Botanic Gardens Apartments

Ageing brick building but free BBQ's around the pool area.very tight parking, especially for larger cars which are the norm in Darwin.

Clean apartment friendly owner will stay again when in Darwin

After an excellent Lonely Planet review we were expecting good things from our week-long stay in a one bedroom apartment at $159 a night (50% off the usual price as it was low season). The apartment itself was fine though the bedroom was small and dark and the furnishings are very dated. The spacious balcony was probably the highlight. However, all the appliances were very old and desperately need replacing. Old electric coil stove, ineffective (and dirty) dishwasher, very old fridge with perished seals (so ineffective in the hot weather that our milk curdled after two days), DVD player didn't work and the much-needed bedroom air conditioner was extremely old, loud and rattly. Very limited crockery and cutlery was provided (only enough for one meal for two people) and no serving dishes. None of the 3 BBQs in the grounds worked during our stay (despite reporting this to reception). There are no recycling facilities and we were told to put all glass and plastic bottles in the regular rubbish bins. The apartments are only cleaned once a week. Tiled stairs up to the apartments are dangerously slippery during the wet season. Reception service was generally helpful but very disappointing when it came to advising us about the cyclone warning present for Darwin during our stay.

We liked the setting quite a lot. We booked through wotif, so the price was right. The rooms are very generous. The furniture/tv/kitchen were all tidy and clean, and a bit on the old side. Our two kids (3 and 9) were in the pools most of the time, before we discovered Leanyer park.
We also enjoyed the botanic gardens walks which was right next door.
We will definitely stay there again next time that we holiday in Darwin, which by the way so far has been one of our best relaxing and yet full of new experiences holidays.