Sails in the Desert — Hotel in Yulara

We just returned from a 2 week trip around Australia, 2 nights spent at Sails in the Desert…anything more than 2 nights and I would have needed to leave. I did not bring any of this up during our stay as it was a very short trip with very limited time and we were with our 7 year old child and we did not have the extra time to waste trying to address this…we made the most of it, but future travelers should know. If you are looking for a true 5 star resort, this is not the hotel for you. Going into this trip, knowing the very remote and outdoor focused location we were going to visit, I did select the 5 star option hoping for the best…but knowing that even if it wasn’t great at least if it’s “rated” 5 star maybe it’s actually closer to 4 stars and that would have been fine but this was not even that. Our room (211) was horrific. I had no idea that the room doors were open to the outside. We were right at ground level and the 2 inch gap under our door not only allowed red dirt to come in, but I was very nervous about what animal visitors we might encounter. Our room was covered in red dirt when we arrived. So much so that we needed to wear our clean (not hiked in) sandals around the room to the keep our socks from being ruined on the carpet. I more or less laid awake in bed for 2 nights counting down our departure. The pillows were rock solid. The bed was on wheels so it moved anytime my daughter got in or out of bed. The bathroom would have been nice if it wasn’t covered in red dirt and peeling paint. -The food was cruise ship mediocre at best. I eat some meat but in questionable places try to stick to vegetarian options…which were extremely limited. I had whatever the vegetarian “burger” is called at the main sails restaurant…it was literally a pile of mush. We tried the breakfast buffet one morning, I ate 2 bites of pancakes and had to stop. The best meal we had was at the gecko cafe for breakfast on our last morning. -I knew this was a remote location and keeping the red dirt “contained” to not be tracked around the hotel and thus into rooms would require an extreme amount of effort, but maybe something as simple as shoe “rinse” stations might help? Asking guests to leave their shoes on the tiled area of their room and not tracking them on to the carpet? I don’t know what the solution is, but the amount of wear the red dirt creates seems incredible. -I thought there would be a resort style shop for basic necessities…there is a shop, shared by the whole area of Yulara. Which was fine I was just not prepared for that experience. Having said all of this, the hotel is “fine” and you have absolutely no other choice in the area for anything high end except longitude 131, but we were traveling with our 7 year old and there are age limits so this was our best choice. We wanted to experience Uluru and I am happy we did, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to stay at a 5 star hotel, but also experience a very outdoor centric area…there are plenty of places in the US (Sedona arizona) where you can connect with nature and culture but also come back to your nice hotel. If you are visiting Uluru and usually stay at nicer hotels, this is really your only choice so just be prepared. The area itself is breathtaking and I am thankful to have experienced it, but sails in the desert was a huge disappointment. The two extremely positive experiences we had associated with the resort were -the outback night sky experience…wow. So incredible. Truly a priceless experience and memories made staring into the very very vast sky that can only be seen somewhere like Uluru. We will never forget looking up at the southern cross in the outback of australia. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and engaging. We loved being outside but there is so much opportunity in this area for a true observatory. -everyone MUST SEE wintjiri wiru. we went to the twilight experience and I can not recommend it enough. The beauty, the first class viewing platform, the show itself…we all said “ok, this made our whole trip to the...

I was torn between giving Sails in the Desert a two- or three-star rating but decided to be generous today with three stars. My two main issues are the poor value for money and some inadequately trained staff.

I stayed for two nights, checking in on 31st March. On a positive note, they were accommodating in making a room available ahead of the 3 pm check-in, which was much appreciated due to my jet lag.

Firstly, the value for money. I paid £380 per night, which is roughly AUS $760 at the time of writing this review. The rooms were average—certainly not worth £380 per night. There was a dreadful build-up of limescale in the WC, which could have been easily resolved. There were broken tiles on the patio area that had come away from the walls and had not been reinstalled. The bed linen and pillows were the type you’d expect in a £100-a-night hotel. There was no stocked minibar for drinks and snacks, nor other facilities one might expect in a "Five star hotel" charging such a high rate. I stayed in room 241.

The staff were very diverse, but I got the impression that most had not worked in hospitality for long. They lacked basic training and awareness. For example, the bar staff had no knowledge of the wines they were selling. Additionally, a number of wines on the menu were unavailable. Some staff were tentative and proactive, but the majority were, at times, unhelpful.

One evening, it rained, so I decided to order room service. The two members of staff who brought my food and glass of wine did so in the rain, leaving them wet. I appreciate that the journey from the kitchens to the rooms might be outdoors, but basic common sense suggests covering food items from the elements. I left my plate and wine glass outside the room at 08:00 on 1st April, and they were still there when I checked out on 2nd April—24 hours later.

