Welcome to Darwin Airport where resort hotel and terminal sit side-by-side
Fiona Harper checked into Darwin Airport for a weekend getaway with a difference. Arriving at the airport she bypassed the airport terminal and went straight to the all-new Novotel Darwin Airport Resort instead.
Read her review to see how this airport resort hotel in the Northern Territory lived up to expectations.
Imagine stepping off an aircraft, waltzing through the airport terminal and plonking yourself down poolside in a sunlounge amidst a tropical paradise. This is the sort of welcoming experience awaiting at Darwin Airport Resort, a groundbreaking concept that redefines airport accommodation. Stepping out of Darwin Airport the first thing you’ll notice is the steamy heat of the tropics. A swimming pool in this climate is not a luxury it’s essential for your sanity. So it makes absolute sense that the Territory’s sexiest pool is the central hub of this swanky new airport hotel.
You can imagine my disappointment upon checking in to be told that the mammoth Olympic-plus sized pool is closed. Looking over the receptionist’s shoulder I can see the water cascading down the glass-fronted swimming pool.
Swimming pools in the Territory are essential to combat tropical heat
“How come it’s closed?” I ask.
“They’re doing maintenance,” says the receptionist without further explanation. That’s odd I think. The hotel and its pool only just opened. Weeks later, a friend who was lured to the hotel for its alluring pool gets the same explanation. I have plenty of time to ponder the question as I wait for my room key. It’s just after midday, so I’m a little early for the 2pm check-in time.
But, it’s low season, and according to room availability listed online, there’s plenty of unoccupied rooms. But, rules are rules.
So I wait. After 30 minutes or so after wandering around the open-air lobby, perusing the menu at Splash Cafe and peering over the wall to see the pool which is invitingly close but most definitely out of bounds, I decide to get back in my car and drive to Casuarina to get lunch. The receptionists takes my number and says she’ll call me when the room is ready.
The call never comes. So I go to my room at 2pm and kill more time waiting outside while someone comes to give me a key card and let me in. My room – a Deluxe King Suite – when I finally get in, is lovely. It’s an odd start to a weekend getaway at a hotel which proudly boasts of its in-house training program. I do hope that things become a little more polished as the busy season arrives and guests are likely to be far more demanding.
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Here's what I liked about Darwin Airport Hotels
The mammoth pool looked so inviting, and I’m sure it’s a terrific place to hang out. When it opens.
I really liked my King Deluxe Suite for its modern, clean look and spaciousness with bedroom and separate living room. A small deck is shaded by tropical garden. The bathroom has a massive walk-in-shower with enough room to hold a dance party. The king bed with crisp linen and overstuffed pillows was an absolute delight.
The lush gardens are trimmed and well cared for and give a tropical feel and soften concrete hotel walls.
Here's what I didn't like about Darwin Airport Hotels
Again, the mammoth pool looked so inviting, so it was disappointing that it wasn’t open. The lagoon pool at the Mercure was hosting kids birthday parties on both the days I was there so it was a noisy, chaotic space that didn’t endear me to lounging in a sun lounge reading a book.
I put the laborious check-in process down to teething problems as staff presumably become accustomed to new processes.
More information Darwin Airport Hotels
The writer was a guest of Novotel Darwin Airport Resort.
