Longitude 131

I was an Australian who had never visited Central Australia. And I knew nothing about Longitude 131 before my recent visit. Both experiences blew me away. From the moment we arrived at the airport until our departure, everything was taken care of. Upon arrival, we were presented with an itinerary that let us enjoy the best of Uluru and Kata Tjuṯa National Park. With bad knees, I didn’t do every walk offered, but enjoyed most activities. The resort provided everything we needed, from backpacks to fly nets (which were needed!). The guides were friendly and knowledgeable. Back at the resort, I have never experienced such luxury. As someone who enjoys fine dining and good wines, I actually got excited about going to lunch and dinner each day. Breakfast was also delicious. The rooms were well stocked with a selection of beer and wine, even cognac and Baileys for sipping under the stars. The service was excellent at every level. I have high standards, and couldn’t fault a single thing.

This is a beautiful resort with views of the stunning Uluru. Our trip started with a pickup at the airport, which was easy and quick (only a 10 minute drive from the property). The check in process was straight forward and accompanied with a glass of wine from the self serve bar in the main lodge. Like most of the luxury lodges in Australia, you are presented an itinerary for your visit at check in. They offer many different activities with my favorite being the Uluru base walk and our couples massage. My biggest wish is that I would have asked for one morning of downtime, as they had us booked solid for our trip (wake up at 6 am for hiking with return as late as 11 pm after dinner). While this kept us busy, we were exhausted by the end of our stay, and we didn't feel we got to experience the room as much as we would have liked (the only time we were in our room it was dark and you couldn't appreciate the views). The accommodation itself is nice with a comfortable bed, minibar, and hot shower. It should be noted (as common sense would dictate), that you are in the Australian Outback and there will be dirt and insects (so perhaps, leave the white shoes at home). The resort does a great job of providing all necessary equipment for your outings including bug spray, backpack, face insect shield (not needed in the winter), water bottles (to keep), etc. The areas I could see them improve are in regards to the level and consistency of service. While some of the staff were truly amazing (shout out to our tour guide, Julia, who was fun, informative, and engaging), most of the staff we encountered had a level of indifference (while nice, they generally seemed disengaged). I chalk this up to most of the staff being transient (after speaking to them, we learned most of their staff are on a work/holiday visa program and only work on property for 3 months before moving on). To highlight this indifference, we encountered many staff who would commented some derivative of "only x of days until I can go on holiday again" which doesn't inspire a lot of excitement about the current location (we enjoyed talking to them about their life and travels, but these comments didn't make it sound like people were genuinely excited to be working at Longitude 131). I believe the transient nature of their staff leads to gaps in the type of training/finesse you may expect for a property of this caliber and cost ($3,000+ USD per night). One specific example of where the service was lacking occurred when I requested for in room dining. I was sick one night and asked if I could have dinner in my room (I even offered to carry it there myself). It took multiple staff members asking around before I was told they cannot accommodate this request due to lack of sufficient staff. I ended up eating in the dining room, which was less than ideal. While in the scheme of things this is trivial, with the price you pay, this is not the level of service you expect. All of that being said, this a beautiful location and an exciting destination to check out! If it fits in the budget, you will likely be pleased with your stay.

My mom and I stayed at Longitude 131 for 2 nights. Longitude 131 has a high nightly rate, but it is also inclusive. Our transfers to the airport, all our meals, snacks, drinks, alcohol, and tours were included. The location is amazing with beautiful views of Uluru. Longitude 131 is a premiere lodging to experience Uluru. Longitude plans all your activities for you which made this leg to our Australia trip a breeze. This included dinner under the stars, walking through the Field of Lights art installation, Uluru at sunset, closer to Uluru at sunset, and a visit and short hike at Kata Tjuṯa. The staff were attentive and friendly. I enjoyed the breakfast and lunches. That said, with the price point of this hotel it really needs to be perfect and it was not. First, the staff printed out our itinerary of activities when we checked in. We only found out by happenstance that the first activity (the best one!) had the time incorrect. We would have shown up 2 hours late if we hadn’t chatted with a staff member and only relied on the printed itinerary. I really did not enjoy the dinner menu. I hated our meal at the Longitude 131 table, I just don’t think lamb and goat cheese go together. I was really turned off by the dinner menu the second night but they let us order off the lunch menu that we did enjoy. The rooms are spacious with great views but the bathrooms need to be remodeled. The grout in the bathroom was discolored, moldy, or missing (photos attached). When I closed the bathroom door (pocket doors) there were dirty finger prints on the door that looked like they had been there since it was installed (photo attached). The bathroom also had a pot to refill your water bottles, which I like the idea, but it was 2 feet from the toilet. I just don’t like my food and water sources to be next to a toilet. Finally, when you see pictures of Longitude 131, you will inevitably see pictures of the lovely deck at night, all made up with a fire. They only do the fire and the bed set up the night you go to the Longitude 131 table, they do not set this every night. This was not explained or mentioned when we checked in or on our printed itinerary. I was so exhausted (got up that day 3:30AM to catch a flight) and after the Longitude table dinner I went to straight to bed thinking I could enjoy the fire the next night. Apparently not. If you are interested in seeing Uluru you will not regret your stay at Longitude 131, but I do hope they take this feedback and improve.

Loved my time at Longitude 131. Excellent staff in every department. Very special hotel in a very special place. I’d recommend staying between 3-5 nights. We stayed for 3 nights. Would not have liked less and could have easily spent a couple more. Just means we have to come back! If you’re looking for a place to stay near Ularu then this is the only place. I wouldn’t even consider anywhere else. You will want for nothing. Met or exceeded my expectations in every category. I had high expectations but also realistic expectations. It’s a well oiled machine! Loved every minute. I wish I could live here!! Sad to leave. Can’t recommend enough.

We spent 4 nights, did most of the tours, all of which were excellent, with energetic, knowledgeable, personable, and motivated guides. The views were outstanding, the “tent” lodging luxurious, the food extraordinary, the staff competent and cordial. Only negatives: the bush flies were awful, the dinner outdoors at Table 131 an ordeal (too cold and windy, gas heater kept blowing out), the Field of Lights seemed an excessive intrusion into a natural space (miles of cable, light fixtures etc.) for a minimal aesthetic effect.