Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel — Hotel in Jabiru

Flew into Darwin, hired a car (not a 4WD) and drove across the Arnhem Highway into Kakadu National Park for a stay in Jabiru at the Kakadu Crocodile Hotel. I’m not a camper so a hotel is the option for me. The drive to Jabiru is on a good sealed road and although the monsoon was late arriving, it was still the wet season so the skies were spectacular and there was water lapping the side of the road most of the way – with the mandatory beware of crocodile signs everywhere and particuarly on the long low bridges crossing large creek crossings. There’s no hard edge to stop either, as it was very soggy – and also with crocodiles around, why would you stop! I actually saw a crocodile on the side of the road, who then slithered seamlessly into the dark pool of water at the road’s edge. It’s a few hours drive to Jabiru from Darwin. You'll see wild dingoes padding along the side of the road and gorgeous black tailed wallabies. You need a pass to enter Kakadu NP and there is a service station on the Arnhem Highway that sells passes otherwise it’s easy to do online. Arrived at the Mercure Crocodile Hotel in daylight to very high humidity and a hot day! That humidity hits you as you get out of your air conditioned car. The hotel is built in the shape of a crocodile - although you wouldn't know from the ground - and it’s a great spot to stay to do further exploring of Kakadu. The onsite Ochre Gallery has a fabulous assortment of indigenous art for purchase or just looking at. From this hotel, you can explore the northern end of Kadadu including Ubirr, Cahils Crossing (that road was closed due to water over the road) – and is famous for the crocodiles that rest on either side of the road spillway. Other places easy to reach are the Nourlangie Rock Art Site (best do that prepared with water and in the early part of the day) and the Mamukala Wetlands (the Wetlands were closed for access as water was over the road). The hotel has a good restaurant onsite serving the ubiquitous barramundi and kangaroo, as well as a bar for a drink after a day’s exploring. The restaurant does lunch as well. The barramundi was fabulous and the kangaroo was very tender, probably a bit ‘pink’ for my liking but the food was good although the service was a bit hit and miss and quite slow. One of my meals missed an element and I requested that be adjusted and a discount was applied to a final bill. Back to checkin – the parking is outside the hotel so there is a walk to rooms which are on two levels. There’s parking undercover just for Reception checkin – but I found the signage to Reception really hard to find – so ended up parking in the open and walking to Reception to check in. I had a ground floor room, the opposite side to the car park so a bit of a walk with your luggage. I’m not sure if there are lifts to the higher floor but I was happy with a ground floor room. My room had a dehumidifier running when I entered and I kept this running although you need to empty the water container fairly regularly as it doesn’t take long to fill up. There was an air conditioner that cooled effectively. The room itself was a bit tired and basic although the bed was comfortable – there’s a Nespresso machine but I didn’t use it – it looked like it needed a wash. The usual tea and coffee suspects were supplied but nothing special. The bathroom was very very tired, patched up and had a shower over a short bath with that toggle button on the bath tap that took a while to adjust to water for the overhead shower. Once you worked it out the shower was efficient and plenty of hot water. My room looked out to the pool and had chains on the sliding doors – it was too hot to sit outside so I didn’t bother with the doors. Toiletries were the large local Kakadu labelled pump bottles with a side of a few other usual hotel things. The shower caps were useless as they fell apart when you pulled them so they went in the bin. TV even for this remote part of Australia had enough channels to find the news. I had breakfast both mornings in the restaurant and the continental was adequate as a start to the day – the fruit and especially the passionfruit were amazing. There’s a full breakfast of cooked items in a bain-marie style if you are after eggs and sausages. Filled the car up in Jabiru, there’s a service station that is branded differently but under the auspices of BP – which I noticed on the eftpos machine. The maps of Kakadu National Park are easy to read but always check about road closures and accessibility for vehicles. Carry some drinking water. All the main roads are sealed. Did a day drive from Jabiru to Cooinda for the Yellow Waters Cruise. The cruise left from Cooinda because the water levels were so high that the other wharf area was under water. The Warradjan Aboriginal Culture Centre is on the way into Cooinda Lodge and worth a visit. The cruise left at 4.30 pm which meant driving back to Jabiru in the dark – the road is good but it’s dark, very dark with thunderous skies and you really need to concentrate. I was told there could be water buffalo on the roads or verges but I didn’t see any – still, just knowing puts you on heightened alert. The Yellow Waters cruise is sensational and shouldn’t be missed. This is an amazing part of Australia to visit. The Mercure Crocodile Hotel is a great base to go North or...

