room was quite old, and there was no channel guide, which made it confusing since the channel numbers were different from what we’re used to. Despite these issues, the rooms were comfortable and the stay was still enjoyable overall.

Sails in the Desert Hotel in Uluru is located in an extraordinary and truly unique part of Australia, which is undoubtedly its strongest asset. However, the overall maintenance of the property does not fully meet expectations. The outdoor areas, particularly around the swimming pool, could be significantly better maintained and cleaner. The terrace outside the room is well designed and potentially very pleasant, but unfortunately it was not as clean or well cared for as one would hope. It is also worth noting that, due to the location, there are an extremely high number of flies, making it almost essential to wear a fly net for your head when spending time outdoors. While this is part of the environment, better management of outdoor comfort would greatly improve the experience. The hotel is family-friendly and suitable for children, which makes cleanliness even more important. It works as a base for sleeping after full days of exploration, but dining on-site is fairly average and could be improved.

We stayed at this hotel for three days, and breakfast was included. Overall, it’s a great place for this area—comfortable, well located, and good value. The rooms were clean and well kept, and the reception staff were friendly and very helpful. The only downside for me was an unpleasant sewage smell near the restaurant. It would really help if the hotel added some air fresheners or scented candles in that spot. One more note: I wouldn’t recommend visiting in December, January, or February, because there are a lot of flies around and the weather is quite hot.

We stayed here for 2 nights during our visit to the Red Centre. The room was spacious and clean. It would benefit from a fresh lick of paint at some point but otherwise we could not fault the place or the hotel staff who were friendly and efficient. We didn’t really have enough time to use the pool during our stay (too busy sight seeing) but it looked really nice. Breakfast buffet was excellent if not a little ‘pricey’ but there was plenty to choose from and we loaded up ahead of our long drive to Alice! The town square in the resort, with shops and eateries is just a 2 minute walk from the hotel. It is also a 5-10 minute walk to the nearest viewing point for the Uluru sunrise / sunset which was really convenient. |Excellent location. ||The only real ‘negative’ during our stay was the fire alarm which went off without explanation one evening and we had the pleasure of an evacuation and the arrival of a fire engine on site. Thankfully it was a false alarm and the evacuation, which took place at a reasonable hour was professionally handled by the staff on duty. ||We will recommend this hotel to our friends who are planning a similar trip to ours this year.

Nice place within the resort with a fair price-/quality relationship. The room was clean and the service always extremely helpful. We had to ask for housekeeping to tidy up our room as it hadn't been done until early afternoon. We can only recommend the great breakfast which was a highlight.

We came here with a tour and so I have no experience with the registration desk as the tour operator managed all of that. But I can say they had all of our rooms ready and no issues from any of my fellow travelers. This hotel is pretty amazing for being out in the middle of nowhere. The rooms are spacious, the beds are comfortable, and the bathrooms have showers, no tubs, but are clean and updated with all the amenities. Our room had a porch area that looked out towards the pool and the grounds were nicely kept. The pool offered food and drinks. The breakfast buffet was very good, but I wasn't as impressed with the dinner buffet. There were several free activities offered by the hotel, available for kids and adults. There are tours galore to the local hikes and evening entertainments. This hotel offers a pool with lots of seating, a gift shop, spa and tennis courts.

They know they are the only game in town, and visitors only come once. The hotel is disorganized with rude people at the reception and trainees running the restaurants. The room had gaps between the ceiling and walls, antiquated furniture and carpets, the terrace in our room was surrounded by dead plants leaving no privacy. The only efficient item was check out. Once paid the locks were changed and we could no longer enter our room to pick up stuff. Restaurant is way overpriced for what they offer.

This is a pretty nice place to home base for your excursions to the rock and other places. They have everything you need and get you to all of your appointments on time and with no fuss. The rooms are large with nice patios. Showers could have had more pressure though. They really treat you well here but I took off a star for the prices. This is our first trip to Australia so this could be normal but $70 for a dinner buffet is pretty expensive and we were honestly not to impressed with it. The lobby bar menu was really great however and would recommend that over the buffet. We were also a little disappointed in the buffet food at the Sounds of silence dinner. The entertainment was amazing and the star talk truly memorable but the food was generally just ok.

Yes, it's given 5 stars, but are you really expecting that much from a hotel in the middle of the desert? The fact is, this hotel has great beds, spacious and clean rooms, serves good food (dinner buffet is really good!), and has pretty good service! The rooms are a little dated and the bathrooms are a bit old/water doesn't run that well. The hotel is motel-style, where all of the hallways are outside, and it can actually be quite a walk to get to some of the further rooms. However, weather is almost always great here so it isn't really a problem, even if it's late at night. Basically, this is probably the best you'll get in Uluru. It's close to the national park, there's a shuttle service and there are plenty of great activities held by the hotel that lets you learn about aboriginal culture. If you're headed to Uluru for some exploration, this is a great place to stay!

