Kuranda Ngorongoro Lodge - Kuranda, Queensland

The Bearded One

Although we only had the chance to spend one night, we received such a warm and friendly welcome from Patrick and Sue. We arrived quite late, but were just in time for the animal feeding, which was, of course, my wife's favourite. We stayed in the Congo Room as the cabin was booked, and our hosts made us feel very welcome and gave us the grand tour of the spectacular gardens, with the amazing animal artwork.

What a beautiful setting, nestled amongst the rainforest - I only wish we had been able to stay a bit longer to enjoy the peace that surrounded us. Alas, it was not to be, with an early morning flight the next day. I guess we will just have to go back another time 😊.

Rob P

We highly recommend Ngorongoro Lodge. Kuranda is situated up a winding road from Cairns and you feel like you are in an entirely different world. The property itself is situated outside of Kuranda in a very safe residential neighborhood. Every morning we walked the road to catch all the wildlife waking up.||Kuranda itself has lots to do during the day (the girls loved the markets and the animals!) but honestly we made it a point to get home every afternoon to just sit, chat, and have a drink with our hosts and all their birds. We traded stories of all our world travels while enjoying the antics of their pet birds, especially Fritz.||Really, all you need to know is the accommodation is nicely maintained while still feeling deep in the jungle. You can enjoy all the basic amenities you expect - wifi, air conditioning, fans, refrigerator, very nice large bathroom, etc. Things can deteriorate quickly in the constant jungle humidity so its obvious they take pride in caring for the property. We ended up cooking a lot in the lodge and there is a nice place to get groceries in Kuranda.||Most importantly, any concern we had was quickly addressed by our hosts. We modified our breakfast order every day. At our request, they set up a moth light to attract some interesting night creatures. They even let us borrow a torch to go searching for mammals hiding in the trees.||I am very happy we stayed here instead of a typical Cairns hotel room. Hotels don't have Sulfur Crested Cockatoos dance and wish you goodbye, thanks Fritz!|

Karen Kwan

This was one of the best experiences ever and provided way more hospitality beyond simply "accommodation". Patrick and Sue are just really genuine and kind people, they were so welcoming and generously shared their world of animal rescue and rehabilitation with us. It was like stepping into a mini wildlife sanctuary, and Patrick even took us on a night walk to see which nocturnal neighbours were out and about. The accommodation itself is very thoughtfully decorated and you can see how much love they have put into the place! While it is a bit of a walk from Kuranda Station, you can arrange with Patrick and Sue beforehand to get a lift, so it's really easy to get to. We had the most memorable experience and haven't stopped recommending this place to our friends since returning from the trip!

Megan Ng

Sue and Patrick worth more than 5 stars of super hosting! They are the most welcoming and heart warming people on this planet. The cottage was so beautiful, clean and comfortable. The breakfast was over my expectation. If you love wildlife this place would be a surprise and bonus for you. Thanks Patrick, Sue and the Cockatoo walked us around the property seeing those beautiful rescued birds, and amazing art decorations done by Patrick. Thanks again for you guys serving our wildlife and I am definitely desperate coming back for a longer stay. Much loves.

Ernest D

Easily the best accommodation we’ve had during five weeks in Australia. The lodge is furnished to a very high standard and includes lots of beautiful African art work and artifacts. Excellent breakfast, well equipped kitchen, bathroom and lounge. Lots of veranda space overlooking the rain forest. ||Very good value. Spotlessly clean. The hosts, Patrick and Sue, could not have been more welcoming. The lodge is outside of town, but Patrick was happy to give us lifts in and bring us back (for a modest charge) in his vintage land rover. Nothing was too much trouble. They have a passion for wildlife and we really enjoyed joining them to interact with their birds in the early evening. ||Highly recommend.

catharine o

This is a magical spot deep in the rainforest near the centre of Kuranda. Sue, Patrick and Fritz, the sulphur crested cockatoo, were so welcoming. The lodge is spotlessly clean and beautifully furnished. The double bed is very comfortable and the breakfast supplied was excellent. We felt so welcome and loved being shown around the garden. Highly recommended. You won’t regret staying here.

Lyn Rob Wood

Amazing place to stay. Excellent welcome by Sue and Patrick and of course Fitz the cockatoo! Accommodation was really comfortable and felt like an African lodge. You really felt like you were in the rainforest, hearing the birds and crickets sing.

aacarmar

Shocked that this place gets 5 start reviews we have stayed at a lot of 3 - 5 star and this is way below those. Sue & Patrick were nice people and the birds lovely and I am sure that is what swayed most people but we have to be honest. When arriving you park up on the road and walk down a steep hill to access the villas - the front glass sliding door needs two hands to lift and slide it. The smell is very mouldy and mildew when you walk in. Sue told us not to turn the air conditioners on and leave the windows open as lot of people do this she said - I understand because of the smell. There are lots of rules and regulations typed and stuck on cupboards etc around the place and whenever we went out they would come back into the villa and turn the air conditioner off it was over 35 degrees hot and stuffy. We left the air on in the lounge at night to wake up very hot to no power to the air conditioner (fuse taken out) so had to turn the one in the bedroom on. I was expecting a cooked breakfast reading reviews and web site but only got supplies and told to wash and wipe all dishes and clean up. Also the two villas are joined and share a small bathroom/toilet all in one room - luckily we were the only couple there. The TV is very small and the couch has very little padding so not comfortable to sit on and quite stained. There was coffee, tea and sugar but not milk. The pool was small, lovely and cool. If you have a nice car you may want to bring a cover or be pepared to wash it the next day. Wifi was terrible. I am sorry to leave this review but I want others to know what they are paying for and because they are nice people and rescue birds and give them an amazing home I am sure this is what sways people to leave good reviews.