During our recent trip to the NT, I proposed to my partner while we were in Kings Canyon (she said a resounding yes luckily). I highly recommend making the time to visit KC and do either the Kings Creek Walk or if possible, the longer KC Rim walk – our highlight over Uluru. We decided to stay at the KC Resort during this time, and stayed 2 nights from the 8th of January in deluxe spa room. First, a little about the resort, room and restaurant. As we were there in Summer, it was dead quite - probably no more than 20 rooms being used in a resort with over 250 rooms. This made doing our walks and using the resort facilities effortless and everything was still open for use (except for Dingo's just down the road, which was undergoing a 2 week renovation). It was really great that it was uncrowded as it was quiet and peaceful. The rest of the place was well manicured and the pool was clean. The room - one word, Fantastic! Everything worked fine, there was a fair size fridge waiting for us to stock up and spa looking out into the wilderness made evenings a real treat. The bed (king) was massive and not one of the dodgy types that are made of 2 pushed together beds you often find elsewhere. They were spacious, well maintained and clean, not a hint of duct taped fly mesh. The restaurant - can I just say all other positive reviews of Carmichaels on trip advisor were not wrong. The restaurant never failed to impress. The menu rotated nightly with about 5-6 mains on offer for about $30 give or take per main, plus $15 for entree's (buffet) or $15 for dessert (again, buffet). Both nights we spent there had a selection of native Aussie meats (Kangaroo, Barra etc..) and lamb/beef etc. We sampled 3 of the mains, one night both getting the Roo and all were absolutely top notch. Wine selection was also great, however a little pricey ($45 average for a bottle) but not to be unexpected out there. The one let down I had in the restaurant was the desert buffet which I think comprised of Sara Lee cakes like banana and carrot, cut into squares - sticking to wine was the better option ;)

Finally - the staff: These are the faces that made the stay as special, memorable and as fantastic as it could have been. Nothing was too much to ask of them and they catered to every request. As we had a special occasion for our successful engagement, I had secretly organised with the staff to have a special menu organised for our dinner, and for a bottle of wine with a small congratulations note brought out immediately at seating. Originally, I had tried to be seated somewhere we could see the sunset, which the staff was all too happy to help with by setting up a table outside on a rocky platform. Unfortunately though, the weather wasn't accommodating to this so instead (and unknown to me) the staff had organised to ferry my partner and I by golf cart (or 'chariot' as I coined it) to the nearby sunset viewing platform where we were being offered a complimentary special plate of hors d'oeuvres including oysters, choc coated strawberries and champagne while the sun set. Again the weather slightly altered the plans, so the staff member drove us up there, left us to our own devices as long as we wanted, then drove us to the restaurant where we had the champagne, entree plate, wine and a special and very nice note congratulating the both of us. We were also seated in a private part of the restaurant to enjoy a great view of the rocky waterfall just outside the restaurant!

I could write for hours of how well all staff members involved treated us, kept my secret and looked after us, but the message would be lost in the lines of text. Suffice to say, Tracy, Louise, Candice,Daniel and Carmichaels Chef all conspired well and honestly made the best efforts possible to make sure Cass and I had a fantastic stay. They really made the occasion special and we are both truly grateful.

To the staff of Kings Canyon Resort - thank you for taking onboard all the feedback your guests have been providing you both through this medium and the feedback cards in the rooms & restaurants. Your proactive attitude to these comments allayed all the not so positive comments I had read prior to my stay with you. Thanks again for giving us a great start to our engagement and congratulations on a job well done!

Best regards,
Gareth and Cass
Canberra

King’s Canyon “Resort” is close to the only game in town if you are going to visit King’s Canyon and stay overnight (non-camping). We read the reviews prior to going, and for the most part, if you don’t have overly high expectations, you will be OK.

The hotel itself is very basic, and our room was not the “upgraded” spa room. As such, it is clearly not what you see in the photos for the Spa rooms, ours was more simple, and close to the (not so clean looking) pool. We had “duct tape” on the carpet (true, and it doesn’t match!) and a strong smell in the room which we assumed was due to the sulfur in the water? It did get better the second day, but we had the sliding door open to air out the room as much as possible.

We traveled to the resort from Ayer’s Rock – which is about 300km one way. We came in from Sydney to Ayer’s Rock, and rented a car and almost immediately headed for King’s Canyon, arriving in mid afternoon. This allowed us to go on the Valley walk prior to dinner.

King’s Canyon should be something you visit if you are this far out, and we actually thought it was as nice if not nicer than Ayer’s Rock. The rim walk will take you about 3 hours, and is very worth it. There is a bit of “overhype” as to you should be fit to walk it – it is a fairly easy walk, and everyone should be able to do it, just take your time.

In theory, you could do both the valley walk and the rim walk, and do this all in one day – and drive back and forth to Ayer’s Rock. It makes for a long day (~6 or 7 hours of driving, ~3-4 hours of hiking) but you can avoid the overnight at King’s Canyon Resort if you do this.

A tip for cheap travelers….we booked our car via the Quantas airline web site (we didn’t book air tickets, only the car) and had much more favorable rates than any other web site we could find.

We paid AU$199 for the night -- not a bargain, but I would really hate to pay the true rack rate in high season for what we received.

The first thing to bear in mind about this "resort" is that it is a long way from anywhere. Therefore you have to factor in the logistics of transporting everything into the resort and the resultant extra cost and availability. We had two rooms in different parts of the resort and they were comfortable but not luxurious.
There are limited options for dining, and while we were there the main restaurant was closed for refurbishment, so the options were even more limited! If you are a family group then I would recommend bringing some basic food items with you.
Fortunately the bistro and bar (across the road) serve up some decent (although limited) fare and you have the opportunity to try Camel, Crocodile and Kangaroo. I recommed the Camelburger.

Usually campgrounds are per car, not per person so as a couple this place was expensive! If you drive further north I believe there were some free camping places by the side of the road that weren't marked in Camp 6. The camp kitchen tiny and was so basic, the pool was ok but not much shade. Basically it's the same price as Yulara (Uluru) but not as nice, clean or welcoming. The prices of food at the store were sky high!