Ayers Rock Hotel Reviews
The outback pioneer hotel have a great Bar b q bar where you chose your meat/fish and cook yourself, and they also have a singer. Makes a nice relaxed night out !
The variety of tours is mind-boggling and the staff at the tour desks are not permitted to make recommendations. I took a Kings AAT hiking tour to the Olgas and an Ecotours hike around the base of Ayers Rock and enjoyed both. I recommend morning hikes during the hot season. The highlight for me was the sounds of silence dinner; a champagne reception, followed by a buffet dinner with barmundi, emu, crocodile and kangaroo (as well as beef and chicken), followed by a star show and the opportunity to gaze through telescopes (we saw Saturn and its rings). It was expensive (A$135), but worth the cost.
As mentioned by others, buy a flynet!!!! I decided to do the "Sounds of Silence Dinner" based on other travellers'' comments on this website. I originally thought is was far too expensive, but afterwards, I felt it was worth every penny (any more!). The star gazing was amazing (as long as the weather is good!). I also planned to hire a car, but found a great value pass for the Uluru shuttle service, which was not mentioned in any guides. It might have been a short-term special offer, but it works out cheaper than self-drive if for less than 2 people.
The sun was obscured by cloud during the sunrise visit to Uluru, however the spiritual experience was amazing and the guided tour of the rock was very good. Visits to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and the information centre in the resort were also worthwhile. Restaurants in the resort were good quality and value.
Australian Pacific Tours were great and very friendly co-ordinator, tour guides very knowledgable about Uluru and Kata Juta. The shuttle bus circling the Yulara village was a godsend in the intense heat. I was visiting for Xmas in Bundaberg with family and have always wanted to come to Uluru, a kind of pilgrimage to the people who believe in caring for the land and all its creatures. I would recommend going to Uluru in the winter months June/July. Visitor centre and shops all offered information on Aboriginal culture that I was particularly interested in.
The best way to get around is to rent a car. Surprising, car rentals are quite inexpensive, compared to hotel costs (I paid about AUD$50 for a day, including taxes, to rent from AVIS at the airport, which is about the same as Sydney or Melbourne area). A lot of people take bus tours, which cost a lot more.
Landscape is unusual and great. However, if you have been to Monument Valley, Zion and Brice National Park in U.S., I''d recommend that you pick another national park in Australia. The landscape a combination of the three U.S. National Parks.
Rented a car. It was expensive but loved the flexibility and freedom. Roads are very good so if you plan only Uluru and Olgas no need for extra liability coverage on car.
We took two tours - - Kata Tjuta for sunset and dinner and Anjanu for sunrise at Uluru and Aborigine talk/walk. Both were excellent. The sunset and sunrise were spectacular! The timing meant that the air was very cold for the dinner, so unfortunately we couldn''t enjoy it quite as much as we''d have otherwise. The Anjanu tour was all we''d hoped for except we would have like to have spent more time in the visitors'' center where we ate breakfast!
Don''t forget that there is a charge to enter the National Park - this applies whether you are travelling under your own steam or as part of an organised tour. We had to pay $25 each on top of our tour costs for a pass entitling us to park entry for three days. We would actually recommend hiring a car and driving yourself to the viewing points for dawn and dusk - the tour bus viewing areas get very crowded; this also gives you the freedom to explore the area at your own pace. The paths are well-marked and there always seem to be other folk around in any case. The "Sounds of Silence" dinner is well worth the extra money - we really weren''t sure about it but were very glad we did - it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to dine under the stars in the middle of a desert - don''t forget, the champagne, wine and port are all included in the cost of the meal, as is your transport, so it isn''t quite as unreasonable a price as it sounds. This said, for me, the real highlight was spotting a thorny devil in the wild - this amazing, prehistoric-looking creature sat and posed for photos for about five minutes before going on his way!
Ayers Rock and the Olgas were just amazing. We chose to rent a car and do it on our own rather than join all of the tours available. I would highly recommend doing so!! Seeing the sunrise from the Olgas was fantastic and we were happy to see that it is not as crowded there and a really unique perspective on both Ayers and the Olgas. Regarding all hikes - be sure to get out there early in the morning as trails tend to close early due to weather conditions (heat and wind). And beware of the flies!!! We were walking miles upon miles waving our arms to keep them out of our face and off our bodies (they are harmless...they don''t bite but are such a nuisance!). However, as much as that was a pain it didn''t take away from the beauty or experience of being there!!
