Bit nervous before we arrived as the reviews for this hotel had been a bit mixed but we found the hotel to be clean and spacious.

As others have noted, the Desert Gardens is in the middle of a complex of hotels with no competitors and as you would expect is not cheap - I would say that prices are on a par with 3* hotels in Sydney and Brisbane.

Easy to get to - we flew to Uluru and buses take you from there straight to the hotel. Checking in can be a bit slow due to the number of people all arriving at once but the staff are pleasant enough.

During your stay you can eat in any of the hotels in the complex and a free shuttle bus is provided to get around - we ate in the Desert Gardens and Lost Camel which were fine. There is a supermarket - again its a monopoly so don't expect rock bottom prices.

No the hotel's fault but don't do Uluru if you have a problem with flies - they don't bite but they are everywhere.

I stayed at the Desert Gardens for three nights in March 2008. I had booked the room in November 07 and the cost was AUD$224 a night for a deluxe room which had a view of Uluru. Considering I was in the middle of no where, I think the price of the room was good and I was very impressed by the room standard. Check-in was at 3pm, and if you arrive earlier the porter will store your bags and deliver them to your room when you have checked in.

The room itself was large, there was a king sized bed, a two seater couch and a small table with two chairs. Tea and coffee making were available (rinse your kettle out well because of the bore water) and there was a small mini bar, with overpriced goods (as is the case everywhere). There was a TV with only 5 channels, SBS, ABC1, 7Qld, 9NT and CNN. Considering the amount of foreign tourists around I would have expected a couple of foreign language channels. The bathroom was very clean and the supplied toiletries were very good quality. Keep in mind all the water comes from a bore (the Great Artesian Basin) so don't expect top quality drinking water out of the tap.

The view from the balcony was as good as I could have asked for, Uluru in the distance was very impressive. A walk around the complex turned up Sand Goanna's, rabbits, native birds and a variety of unusual insects. The pool looked very refreshing and the water was very clean and quite warm.

Prices were high, but not to the extreme that I was expecting after reading other people's reviews. $3.50 for a 600ml bottle of water is high, but if you're doing any of the tours (I did two AAT Kings tours) all of the buses carry ice cold drinking water and you can refill you bottles at any time for free. In the resort there was an IGA supermarket, deli, restaurant, tour counters, information, souviner shops, newsagent, hair dresser, post office and ATMs. The supermarket is the pick for any goods you might need. Everything costs a little bit more as it has to be trucked/flow in.

One of the great things about the Desert Gardens was that it was the first stop on the bus to pick up people going on tours and the first drop off point on return to the hotels.

There is a free shuttle bus which stops at all the hotels, camp ground and the camel farm. The shuttle departs every 20 minutes from the hotel. The tours were extremely well organized and very informative. I did two tours with AAT Kings, an Uluru Sunrise tour which departed at 5.30am and a Kata Tjuta tour which left at 3.00pm and included a BBQ dinner which was excellent. I also had the "sounds of silence" dinner which was also excellent. The climb up Uluru was closed because of high winds and a tour guide informed me that it's close quite often for a variety of reasons. She said it was closed for about 200 days of the year.

For anyone who's a bit tight on money the Voyages camp ground looked very comfortable, and the shuttle bus stopped there too. Because Voyages own the whole resort you're welcome to use any of the pools or restaurants at any of the hotels. Petrol at the service station was about 15 cents a litre more than you'd pay in a capital city.

Overall I was very impressed with the whole resort and didn't feel "ripped-off" like other people or that they "had me by the sort and curlys". I expected to pay a bit more for food and the like and was not shocked.

We stayed here for 2 nights as part of a 3 day tour package with AAT Kings to see Uluru and the surrounding area.

I think enough has been said by most previous reviewers - it's a Voyages complex in the middle of nowhere and, on that basis, you know that you are a captive audience and that you cannot spend your money anywhere else!

On the one hand, we think it's amazing what Voyages has created here in the middle of nowhere. There's a really good stocked supermarket and, yes, it's a bit expensive, but what do you expect when the food has to be brought in by road train and plane.

The walk to the supermarket is certainly worth the opportunity to pay a cheaper price for bottled water. The bottled water at the Desert Gardens hotel was almost twice as expensive when compared with the price at the supermarket. We thought this was taking things a little too far!

Our room was clean and fresh and decorated alright. Nothing special, but functional, which is what we wanted. No view of Uluru, but five steps outside the room over the sand dune and you couldn't miss it!

On the other hand, the cost of Desert Gardens was not comparable to the standard of accommodation and it was very expensive per night compared with equivalent places we have been, such as on safari in Africa.

The pool was a nice relief from the oppressive heat, but not enough sunbeds and chairs.

There were a few restaurants, but the most cost effective option was the Ghekko cafe or DIY from the supermarket, both of which we did.

AAT Kings were very organised and we were really impressed with their guides and the safety precautions they took when walking us around the sights.

Glad we visited Uluru and the area, but probably wouldn't choose to go back. If we did and money was no issue, then we would stay at Longitude 131. For basic comfort, Desert Gardens was fine.

In the desert, near Uluru, there is a small area containing several hotels all run by the Voyages Group. There is no competition from other groups and we came away with the strong feeling that they've got you by the short & curlies and the place is not price competitive nor did we experience good customer relations.
The staff from the moment we were delivered into reception, didn't show any urgency to deal with a bus load of customers - one person on reception taking their time checking in everyone.
All this, in tremendous heat - the area was poorly air conditioned - and irritated by flies.
Then directions to rooms were given and these were up and down several sets of steps - some ramps by not all.

our experience throughout the resort was that customer service was lacking - you are a captive audience. And felt a might ripped off too.
The hotel had a nice pool, but no bar service anywhere to be seen - when in heat of over 40 degrees - I think they could have done some business here!
On check out day baggage had to be out of room by 10am and a room to shower & change in would be provided, but there was only one room and a long queue to use it - the bus came before we got in there!
And finally, the FLIES !!! oh we were so glad to get out of this place.