Having read a lot of reports on Trip Advisor we came here with some concerns, but also forewarned. However, we came anyway because we wanted to visit Ayres Rock, and this was the best hotel available. I don’t think the hotel is as bad as some people make out.

This is a four-star, but it not up to the normal standard you would expect. The best comment is that it is very tired. The carpets were in poor state, as were the furnishings and bathroom, but it was clean, and we came for the Rock itself, not to sit around in the hotel.

The staff were friendly and helpful, although you got the impression they were used to being complained at!

I would not have missed the experience for the world, and we only stayed here two nights packing everything in to that time, and it was fine. We had a snack in the hotel bar on arrival which was good-enough, we ate in the café on the Town Square in the evening, which could have been better. The second day we had a snack breakfast at dawn near the Rock before going on a base tour (great), but that evening we went to the Sounds of Silence dinner in the Dessert – fantastic! We had expected to get a glass of bubbles and a few snacks while we watched the sun go down. Not a bit of it, there was a plentiful supply of reasonable sparkling wine and plenty of canapés. The experience was superb, and then we went down to dinner area, which had been hidden from our view up until then. There were tables of 10 set out in the sand with immaculate white table cloths. We had expected not much better than an average barbecue, but the food was excellent, the service was superb and the talk on the stars great and the wine flowed. We had a superb evening.

Yes, the hotel room was not great, but so what – the two days were superb! Plus there are clear signs that they are starting to do the place up.

It was with a bit of disappointment that we entered our spa room, we were thinking that we'd get a bit more bang for our buck. It was pretty much just your average motel room. But it seemed clean enough. So straight to the outside deck to inspect the outdoor spa bath...oh...oh dear... it was the worlds smallest spa bath. More like a deep pot. And that night when sitting in it, the water definately smelled like something had died in it. We had no TV, no movies, just a bit of fuzzy snow here and there, and one blue screen, but on complaining to the front desk, we were given a complimentary drink each. The staff were very friendly and accommodating, although on ordering some nuggets to be delivered to the restaurant (no children's menu, and they said they don't usually do that but considering our TV status they'd make an exception) and waiting for an hour and re-ordering them again, we were presented with a burnt schnitzel. The restaurant food was pretty average for the price. The waiter in the restaurant was awesome, but the bar staff seemed a little stuffy and were slow. The guy singing in the bar was HILARIOUS, tho not in a good way when he's ripping up some of your fave classics. On making the beds the next morning we noticed a slight ant problem.. DO NOT leave cushions on the floor then put them on the bed unless you like ants a lot. But housekeeping cleaned it up when we were out and about.

I'd highly recommend a swim at night time under the stars, it's just lovely and there's some cute little bunnies that hop around on the lawn surrounding the pool. The artist at the resort (I think they change them around regularly) was just lovely, had some exquisite silk scarves, one of which I purchased to wrap around my butt as a sarong (sorry Helga, I knew that must've killed you). They held an art session for children one morning, which was great.

This place is most certainly overpriced and is no way near five star, but spending time with the people that you love in such an AWESOME landscape kind of makes it worth it. You rock Ayers Rock!

TAKE FLY REPELLENT

We had booked a bus transfer from Alice Springs and had chosen to stay one night at Sails - prior to checking in at Longitude 131 on 10th August – which was a special occasion we were celebrating. After viewing the website we had opted for a Deluxe Spa Room – to fully enjoy this occasion. The rate being charged led us to believe that the room would be of a very high standard.

But sadly this was not the case at all – and in fact Sails in the Desert now stands out in our memory as one of the worst rooms we have stayed in for many years. Despite the fact we had booked a “deluxe spa unit” I challenge the management to inspect room 215 and justify how this room meets that criteria.

After a long wait at reception – we took our long walk to our room towing our luggage with us – there was no assistance with luggage or finding room – we strolled along corridors and were dismayed to see papers and other assorted debris littering the walkway areas.

On entering the room we were shocked to see the general condition of the room was aged and grubby. and no replacement room was offered.

To be fair, on returning to Melbourne, we raised our complaints by submitting a feedback outlining our disappointment with the room, the service etc. and were immediately contact by the manager, who apologized profusely, explained the hotel was now under new management and would be upgraded, and fully refunded the cost of the accommodation.

It is a shame that in such a lovely setting, that the resort has been allowed to run down, but hopefully the new management will upgrade and establish this resort as a quality tourist destination.

he hotel is very nice, but not a five star hotel! This hotel is the top range of a resort that appear to be managed by the same conglomerate. All hotels on this resort are booked by the same central booking office on site. We have tried the less pricey hotels - there were no rooms available - we were given the single option to book the Sails in the Desert which is the most expensive hotel on site. Upon arrival we found out that rooms were available at other hotels on the resort.

We requested a non smoking room. I am quite allergic to cigarette smoke. ALthough all rooms were supposedly non smoking, this room reeked of cigarette smoke. We were there for 3 days and were told another room would avail itself on the last day of our trip to Ayers Rock. We had to open our patio door and stay put until the odors dissipated. We wasted our time doing time.

The superior room was spacious, the beds comfortable, the bathroom impeccable. The carpet was very dirty and needed to be repaired. We had red ants all over the room. A insect spray was provided in the rooms and we were told to use it. Our luggage was full of ants when we arrived at our other destination. Not very pleasant. Should have booked a camping ground!

Double charges for the same services were shown on our credit cards. Quick in acknowledging receipt of the complaint and despite the fact that documents were sent electronically to support the double charge claim - no further attention is paid to our inquiry.
The web site for the hotel is very complex and finding the address to place a complaint is difficult and the site is not user friendly.

The restaurants are overly priced for the quality of food being offered and the service in the restaurants is far from being adequate. We were offered a seat in an empty restaurant after waiting 10 minutes to be seated. Then another 20 minutes wait for the menus to arrive! The food was mediocre at best.

The staff at the reception are pleasant, friendly and attentive to your needs - the solutions presented to solve issues are less effective.

The grounds were ill kept at this hotel. However grounds were ill kept all over in this resort community. There is no competition in this area as there is a single resort managed by the same individuals and the staff is assigned from one hotel to the other. As there is no competition, nobody cares. The monopoly on the lodging facilities gives you no other choices but to stay there.

The place is ill managed and the client service orientation requires some serious revisiting. I have travelled in 60 different countries mostly in 5 star hotels. Sails in the Desert is no more than a 3 star hotel.

Would go bak to Ayers Rock despite the 25+ hours it takes to get there because of the beauty of the site and the tranquility - but the lodging facilities are such that I am not tempted to return. MIght as well rent a motorhome for a few days than stay at this resort.