Cooinda Lodge Kakadu — Hotel in Kakadu

I usually review on tripadvisor, due to my last review of Cooinda lodge still posting, it doesn’t allow me to post another new review for the same place so I would have to post on google review.

Its our 3rd visits within 10 months in Cooinda lodge. The place has not much change and happy to see they reopen the mimi restaurant since COVID hits. Love the ice cream on site, that was the best in the heat over Easter holiday in NT.

Staff are helpful and friendly as past experience. We booked the family room through Accor website but somehow the reception couldn’t find our booking when arrived, the lady was helpful and we got to stay in the outback retreat tent again instead of the family room we booked which even better. Love it! Aircon in the tent, functional shared bathroom, laundry and bbq area.

The menu has changed, was not quite happy with the quality and service runs down.

We went the buffet dinner which cost $65 per head and it wasn’t worth for that outback price, the huge steam tiger prawns looks like banana prawns and tasted sad, its plain and comes with tartare and lemon only which couldn’t be more simpler. The buffalo paste was dry as it came from the desert. The grilled chicken in sauce and pavlova was nice, definitely rate for them. Fruit plate was good selection as the dragon fruit and star fruit wasnt usually seen on the buffet fruit plate. We have Accor plus membership and gets discount on dining, still, Pizza probably would be the better option.

The buffet breakfast is a ripoff, unfortunately its just a wrong timing as everyone wants some breakfast in the morning before 10am. That was Easter holiday it’s about 20 minutes in line if you want some food. The coffee machine and toaster unfortunately are in the same line, as people know, everywhere are doing entry and exit as a thing now due to covid. You would probably need a large tray to carry few cups or plates if you need to help young kids for their food. We end up have a couple of breads and bacons only as cant be bothered to get back the line again. Even it was hard to reach the coffee machine within 10 mins wait line, ask from bar, thats $5 for a cup of coffee even you just paid for the BUFFET breakfast. Children over 2 years old are charge $14.5, adult is $25 per head. We decided to get some bread and sausage from the on site store to bbq in next morning.

Apart from that poor buffet dinner and breakfast experience, we had a few meals from Barra Bar. Unfortunately that wasn’t much impressed and not much memorable besides the chips was good. One of the meal was a $42 ribeye steak, ordered as medium, 1/3 of steak was under cooked, 1/3 medium well, 1/3 of steak was all the fat, and it looks burn outside, that was the very first time we have to sent the food back to kitchen and asked replacement, but we receive nothing back till the kitchen was shut. We cant be bothered to deal with that replacement steak anymore, and I do hope the kitchen could order better quality of meat for the price the sell and put a bit more effort for the highest price food on menu. It reminds me the pub lunch deal just serve without chips.

As an Accor member, we enjoyed the benefits and happy to spent on food for dine in when stay with Accor. We understood Cooinda lodge is catalog as budget hotel in Accor, but the kitchen should have its own standard, compared it with our last trip back in Oct 2020, it was a very different experience and no intention to go back that restaurant...

We stayed for 4 nights in one of the motel style rooms. We had an excellent time! Our room was very clean and well maintained. The room was also quite spacious and had a patio with furniture. The only downside was the bathroom was not spacious - a smaller corner shower cubicle with rainfall shower head, although new and quite nice. I happen to have a personal loathing of rainfall shower heads as they make washing more difficult for me. The bed was extremely comfortable and the air con was on when we arrived, which is always appreciated.

The grounds of the resort are gorgeous - and all very flat which made it much easier for this disabled traveller.

The buffet breakfast was standard stuff, but all well prepared and fresh. Extra points for having perfectly poached eggs available.

Service from everyone was friendly and attentive. We ate in both the restaurant and the bistro and both were good. It was nice to have some better salad and fresh food options after a lengthy roadtrip through the outback where I had found myself craving fresh fruit and lightly cooked vegetables instead of chips and burgers (although both of these were available and very tasty). Bistro portions were very generous. Restaurant portions were more fine dining size, but a shared entree, a main each and a shared side was enough for dinner for us - if you're hungry definitely have three courses.

