Experience the South Australian outback at its authentic best, with dug-out style luxury living and an underground bed!
  • Sleeps: 2-4 per room
  • Bedrooms: 50 rooms
  • Bathroom: 1 per room
  • Minimum stay: 1 night

If the desert town of Coober Pedy seems familiar, it could be that you’ve seen it somewhere before.  

The backdrop for many memorable movies, including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the town’s natural sandstone landscape is truly awe-inspiring.

Situated in one of Australia’s hottest climates, most of Coober Pedy has been built underground in an attempt to avoid the heat.  You can marvel at underground churches and houses – known as dugouts – and sip flat whites in underground cafes.  

Oh, and you can also stay in an underground hotel!

Complete with its own underground shops, bar and opal display areas (Coober Pedy is also known as the Opal Capital of the World), you can choose to sleep above or below ground at the award-winning Desert Cave Hotel.  

There’s also a swimming pool and fine dining restaurant for those with more refined tastes – indeed, the Desert Cave Hotel is the only international four-star hotel of its kind.

Choose your favourite from 31 overground and 19 underground standard or family suites. Each one offers supreme comfort in spacious, cool surroundings with high ceilings – and if you choose to sleep underground, you may even experience the best night’s slumber of your life!

Keep reading

At a glance

  • The only four-star international underground hotel, the award-winning Desert Cave Hotel is located in the heart of the Australian Outback town of Coober Pedy.
  • Choose an above ground or underground room, in family or standard size. TV, room service and WiFi are available in every room.
  • The hotel also features a fine dining restaurant, pool, an underground shopping arcade and an award-winning historic display.
  • Excursions include town tours, opal mining and sunset watching.

Features

  • Family Friendly

Facilities

There are 31 above ground rooms and 19 underground rooms, including family and standard rooms in both sections. See property website for full details on each option. All rooms have colour TV, Wi-Fi, hairdryer, iron, minibar, fridge, tea & coffee facilities, room service. Other facilities include laundry, pool, luggage storage, babysitting, tour information & booking service, car hire, restaurant & cafe.

Local activities

Underground home tours, desert tours, mine tours, underground church, sunset tours, nature reserve, conservation park, kangaroo sanctuary.

More information

Relax with a drink in the world’s only underground bar and gaming room, as you decide which of the hotel’s many excursions you’d like to set off on. Before you begin, perhaps whet your appetite with a browse through the hotel’s award-winning historic display, all about mining, opals and what it’s really like to live in the outback.

We suggest starting with a tour of Coober Pedy itself, visiting a working opal field and even venturing down a mine if you’re brave enough! You’ll see how the locals live, and you’ll also get to view the famous Dog Fence, which stretches 5,300km across Australia to protect farm animals from the local dingoes.

You could choose to dig for opals yourself, with entry to the Quest Mine – and be supplied with your own hard hat, torch and handpick!

Take part in the Outback Mail Run, visiting points of interest as you deliver mailbags to cattle stations along the way. Finally, enjoy a tour of the spectacular Painted Desert, then sample some fine Australian wines and cheeses as you watch that glorious sunset.

A stay at the Desert Cave Hotel is a true once-in-a-lifetime experience that deserves a place on any bucket list. So seriously, what are you waiting for?

Where you'll be staying

Coober Pedy, South Australia

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