Review of Longitude 131, by John Borthwick

The Big Red One - Ayers Rock - sits like a giant paperweight pinning Australia to the blue planet. With dawn and dusk its ancient faces bloom through a rosy spectrum, shifting hue each time you look away. The best place to gaze at Uluru is from the plush Longitude 131, near Ayers Rock Resort. From your luxurious 'tent' - it's hardly the word - or the clubby Dune House you may contemplate Ayers Rock/Uluru's giant, 600-million year old berg of arkose sandstone and feel very diminished, your king-sized bed and fusion dining entrée notwithstanding.

The facilities

The nearby Dune House is the resort's central meeting place, where guests can enjoy meals and tipples, and swap long or tall tales of their day's desert discoveries. It also includes a library with maps, historical books even a large screen TV and DVDs for those who are overwhelmed by the majestic, silent story of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The rooms

"To sleep with you in the desert tonight with a million stars all around." By night, an old Eagles' cliché soars above the peaks of Longitude 131's fifteen very flash tents. Within each one, all the necessary luxuries are present, of course, to aid your epiphany: the flick of a bedside switch raises the blinds on Uluru's transient visions, and the extreme desert temperatures never defeat your air-conditioned dreaming. Each elevated tent is 'themed' to pay homage to an early Outback pioneer, sometimes almost too literally, with various quotes and images as part of the wall décor.