RAC Ningaloo Reef Resort — Hotel in Coral Bay

I have just stayed a week at Ningaloo Reef resort, four adults shared an apartment. We were on the second floor. Just so i am clear for those reading this review, the review is about the resort... not Coral Bay, that is a different review!

This is my first time at the resort, third time to Coral Bay, the resort itself is like many others have said in previous reviews, very old and tired. The "resort" "feel" is missing when referring to the buildings. The rooms are old, dated both inside and out. Furnishings within the building are ok. However when you consider what you are paying for the accommodation, it is pretty poor. The fundamentals are ok and in some cases great. For example, aircons working well was a sigh of relief, beds, linen, ok, bathroom...not "resort" standard at all. This being said the place is very clean and tidy! There appears to be plenty of staff about who on all occasions were great, very friendly (see video of crab races on Melbourne cup day), helpful and if you needed something they did their best to help you. The resort has a bar, and cafe and also a betting at the bar if that is also your thing. There is a BBQ if you want to cook your own food which we did one night (see pic). The view from our apartment was amazing and the location of the resort is the best in Coral Bay in my view. Right in front of uninterrupted beach and right beside the lookout which makes for great sunsets over water.

Would i come back to Ningaloo Reef Resort...If I did not own a caravan (where I would stay at the caravan park for a lot cheaper)... yes i would come back, apart from a backpacker hostel and and a few airbnb, there is no other options other than camp grounds... It would be great if RAC spent a few bucks updating the place... We loved our stay, made the most of it, the tired buildings did not take away from the awesome time we had, rather it makes us compare what we paid compared to other places, this place is not cheap...

Unfortunately there is very limited accommodation in Coral Bay unless you are staying on a camp site. Development in the area is thankfully restricted but this is the downside. ||The setting of the resort is lovely and it's a great place for families. Our stay there coincided with a holiday weekend so the resort was full of people with young children. We were just a bit unfortunate to be next to a family with four very young children for the duration of our stay. ||The outside of the accommodation on the ground floor has little privacy so it isn't a relaxing place to sit if there are children running up and down. However, there is plenty of space to sit out on the grass which is actually a much nicer spot. The view of the bay is lovely and it's a good place to watch the wonderful sunsets. (It's also well worth going up to the viewing point on the sand dune for the sunset.)||The rooms on the upper floor have enclosed private balconies - one of these would probably be a better choice for a couple. Alternatively, if you wish for a bit more privacy on the ground floor, maybe you could ask for a room on the end of a block.||The accommodation itself was fine - quite spacious with a big fridge freezer and decent cooking facilities. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom also a good size.||The bar was relaxed and friendly, as you'd expect. Beware of the "Happy Hour" prices - it's not too clear what's included so it's worth checking.||Just for information - the very helpful lady in the tourist office (restricted hours) told us that snorkelling in the bay wasn't good due to dead coral but she recommended some good sites not too far away. You do need to deflate your tyres and you can do this at the Ampol petrol station. The pressure gauge wasn't working when we were there but we were able to buy one in a store.||We'd also recommend the walk up to skeleton beach. A wonderful opportunity to watch the rays...

At $319.00 per night I was highly dissapointed, our booking date was 14 Feb (Hight of summer and off peak time) on arrival the driveway was dirt and very rough, our car which is quite low (in fairness) scraped the front bumper a few times. There were no parking spaces marked, just an area along the length of the units. So if your one of the later arrivals, it can be hard if not impossible to park within a comfortable distance from the room. Upon entering the roon, it was old and worn. there was an electric stove hob that was corroded away on the elements. I was the first to shower, and it had long black hairs on the base, I have cropped grey hair. we went to the bar and restaurant and the meals were quite good. returning to retire at about 9pm, we noticed the AC in the bedroom had turned off, we turned it on again and sat on the verandah for a beer and let the room cool. in short, the AC would not run longer than about 10 minutes. By about 2.30 am, we moved ourselves to the main room where we could cool and sleep. We were relocated to another room that was far newer than our previous room, but a far cry from a $300+ dollar room. The outdoor common areas were constructed mainly of pine coppers logs and very sad looking indeed. Smokers (which I am not) had 1 common area in the centre of the grounds, which was the only smoking area on site that I could see. This is a stay I would not like to endure again, and do...