I also ate at the hotel restaurant. Their à la carte menu closes at 17:30, which makes no sense, leaving the only option a buffet—a scrum with other guests to get to the food. I had the lamb curry for lunch, which was bland. I also had a papaya salad, which was acceptable.

The biggest issue with staff occurred during the transfer from the hotel to the airport. I was travelling on the 10:15 am flight to Cairns and was told to be in reception at 08:15, with the bus scheduled to leave at 08:30. At 08:55, I approached a member of staff who informed me there was a delay. There was another flight to Melbourne at 11:15, but this was an hour later. Due to the delay with my bus, when it finally arrived, people for the 11:15 Melbourne flight were also waiting. Because of the volume of passengers, I was denied entry onto that bus. It makes no sense for staff to allow passengers for a later flight onto a bus when mine was departing an hour sooner. The driver was abrupt and rude. I spoke to staff again, but they seemed confused and had no solution. A second bus, which I assume was the one intended for the Melbourne flight, finally picked me up at 09:15—only 30 minutes before check-in closed. This bus arrived at the airport at 09:30, leaving me just 45 minutes to check in, pass security, and board. Since it is a small terminal, this should have been possible, but the Melbourne passengers who had boarded the Cairns bus were now ahead of me in the security queue. I made my flight, but this avoidable issue caused a rushed and stressful dash to the plane.

The main takeaway for me is that the value for money is poor. If this had been a £150–200 per night hotel, I would have been more understanding. I stayed at the Four Seasons in Sydney and the Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne on the same trip and didn’t pay as much. The staff in those two hotels set the standard for what should be expected when paying a premium for a hotel stay.

My review may sound critical, but when charging a premium, the service and experience need to...

We stayed at Sails In the Desert from 27th to 30th June 2023 and despite several requests via email for a response to our negative experience over the last 2 months we received no response whatsoever. This in itself is very disappointing as I don't like writing negative reviews about my experience without first giving the Resort the opportunity to explain. I had been trying to contact someone at Sail in the Desert Resort seeking an explanation on how, after booking and paying for our stay at the resort several months in advance, we were told on arrival that there were no rooms available and that our rooms, that the resort desk acknowledged had been book, had been given to others.

In more detail, when we got to Sails in the Desert on 27 June at about 7.00 pm and attempted to book in, we were told that there were no rooms available. When pushed on this initial response we were told that flights out of Yulara had been cancelled and delayed passengers had been accommodated in ALL rooms, including ours despite our booking and full payment being made several months before. They said that they were working on trying to find us alternative accommodation and when asked where, they advised that they were not sure but it may not be at the resort. We said that this was totally unacceptable. We were again advised that they were trying their best to “find a solution” and while doing so we could have dinner, at no charge, while they looked for accommodation. Finally, about two hours later they advised us that they had managed to find two rooms at Sails remote from one another, one being a fully disabled/accessible room with only a curtain around the shower, no lid on the toilet and two queen beds. They advised that they would contact us if other rooms became available, but apparently nothing did. (because no one contacted us during our entire stay).

When we checked out on 30 June, on the copy of the receipt there was a comment written stating that “ it didn’t have any rooms and guest was furious driving from Kings Canyon waited 2 h for room” doesn’t give any satisfactory explanation for our booked and paid for rooms not being available.

In my subsequent emails, I asked the Sails management for a fuller explanation. We would have happily stayed at Kings Canyon and not have had to rush to get to Sails driving in the late afternoon/early evening if they advised that one night of our accommodation would be refunded especially when they would have known that the Jetstar flights had been cancelled and that our room was being reallocated. Was the resort obtaining payment from Jetstar for these two rooms in addition to the money we had already paid for them?? If this is the case, then we believe that it is unconscionable conduct on the Resorts part and deserves to be called out.

In respect to this last paragraph, when it looked like we would be stranded at Kings Canyon, our travel agent from NT Now made contact with Sails (voyages) explaining our potential inability to get to our rooms on 27 June because of flood waters over the road and would Sails (voyages) refund one nights accommodation in this case. She was told flatly NO and that no refund would be provided. Accordingly, as soon as the Park Rangers advised that the road to Yulara would open at 4pm, we travel the three hours in fading light with water over sections of the road to the resort in the full expectation that our rooms would be available.

This whole saga was very disappointing and Sails in the Desert saw no need for an explanation to be provided to us. No response, no explanation and no apology.

Update 13 November 2023 Despite the comment from the owner that immediate contact would be made with me to discuss our issues further, more than 4 months later still no contact made. That...