We did both the sunset and dawn yellow waters cruises. Dennis and Jess were both excellent - Dennis has a fantastic, dry sense of humour and tells great stories! From a disability access perspective, they gave me a lift on the buggy to the dock which was helpful - good to know they can if anyone travelling is a bit frail. All photos attached to this review are from the cruise. It's an extra cost but a must-do and takes off right from the resort - from home dock at the resort in wet season as the main dock is underwater. In a few weeks the take off will be a short bus trip away from the resort as the water goes.

The cruise itself was spectacular - with everything still quite wet, it was just incredible to see endless waters reflecting the sky. Even though early April is still pretty quiet for wildlife, we saw saltwater crocodiles and a lovely array of bird life! I am very sure I could happily spend months out on the water watching the seasons change.

The main pool at the resort is lovely too! It has a ramp that is a bit on the step end (pool is older than current access standards), but still easier access for me than steps.

Being in Kakadu at this time of year means that we're of course in a hot, humid and remote environment. When holidaying in the area, bring lots of water, a big hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and a lot of bug spray - you may be eaten alive regardless. I saw most tourists wearing shorts sleeves - but you are actually much better off wearing long sleeves, for both sun and bug protection. Have a look at what most tour operators are wearing - long sleeve breathable fabrics like cotton are the way :)

Highly recommend Cooinda Lodge. It's in an iconic location, the team are excellent and we finished our 4 nights happy, relaxed, energized and in awe of the incredible natural and cultural wonder...

such a great place to take the family to or have a romantic get away. some feedback but the positives far outweigh this!

we stayed in the glamping tents and it was amazing! very clean and minimal and i loved the simplicity earthy decor. this came with a queen bed which was so comfy, a bunk bed off to the side in a separate tent but still attached, a clothes rack to dry your things, towels, beach towels, kettle (tea coffee sugars hot chocolate), mini bar fridge (water bottles & small milk cartons), AC, small fold away camping stools and outside was a good sized patio with a small round table and 2 chairs with an ash tray. only thing I found was that there were a few dead bugs on the floor in the tent with the bunks but that's a given with camping/glamping i guess and it would of been nice to have a toaster and microwave in the communal kitchen area.

this type of accomodation also means sharing other facilities such as toilet, shower, laundry, kitchen etc...which were always clean and not your typical grubby camping amenities. dish soap was provided by the kitchen sink, coin operated washer with a separate laundry sink, large freezer/refrigerator, big rubbish bins and a filtered drinking fountain to fill up drink bottles. again, only thing i can say about this part would be the laundry that was left in the washer all weekend long i can only imagine how much that would stink when you finally go to open and theres the used empty toiletries left in the showers they too were also there all weekend. i don't know when or how often the communal areas are cleaned because these both would have been removed by now surely (we were there a total of 3 days).

i would suggest bringing your own drinks and snacks as the restaurant and bistro can get really pricey. we did that and only ordered dinners which was roughly $52-$58 for two people each night. in terms of taste it was okay nothing to rave about i would classify it as your typical cafeteria/pub meals. the staff are really helpful and super friendly. i would recommend the buffet breakfast which had a great selection of hot and hot foods as wells as juices teas and coffee/espresso. we had this included as part of the early yellow river criuse departure which was $99 per person on a 2 hour ride. the staff on there were very nice and knowledgeable. highly recommended but if you're after crocs then you're better off going in the dry season as there isn't many during the wet (we saw only 1 in the far distance).

playground and bbq facilities i saw but didn't use. two pools, the main one and then the smaller one near the restaurant that no one really knows about. the pools were really clean and offers a kiddies area and spa area and toilets. it would be really nice if there were shade sails over each pool as there just aren't enough shaded areas especially for families with small children. i found a lot of people dragging their chairs to the fence line on the grass as this was the only shaded areas which meant not having clear a view of the pool and children.

over all this is such an amazing place for everyone and i can only imagine it in the dry season wow! especially with all attractions being open....