Mr & Mrs Smith

Bamurru Plains

Top End, Australia

Situated in Australia’s Top End, in a wildlife-teeming area that’s home to the southern hemisphere’s highest concentration of saltwater crocodiles, Bamurru Plains is an upmarket safari lodge with real style. Based around a central timber-and-bamboo lodge, bungalows have an exhilarating back-to-nature vibe that fits perfectly with all the outdoor eating and beast-chasing excursions that goes on each day.

Need to know

• Rooms Nine stand-alone bungalows.
• Rates Double rooms from $1540.83 (AU$1,591), excluding tax at 10 per cent.
  The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (AU$1,591) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
• More details Rates include two-course lunch, selected beverages and daily guided activities.
• Facilities Outdoor pool, library. In rooms: king-size beds, organic cotton bedlinen, ensuite with high-pressure shower, deck, air-conditioning (in three of the bungalows, for AU$100 extra per night; request it when you book).
• Poolside The inviting infinity pool sits behind the main pavilion. It is flanked by two covered areas, which come with plenty of cushion-strewn banquette seating and a big wicker basket filled with towels.
• Check-out 11am, but flexible upon request. Check-in, 2pm.
• Children Bamurru welcomes kids aged eight and over, and is planning special family programmes for the school holidays. Rates for a child aged 16 and under, sharing with two adults are AU$470 a night; or AU$837 a child sharing their own room.
• Also There’s a two-night minimum stay at Bamurru, and the camp is closed from 1 November–31 January. Pets are not allowed – unless, maybe, as crocodile bait.
• Hotel closed Bamurru Plains closes from 1 December 2012 to 31 April 2013.

Food and drink at Bamurru Plains

• Hotel restaurant Dining at Bamurru is a relaxed and convivial communal affair, and guests bump elbows around three solid-timber tables in front of an open kitchen that dishes up robust country-style dishes such as wild barramundi with home-made tomato relish or warm emu salad with a pepper-and-strawberry dressing. Lunch is from 12.30pm; dinner after sundowner drinks and canapés at about 7pm.
• Dress code Sun-smart safari threads: perhaps omitting any crocodile-skin accessories.
• Top table It’s all very egalitarian around the shared tables at Bamurru, but you could have a private meal in your bungalow if you wish. You’d miss out on all those ‘who saw the biggest crocodile?’ conversations, though.
• Last orders Lunch is served from around 12.30pm, while dinner starts about 7pm – after sundowner drinks and canapés.
• Room service While it doesn’t really exist at Bamurru, staff will do their best to deal with guests’ requests between breakfast and dinner.
• Hotel bar Guests can help themselves to drinks at any time in the central timber-and-iron lodge, where couches abound, but the early starts tend to keep a lid on late-night revelry.

Bamurru Plains PO Box 1020, Humpty Doo NT, Top End, Darwin 0836