Cave & Underground

Desert Cave Hotel, Coober Pedy

Australia

The fable

Underground rooms in an opal-mining town

Coober Pedy's landmark opal-town hotel, with rooms dug into the sandstone where there is no light, no sound and a year-round cool the outback summer can't touch. Above ground it is now a working local — bistro, bar and gaming lounge — 846 km up the Stuart Highway from Adelaide. The catch: Also a working outback pub (bar + gaming lounge), and not every room is underground — ask for a dugout room.

• underground rooms
• dugout
• opal town
• desert