Came for dinner and was surprised that the pricing was not outrageous, as implied by the hotel being the nicest in the resort. Had the soup of the day (mushroom), arancini with blue cheese (could not taste the cheese) and the chocolate cake with popcorn. The popcorn made the cake difficult to eat, as it was SO caramelised. The soup was amazing though and they're easy about spicing things up--just ask for chilli! I had their desert iced tea as well and it was delicious--not too sweet like my friends drink, but that is what she wanted. Service was a bit mixed up as my soup came out before everything else, and our server apologised but that didn't change the fact that it got cold before I was able to get anyone. Overall it took waving to get someone to come and give us our bill or take it in the end. And then they charged my card wrong but we worked it out.

My mom and I arrived at the hotel after a long flight hoping to relax from waking up at 5:00am. We arrived in a bus with a lot of other people from our flight and all of our bags were sitting in the front lobby for them to bring up to our rooms. It took around an hour and a half for us to finally be able to go to our room. I was lying in bed to calm down and catch up on my sleep but had to wait for them to drop my bag off. Normally that is not a big deal, but after an hour of waiting I called the front desk three different times trying to ask them to bring my bag up, which they said they would do, but it just kept ringing and they didn't answer. After 2 hours I just was frustrated and was going to grab my bag downstairs. When I got there the only two bags sitting there and they were my bags. I decided to grab my bags and walk them up, while the people who worked there just watched me take the bags, unknowing if I was stealing them, which I wasn't. The service here is horrible, the food is extremely overpriced, and they are just trying to scam you with the lack of other options. If you want a club sandwich for 30 dollars, you know where to go.

* Yelp in Australia! * Ok, I'm clearly behind the times and didn't realize Yelp had expanded to Australia. I've got a bit of catching up to do on my Yelping! Uluru is an amazing site. Truly amazing. The hotel accommodations nearby which are all run by the same company demonstrate why monopolies suck. Overpriced, low quality, and generally below par in almost every way. This property is basically a run-down motel charging luxury hotel prices. You do the math. But Uluru itself was an amazing site: http://www.yelp.com.au/biz_photos/guf7_kLsPUcxqCdmMPoRUg?select=_ETQgIE3aMvBrBSUfu2rCA

I use to life and work here so it's always a treat to come back as it feels like home. For all those that have been here before, if you get a chance then you really have to come back as you will see it like never before. There have been plenty of rains and the colour is POPIN. They hotel has had a refurb (about time) and is looking fantastic. Service is not so good, I think it might just be a sign of the times, when you employee kids then they aren't going to care as much as if you invest a little bit more in mature staff. With flight changes around australia and occupancy being low, pick up the phone to reservations instead of booking online as you can get it much cheaper that way due to desperation in selling the rooms. Ask for an upgrade over the phone before booking, telling them you simply won't book unless guaranteed one. Free shuttle bus still operates taking you around the resort.

Ok, will admit our expectations were based on the claims that this is a 5 star property... unfortunately when that expectation is set and not delivered, it is disappointing. Gotta give them props for doing what they do in the outback, but service was really inconsistent in the bar and restaurant, and add some really strong (bad) attitude from one front desk clerk, what could be a four star rating quickly dips to two stars. Attitude and consistency in service is easily fixed if management decided to address. Overall, the hotel is rough around the edges in need of upkeep... broken steps, visible wear and tear that is probably over a year old. Little things like no shower curtain in the room and room service not retrieving the tray for 8 hours after two calls requesting pickup. Proximity to the national park is the winner here. Just be sure to adjust your expectations to Motel 6 or Holiday Inn circa 1980. If you don't, you will likely be very disappointed as we were.

Hotel is not 5star. It's about 3.5 to 4 maximum. Very out dated like 1980's. Has a lovely entrance with a guy playing the didgeridoo and a nice welcome drink. Front of house staff didn't know if the rock was open for climbing so for a bus ride out there was $49. It may or may not be open and you just have to take your chance. We opted to get a hire car for the period we were there much easier to get around and see the things you need to see. It works out cheaper than getting the bus everywhere. We had complementary breakfast which was good not great. If you are wanting a real coffee (latte etc) costs extra. Dinner at resort is $75pp seems expensive. Didn't eat there so can't rate it. Beer and wine astronomical in cost. A six pack of beer will set you back $35. Cant get anymore than that in one go. Sure it might be dry for them up here but most typical Aussie guys like a drink or 10. A bottle of low grade wine is $40. We were lucky enough to climb the rock. It was pretty hard but well worth it. I would say once you have been once it's enough. Glad I did it and experienced it. But don't think I'll be back. Staff were friendly but resort needs to have some major renovations.

