Desert Cave Hotel

The cold beer was a welcome relief after driving from Oodnadatta. The cool temperature was lovely. The decor is interesting. The place probably needs some leather chairs to relax in. Parking was excellent.

The hotel is listed as 4 Stars. It really should only be 3 Stars as it is getting very dated. The original underground bar has been shut and replaced by a new bar, which has none of the ambiance of the original undgerground bar.

The hotel no longer serves dinner. Instead, guests receives a 10% discount at the restaurant at the Opal Inn. However, according to locals, it is best to avoid that restaurant.

The hotel also appears to be cutting back services to cut cost, despite being fully booked at the time of my stay.
- The pumps for the swimming poor were switched off. Consequently, the pool was littered with floating dead insects and leaf litter.
- Reception had a very abandoned look about it and was unattended much of the time.
- Rooms are only serviced every 3rd day.
- Their internet access was extremely slow. Speed test showed 0.62Mps up and 4.9Mbps down

Great location, have rooms either above or below ground, air conditioned note the rooms need to be revamped from original 70 flare, no lunch/dinner restaurant availability (unless your on a tour guide), pool area no towels covered in red dust and out of service sauna room, pokies are available, pool table, bar, close to attractions, walking distance to IGA supermarket, opal stores, fuel stations, free wifi,

I stayed in an underground room. Awesome. Food fantastic. Friendly staff and great service

Rooms are nice and clean, bed comfy. Didn't stay in an underground room but the one I saw was very nice.

Upon arrival, we went to reception where we were greeted with very poor customer service, we were told to sign a piece of paper and given our key with no further information. We had to go and find our room ourselves with no direction from the reception staff. When walking into the room, we were greeted with about 20 flies and dust everywhere, we later also found some new friends in cockroaches that were crawling round the room, thankfully we had mortein in the car. When booking the hotel we were not informed that the restaurant was not open and there were no food services available at all. In saying this, the man behind the bar was very friendly and accommodating!
When checking out the following morning, there was no information about early checkouts anywhere and no one to speak to. We ended up leaving the key in the room and had to wait for reception to open to call them to let them know.

The underground rooms were not worth the money they are just ground room floors with a bit of rock formation the fans are noisy and we went to check in at 4: 30 after a 13 hour drive the lady at reception didn't say a word that wasn't very welcoming she drew on a map and circled where the room was and I said thanks and we headed to the room when we got to the room the cleaner was doing our room. So we had to leave the facility to go get fuel and give the cleaner time to do our room.

Pool dirty and eventually staff closed it for use after multiple enquires about cleaning regime. Restaurant and coffee shop closed for Reno’s but not advised. Rooms average but not 4 star as advertised. Bar staff were great. Only positive was the bar and staff. Would not stay there again.

We stayed there last week in an underground room and the the room was below standard. The shower was running all night, the floor was wet, shower curtains disgusting and mouldly. I woke up early in the morning coughing and there was a fine dust falling over everything. The room has not been upkept to make sure guests are safe in such a room. We made a complaint to management before writing this review but have heard nothing back. Do not stay here, find somewhere else. Rip off.

The manager Allirra is absolutely fantastic! Resolved my refund issue immediately. Kept in constant contact with me and was easy to talk to. The hotel will do so well if she stays on board:) thanks again for all your help!

We booked underground however got a room up top- not sure if it was underground, if it was on the same level as where we parked lol there was sand and rocks all over the couch. Would I go back? Most likely not but it was a comfortable stay.

We booked here for the underground experience and because it had on site restaurant and bar. After we checked in we are told that the cafe, shop and restaurant are closed for renovations. When I expressed my disappointment the girl said it hasn’t been open for 7 months as if I should somehow have known. To add insult to injury the alternative suggested was also closed. $195 for a average room was a bit rich given the lack of on site facilities. There are better options on offer elsewhere in town.

This is a nice place and was comfortable for our stay. Like almost all hospitality businesses at the moment they are short staffed but making an effort.

We booked underground rooms (2) to experience living/staying underground. We were given 2 rooms ground floor.
The other room had electrical problems. Water coming from the taps and showers are dirty.
The rooms were made/done to look underground. Sculpted and painted gyprock.
You can see the vents and electricals but no conduits running.
Definitely not a four star hotel.

Sadly compared with my last visit a few years ago, the place seems deserted.asked for coffee not available now! Locals told me new owners and service is terrible! Sad to see and experience this!

A comfortable room and a reasonable size. Private bathroom. Not badly priced, however the mattresses and pillows need updating. The Crystal Cave Cafe`s food needs updating too.

We stayed in underground room. I would one night stay at underground room is a must experience. The hotel is neat but can be dusted better. It has a underground cafe, underground bar and souvenir shops. The spuvenir shops were not opened while were there. The food in Cafe and bar was good.

This was a unique experience visiting the Desert Cave Hotel and shared a drink In the underground bar

We later visited the underground display at the hotel
which was most interesting

Staff were very friendly to chat to

We loved being underground but the room was dirty. I could write in the layers of dust on a bedside table, the mirror and around the TV. There was a dirty mark on the other bedside table and bits of tissue in dust alongside the bed. We expect that cleaning would be a priority during the pandemic. We loved Coober Pedy.

Didn't stay but super museum and cafe/bar Rooms looked really nice and luxurious. Wish we had stayed there! Loved reading about this extraordinary lady of Coober Pedy