Part of a road trip around the top of NT was a stop in Kakadu, and specifically the massive metropolis that is Jabiru. Now, when staying in crocodile country, what better place to stay that a building constructed in the representative manner of a crocodile. Whilst I waited in that car, my wife ventured inside to check in. It wasn't until later that I entered the space that is the check in area, come shop, come art gallery. Check in quick and efficient, with quick info on best coffee in town, when the supermarket is open and how much there isn't to do around what is a very small gathering of caravan parks, a petrol station, art gallery and a few other shops ( and I do mean a few). But I digress. Car parked in one of the three round carparks (represents crocodile eggs) and a very short walk to our ground floor room. There is a first floor ( or second if you're American or cannot count properly). All rooms open onto the central courtyard - either looking at water features or another water feature, the pool. We're poor so we were in a standard room. Yep, it was standard, with a nice supportive bed, and great pillows. Look the older and more broken you get, the more a good pillow makes up for some other deficiencies. It's an old hotel, that has had a few updates, but look around and you'll see the age of the joint. It may be different in more expensive rooms, but it felt like a classic Ferrari - looks great from a distance, but it's worn out and needs a proper going over to sort the dodgy fixes, suss paint job and dodgy air con. Pillows aside (have I said, they're great pillows) the rooms are big, well, mine was. The bathroom was the old hotel shower over small bath type. With the need for a plastic suction mat in the bottom of the bath ( the same sort your nan uses to prevent slippage and mass limb fractures). And because personal hygiene requires problem solving, a shower curtain that doesn't quite close the gaps up, so water goes everywhere - especially if your my wife. The water also never really got above tepid. Which as it was bloody hot, was not a great loss. In fact, woke me up every time I had a wash. The room was built of plain blocks over painted, well some of it. For some reason the ceiling had bubbled and blistering paint. My guess was moisture - leak or poor cooling. Which may have been a reason for a dehumidifier or similar small appliance that was plugged in and rattling away whilst we stayed. At least it would have done so, if it didn't break down with flashing icons all over its control pad. And whilst we're looking up, there's a fan/light contraption that is not centrally located and works off a seperate remote to all other light controls. Feels like an addition done cheaply to help the air con, which struggled. God knows what it's like in the wet season? Plenty of power points, unlike some of the other abodes we stayed in. Sometimes, there's a "what the" moment when your on holiday, and this was when I went to the patio doors. Locked with a flip lock, then added safety chain, and a large sign that advises/tells you to keep doors locked at all times. Very reassuring to know that it's more dangerous than a walking holiday through Mexican border towns. Feels like a bit of a theme in areas travelled to in the region. Now, by reading the above you'd think I was down on the croc hotel. Nope, forget the paint, rotten skirting boards and zombie proof doors, it's a good place to stay. The restaurant was visited on one night, and although I'd read some reviews saying the buffet was awful, we choose it. Can't be certain, but it's offered when large tour groups book in. All the food was good, with the curry being an absolute stunner. As it's a buffet, you can gorge yourself until you can't stuff in anymore. I didn't rate the desserts though - bit sweet and a bit samey for my tastes. To make life just a little more relaxed, I had a cocktail - again Long Island Iced Tea wins value for money. Running out of time and words....more to say, but...

The Mercure Kakadu was a good base for a couple of nights while we explored Kakadu National Park. We had a nice room on the first floor which overlooked a very pleasant central garden area with the swimming pool at one end. The swimming pool was great - warm and plenty of sun loungers around it. It was also open until 6.30am-10pm which we appreciated as many hotels close the pool too early.||Our room was great with a nice bathroom with good toiletries. There was a lovely seating area by the window and some fabulous glossy hardback books with photos of the area to read. We would have like a socket on both sides of the bed for charging phones, etc. The lighting was very harsh but we found this a lot in Australian hotels.||The public areas of the hotel were attractive with a shop selling souvenirs and indigenous products. There was also a great art gallery and pieces by indigenous artists in the main lobby.||We found the town of Jabiru a lot more basic than expected with utilitarian like buildings and no charm. The supermarket was in a vast building and had lots of items but the food was very basic. We didn't find any place to eat so ate at the hotel. The first night we had a nice meal in the main restaurant. The food was great but the room is cavernous and not that nice. The second night we ate in the bar at the side and our food - we both had Chicken Shawarma - was almost inedible - bits of tough brown meat and very greasy. We left most of them and regretted getting one each as the portions were large. Worst meal we had on our three week trip. Which was a shame as the food in the hotel the night before was very good.||We did appreciate the proximity to Ubirr, a 30 minute drive, as we were able to view the sunset there which was marvellous. We got back before it was completely dark. There were a lot of other cars doing the same thing so we felt a little safer than if we'd been driving in isolation. ||The entrances into the hotel were odd - our room was accessed by an ugly concrete outdoor staircase doubling back on itself. It was the 'back leg of the crocodile' that the building is shaped in. We were anxious there was no secure area to leave our car. We'd been repeatedly told to stay somewhere where we could have secure parking but had no choice here. Anyone could access the parking and the hotel areas. ||We enjoyed our stay but the room was expensive for what it was. With hindsight we wished we'd stayed one night here and one night in Coolalinga as we wanted to do the Yellow River Sunrise cruise but it was too dangerous to drive the one hour to Coolalinga for the boat in the dark. We did ask at reception for advice and the man on duty showed us a video of a water buffalo on the road on his way to work at 5.30am. It was stopped and then ran in front of the car ahead of him just as the car was starting to pull off. Interesting and frightening to us - we don't have this issue in the UK! We were very grateful to him for showing us this as it was the beginning of our big road trip and it helped us make sensible driving choices the whole trip. All of the staff we encountered at the hotel were helpful...