The Sounds of Silence dinner is a must do experience. It was the highlight of my trip to the outback. Getting up at four AM to see the sunrise over Ayers Rock was a waste of sleep. It was lovely later in the day, and sunset is much lovelier.
From the resort, it''s 20 km to Uluru (a/k/a Ayers Rock) and 50 km to Kata Tutja (the Olgas). You can get there with tours, but if your time is limited, I would recommend renting a car.
Fantastic place to visit, but beware of the flies! (plenty of repellant needed). The sounds of silence dinner is a must.
Would not recommend staying at Ayers Rock for more than a night. Plenty time to see Ayers Rock and The Olgas. Recommend hiring a car to see both as not far from resort.
We loved seeing Uluru and learning about the aboriginal culture. Be sure to visit the culture center at the resort as well as the one in the park. If you have a choice, don''t make the trip in the summer. It was extremely hot and the numerous flies were very annoying. However, I recommend seeing the rock and if summer is your only chance do it anyway! (Just plan to spend the hot part of the day in the pool.)
We stayed 2 nights so we had enough time to visit Ayers Rock, The Olgas. We rent a car at the information centre. The supermarket is well supplied. The restaurant we tried was Geckos Cafe-good food and service.
Uluru Express minibus service is a good alternative for travellers who don''t want to join large coach tours of the National Park - can be arranged from Ayres Rock Resort. The Valley of the Winds Walk at The Olgas is a worthwhile addition to the more usual Ayres Rock sunrise/sunset trips.
Ayers Rock and the Olgas are truly beautiful locations. We are very glad that we had the chance to see them. We rented a vehicle and had no problems at all (even though we are from the US and had never driven a right hand vehicle on the left side of the road!!!). We were happy to have our own vehicle to allow us flexibility to travel as desired; there did seem to be plenty of tours available as well.<BR> <BR> We would highly recommend the Sounds of Silence dinner. It was a great experience and well priced for the service and quality and quantity of food and the tour narration. I would recommend it to anyone! (Our 9 year old son also greatly enjoyed it).<BR> <BR> All hotels at the resort are in a community resort area. All within 1 mile of each other and linked by roads, sidewalks and landscape. This area is served by a number of common facilities including a grocery store center with a tourist office, a number of gift shops, a post office, a bank, a photo shop, a take away food stop and a restaurant. Additionally, a library, medical facility, and a gas station are available and the resort is serviced by a police and a fire department.<BR> <BR> Much literature says that the Anangu (aboriginal ''traditional owners'' of Uluru -Ayers Rock) do not want people to climb Ayers Rock because it is sacred. This seemed strange to us because if they actually own the site, why don''t they just prohibit the climb? (Climbing is in fact prohibited at Tata Kjuju, the Olgas). Also, we spoke to one of the Anangu (we gave him a ride to get petrol for his vehicle), and he encouraged us to climb. Mixed messages.<BR> <BR> The climb is problematic at best though - the three days that we were there (December 6-9, 2003) the climb was closed; ''allegedly due to high winds, high heat, and the threat of rain''(only the high heat on day two seemed plausible). It seems like the rangers are looking for any excuse to close the climb and unless the conditions are absolutely perfect, they will. One of the staff at the resort said that the climb was discouraged by both the Anangu and the rangers more for safety reasons than for anything else. If you want to climb, try to travel there during a cool, dry, windless period and you should have a better chance.<BR> <BR> Overall - I''d recommend this trip to anyone. The 2.5 flight to/from Sydney on Qantas was nice and the view was beautiful. One warning - the Qantas gate agent at Ayers Rock airport was completely inflexible and only allowed carry on luggage weighing 7.5 kilograms per piece. This was the only time - flying 7 different flights, that anyone ever weighed my carry on. The flight was less than half full, but he would not budge - even though we told him that we had carried our luggage on at Sydney, he didn''t care.
Although it is possible to take the Uluru Express to the Rock or rent a car and take a self-guided tour, Anangu Tours with a guide from the local people is well worth the price. Discovery Eco-tours trip to the Olgas at sunset was enjoyable as was the Sounds of Silence dinner. All of the guides were very knowledgeable and the trips very informative about the area.