UFO Luxotel Wadi Rum

I used to book this camp because it had been good, but lately I’ve heard some upsetting things. One client complained about rude, cranky service at reception and on the tours. When he asked for change, they even tried to take money from his wallet. Today another client asked for a refund. I had booked and paid for her stay myself, and she said the camp was completely trashed and awful. The photos show everything broken, dirty, or out of order. I felt so ashamed.

Such a gorgeous place to stay. We were there for two nights and loved the activities. The hot air balloon and jeep tour were both amazing, and definitely don’t miss the stargazing!

The hotel stay itself was good and we had no issues with it. The problem was the outsourced Wadi Rum tour, which we booked through the hotel for four hours. It was meant to run from 11.30am to 3.30pm, but the guide turned up in the lobby at 12.08pm. We thought it might at least finish around 4pm. At every stop he’d sit, eat, drink, and chat with local people for so long that we often arrived before other tourists and left after they’d gone. At one point he showed us places for photos, so I handed over my phone while we climbed around Wadi Rum. The first spot was fine. At the second, up on the mountains, we called “hello” several times because we wanted two or three pictures and to move on. He saw and heard us, but stayed with the locals, laughing with them. We could hear it from where we were. We got annoyed and climbed back down without a photo there. At about 3pm, he said the next photo area was the last stop. We took our own pictures and told him we wanted to end after three hours and head to the Jett bus. We’d already paid the hotel an extra 15 jod for the ride there. He insisted it was a four-hour tour. We pointed out that it was 3.11pm and we’d started at 12.08pm, so only three hours and three minutes had passed. The bus ride was paid separately and shouldn’t count as tour time. A four-hour tour costs 70 jod and a three-hour one is 50 jod. Charging another 20 jod when he hadn’t given us anything close to an extra hour seemed ridiculous. He finally agreed to the three-hour price, reluctantly, then said something to the other locals, who all gave us a look. I hope the hotel reviews its outside tour providers and removes the ones giving poor service. This experience really let us down.

The location is truly outstanding, but the rooms feel a bit old. There also weren’t many staff, and the property didn’t feel up to the standard of a hotel calling itself luxury.