Stayed one night and found the service to be excellent and the accommodations to be very nice. We arrived early and our room was not ready but by the time we finished lunch in the bar they called and we got our room. Unfortunately, it was not the single king bed we had requested. We went back to the front desk and they found another room for us but it was not ready yet so they invited us to use our current room until the other room was ready. Nice touch. We went on our afternoon tour and upon returning checked back in at the front desk and got our new room assignment. The staff had our bags moved to the new room. Lunch at the bar was good and the staff friendly and efficient and they invited us to stay as long as we liked after we finished our chicken sandwich with great fries and a very tasty chocolate dessert. Fast checkout and the porters were extremely helpful in getting our bags stored for our morning tour and then having them ready for the bus back to the airport.

Here's the thing-- Uluru itself (Ayers Rock) is amazing. All of the "excursions"-- like Sounds of Silence, the camel rides, and Desert Awakenings-- were amazing. And the hotel itself wasn't even THAT bad on it's own. So, really, this review is for the parent company, Voyages, who owns Ayers Rock Resort, a small town/tourist area that consists of a few hotels and a smallish shopping center. So, Sails in the Desert itself. Fine. Nothing to write home about, but fine. Rooms were clean. Sheets and beds were meh. It's a stock hotel room. The price is VERY high for what you get, but when you're the only real game in town, you can gouge. The excursions, as mentioned before, are truly unforgettable. BUT...they cost about $200 a piece extra. Worth it in every way, but they're definitely pricey. Sounds of Silence, especially, is worth every penny. But the rest of the "resort"? The worst. Just the absolute worst. All three hotels have some form of restaurant attached, where breakfast will run you $30, minimum. If you want to avoid the hotel restaurants, you can go to a number of places in the little town-- there's a cafe, a restaurant called Gecko's, and a takeaway restaurant called Ayers Wok. Ayers Wok was fine-- nothing special, but fine. The other two places were just so incredibly bad. It's like they drove to Brisbane, got out of the car, and said "We'll take anyone. ANYONE. Who want's a job? Can you read? Write? Do you have hands? Are you a ball python? We don't care. Come on, we'll give you a job." I'm serious. At Geckos, we had this blonde waitress. We'd had her once before, and both times she quite literally never spoke except to say "Are you ready yet?" while flipping her notepad open. She didn't seem impatient, exactly, but rather like this was the one aspect of her job that she had the smallest clue how to execute. Both times, she didn't bring us drinks. Both times, she messed the orders up. The second time we ate there, my boyfriend wasn't getting anything to eat, but I was. When we explained this, she laughed weirdly, then walked away. At the cafe, the following conversation happened: Waitress: Is this for here or takeaway. Me: Takeaway. Waitress: Not for here? Me: That's right. Waitress: Oh, for here, got it. When my food finally came, the latte was "for here" and the sandwich was takeaway. On top of all that, both restaurants are covered in flies. This is just a reality in Yulara-- flies are EVERYWHERE. But it was still gross. The last night we were in Yulara, we couldn't handle eating at those places again, nor could we justify $30+ a head for hotel dinner. So, we went to the tiny grocery store, bought spaghetti and sauce, and made it in our hotel room using tea kettles and the sink. That's how bad everything here is-- I would rather eat spaghetti made in a hotel room sink than go to those restaurants again. Anyway-- Uluru is totally worth seeing. It's an amazing place and unlike anything else in the world. BUT, if I had to do it again? I'd cram everything into as few days as possible, and get the hell out of dodge.

We have had a partial view or the rock(Uluru) room. It has been absolutely beautiful with immaculate weather every day its hard not to sit out on the balcony and lose track of time! Its super peaceful and tranquil, making for what will be an incredibly relaxing getaway. The service has been ace, on the second day we went out and walked around the Uluru in the morning, on return our beds had been made. We then went out later for a sunset camel tour to return to our beds being made again! Upon arrival our room wasn't quite ready and we were ushered to the bar where we were offered a complimentary drink whilst we waited. The room is great, two king size beds, a lounge chair a beautifully balcony and lounge chairs makes it feel very spacious and relaxing. The bathroom is a good size, coming with lots of complementary soaps, razors and toothbrushes. Its a great option if you're coming out to see Uluru, Kata Tjuda or just getting sometime away. Its a beautiful part of the resort and really optimisms the beautiful surroundings eloquently.

