Desert Cave Hotel

Useful Information

Location:	1 Hutchison St, Coober Pedy SA 5723. Coober Pedy, 850 km north of Adelaide and 680 km south of Alice Springs. In the corner of Post Office Hill Rd and Hutchinson St. (-29.0106166, 134.7543206)
Open:	Hotel: All year daily 9-19. Underground bar: All year daily 9-12. [2025]
Fee:	Queen Room AUD 210, King Room AUD 221. [2025]
Classification:	Cave House
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	no
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Desert Cave Hotel, P.O. Box 223, Coober Pedy, South Australia 5723, Tel: +61-8-8672-5688. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1915	opals discovered.
1981	first underground hotel planned by Umberto Coro.
1984	construction of cave hotel started.
1986	Umberto Coro dies in car accident, his son Robert Coro continues the work.
1988	hotel opened.
1989	won both the South Australian and National Tourism Awards for Tourism Development.
1990	won the South Australian Tourism Award.
1991	won the South Australian Tourism Award.

Description

The Desert Cave Hotel is the first underground hotel at Coober Pedy. It was built by Umberto Coro and his son Robert Coro. It was operated many years by the Coro family. However, it seems they sold it, and it is now operated by the Black Rhino Group, The hotel has rooms, which are typical dugouts, quiet, cool, dark and airy. There were underground shops, a café, an opal interpretive centre, and an underground bar and gaming room. As far as we know the cafe, bar, and gaming room still exist, but are open only for guest and only in the morning. There are also rooms above ground for visitor who do not like to be underground.