I stayed here sometime ago 2 years and the service have gone backwards. I was not a fan of the new meals on offer and frozen bread I can get this from the supermarket back home I should have gone to Bali I would have gotten better service and better food. Stayed at sails in the desert resort and it's suposed to be 5 star, food on room service cold and reheated. I suggest for anyone coming here to save their money.

If you have kids, this is probably the place to stay. The resort is well organized and it is easy to charge back to your room from anywhere. The biggest attractions to Sails would be the pool and the breakfast buffet. You can eat up in the morning and head out for a day of exploring. The buffet has something for everyone. The pool is huge. It has a bar and it is the place for the kids to cool off. The rooms are okay. They are clean. But the service can be random. Some days we got hand towels, some days not, for example. While probably the nicest property here, it's not going to compare to Sydney/Melbourne properties for the price.

So we've flown all the way to Australia to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, have a great few days in Sydney including a memorable New Year's Eve and then we catch another plane and fly even further so we can experience Uluru. It should be a special event. It would be a special event if the hotel ha got our booking straight but it was not to be. Apparently we are arriving in February....oh no we're not, we're here now! So after an anxious wait we finally got a key to a room a 15:45. Not the room we had booked but at least we've got a room....not a great start and memorable but not in the way we had hoped! Happy to find a bottle of sparling wine in our room as a gift from the hotel plus 100aud reduction on our bill. Oh. And THE rock is beautiful and certainly worth visiting.

There are not a lot of choices of hotels in this area and our tour guide said this was the best hotel for the area. The staff were very friendly and helpful in the hotel and restaurant. My rating is more about the room quality - or lack of quality. The bathroom felt like we were in a hospital bathroom and the room was very stark and bland also. It was clean, so I thank them for that. The restaurant on the property is nice and we had a lovely dinner at night with lots of variety of grilled meat (to order) and nice selection of salads, vegetables and desserts.

All the hotels at Uluru fall under the same management and whether you stay at Sails or Desert or Pioneer it's all pretty much the same. Sails claims to be a five star hotel but at most I'd give it three as it does lack luxury and will remind you of a 1980s Holiday Inn.

There are only a few hotels near Ayers rock. Sails is supposed to be the nicest of the bunch, they are all owned by the same company. All the hotels, restaurants, stores, etc are located in a large circle, serviced by a free bus that takes you around the campus. There is nothing outside of the campus....I mean NOTHING. The next closest piece of civilization is a few hours away at Alice Springs. For this reason you can't expect too much from the hotels and restaurants here. My family recently spent 4 nights at Sails. The staff was friendly, the hotel was clean, the pool was nice, the air-con worked fine in the rooms, the rooms were nice enough but a bit small for a hotel in the middle of nowhere with nothing but desert surrounding it. Dining is hit or miss in the area. The breakfast buffet at Sails is very nice and well appointed. Lunch at the Sails is hit or miss, we ordered the skewer combo one day (1 skewer of Kangaroo, one or Emu, and one of Bison). We're from the States so naturally we never get to have Roo or Emu. The skewers were delivered 40 minutes later and they all looked the same. We asked the delivery waitress to tell us which skewer was from each animal. She looked at us like we were a bit crazy for asking but then said she would ask the chef. She returned a few minutes later to tell us that they have run out of Emu and Roo...all the skewers were Bison. Were we going to be informed of this without asking??? She was very nice, appologetic, and offered us another menu item free of charge. Our main waitress on the other hand was a bit of a disaster, while waiting for our skewers I asked her for a glass of their house white wine, she confirmed "white wine?" and I said yes. Five minutes later she returned with a menu to reconfirm that I said white wine, "yes" I replied as I pointed to the white wine on the menu. We waited and waited and waited, she finally returned with a glass or red wine. I said "I ordered white wine", she said "oh, white wine, sorry". I know we were both speaking English. I'm not so sure that Sails hires people with much experience. We found this issue numerous times throughout the resort, general lack of hotel and service knowledge; I can imagine it's hard to find good employees willing to live and work in the middle of knowhere! -Free wifi in the lobby only, charge for in-room use -Town square, market, and tourist center are right next door....big plus -Free shuttle to and from the airport -Great breakfast buffet -Nice pool, tiles around pool are dangerously slick...watch your kids. At the end of the day you come to Ayers to see the Uluru, not spend time at a resort. My advice- come see Uluru, don't expect much, enjoy your time, keep it short, and move on.

This is the only place to stay in the area that's worth mentioning. The rooms are clean, the pool was great, the grounds are nice, and the buffet dinner and lunch are superior. Also, traveling from the US provided the advantage of the strong US dollar exchange rate. Plan ahead and book here. It's the only little oasis in this very hot environment.

Should be nice. The rooms are fine, the swimming pool is ok, any things great in this heat. first impressions are not great. More than 50 mins just stood in a queue to check in only to be told the room isn't ready. 2 hours after arriving we get our room. This is not great with a toddler and two stressed grandparents. there is no dedicated check in desk or concierge so people arriving get there room if it's ready, but they also book tours, enquire about services, meals etc most of which is in the information pack. Staff are friendly but let down by a ridiculous checking in system. I asked for help to pick up a hire car and was sent on a wild goose chase. I met a member of staff and ranted and they took me straight to the airport...as I say staff are pretty friendly, but useless system.

Remember you are in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! When it's 100 degrees with flies in your eyes this seems like a bit of heaven close to an amazing natural wonder, Uluru. Electricity and water are local EVERYTHING else is trucked in and served by backpacker temp workers. Service in most of Australia differs from rest of world in attentiveness which may well be due to the non tipping policy. Keep your stuff off the floor and snacks SEALED or ants will carry it away. Speaking of the floor, the carpet in the room and decor is unlike anywhere else with an aboriginal river design on the walkway, sculpted lamp shades, and dot art. Very interesting and beautiful! We stayed two nites, just right. Kangaroo kebab was delicious as was breakfast buffet. Rooms must have been rehabbed since previous reviews. They had outlets: one 110 and more for charging if you had an Aussie adapter and converter. There was an iphone dock on clock radio. The room card slot inside the door controls electric and cooling and seems to prevent housekeeping while you are in the room (or while away if you leave one card in the slot). The 24 hour wifi cut out early tho. Keep telling yourself "you're not in Kansas..." And enjoy Oz!

Better lower your expectations when you get to Ayers Rock Resort. This is the best hotel on the property but I agree that it's not five star accommodations that you are led to believe on the internet brochure. Still it is way nicer than the outback pioneer, which is where we stayed the first night because sails was completely booked. When we moved from outback pioneer to sails, it was literally night and day! Bed is nice, bathroom is pretty clean and has two sinks. Room is huge. Housekeeping is spotty, not sure when they come around but I have seen them around the resort. Again, lots of bugs... you will find them everywhere but if you are ok with that, then no problem! Don't leave food out bc the ants work fast here. The hotel lobby is super nice and the wallapa lobby bar has great food. Haven't had a chance to go to illkiri yet but breakfast is included in our room rate.

i really want to give them more because they are so nice, accommodating, and the restaurant was decent. i agree with the other reviewers in that it's not a 5 star hotel. i wish they would be more honest about that. we were there for new year's evening, dinner under the stars, but the buffet was inedible. We were a party of 6 and none of us ate. i guess new year's isn't the best option for them. With all that said, going to Uluru was an unbelievable experience! Don't forget to see the art exhibition called Field of Lights. It's breathtaking!

After 4 days on a bike travelling for the Black Dog Ride I have to say I never expected this at the end of the journey. To be greeted in the carpark by the friendliest staff, to then have the same at the reception was just the most wonderful experience. The resort being quite large was an experience getting to our room based on the ground floor towards the back. Hot, tired and in need of a good shower I opened the door to find pure luxury! I heard the rumours of how nice the rooms are, I heard the rumours how nice the staff were, they are not rumours it is fact people. Cannot wait to return! Well worth the extra dollars.

My friends and I stayed overnight on March 17, 2015. We arrived at 1:30 p.m. and thought we had plenty of time to freshen up for our tour of Camels to Sound of Silence at 5:30 p.m. Unfortunately our bags weren't delivered to our room until almost 5:00 p.m. We called, inquired and complained several times on the arrival of our bags. We found out (after I walked down to the front desk) that our bags were delivered to another room (not sure if we were placed in the wrong room or our bags were in the wrong room) and it took another 15 minutes for the porter to retrieve them. We also noticed and reported that the lock was broken on our door. One of the staff members stated that it would be repaired. When we came back from our tour later that night (which was absolutely fabulous!), we noticed that the lock was never repaired (basically all of our possessions were in an unlocked room!). We promptly called the front desk and reported the lock was never repaired and that they needed to move us to another room - which they did. By the time we actually settled in from everything, it was after midnight and we had to be ready by 5:00 a.m. for the Sunrise tour. Bottom line, I wasn't impressed with the resort and there aren't many options to stay anywhere else. If this is the best out of all of the resorts, then I would hate to see what the others are like.