Is this airport hotel the best secret holiday spot in the Top End?

The sprawling Darwin Airport Resorts, just minutes' walk (or a free shuttle bus ride) from Darwin airport, is perfect for layovers - but, being Darwin-adjacent with wide open spaces, is also a destination in itself. A $41 million refurbishment across its trio of Accor hotels - Mercure, Novotel and Ibis - encompasses a total of 433 rooms. Which might sound a bit "mega" but it's all low-key. Accommodation ranges from hotel rooms and executive suites to pool villas, including accessible rooms. The public areas, too, are designed for ease of access.

The 8.3-hectare resort is well spread out and lush with Top End greenery. Remarkably for being 300 metres from the airport, it's distanced enough from the aircraft flight path so there's no take-off or landing noise.

The Rapid Creek villas, where I am staying, have balcony decks that overlook wetlands, dense with paperbarks and pandanus palms - like a private slice of Kakadu. A 15-minute, $30 taxi ride will get you to the Darwin "big smoke" with its restaurants, harbour, shopping and museums.

The complex focuses on a central reception-restaurant-lounge area which includes a 65-metre lagoon-style pool. The premium property among the three is the Mercure, which sits apart from the central area.

Its own premium accommodation is 14 private pool villas and the eight one- and two-bedroom Rapid Creek villas, which are roomy and linked by boardwalks.

Even before you step in, a Rapid Creek villa tempts you to flop on its deck daybed and just listen to the rainforest music of the Rapid Creek Conservation Reserve (known as Gurumbai in local Larrakia language). You're beside Darwin's only natural freshwater creek.

Meanwhile, in the great indoors, the four-star, 35-square-metre bungalow has air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, quality linen, blackout curtains, and a deck with tables and chairs. Not forgetting the spacious kitchenette, 55-inch TV, lounge-dining room and private parking. Extensive Indigenous artworks throughout the resort reflect its connection to Larrakia Country.

The Poolhouse Bar and Kitchen, under French chef Laurence "Loulou" Lochouarn, emphasises local seafood dishes, such as Humpty Doo barramundi with corn mash and fresh slaw. Given Darwin's position as our northern gateway to Asia, it's little surprise that there are plenty of noodles, dumpling and sashimi on the menu.

Try the fish tacos. Wines are about $15 for a generous glass. Buffet breakfast ($35) at the Poolhouse offers a fair range of east, west, hot and cold possibilities, with a slight Filipino tilt. Meanwhile, the spacious alfresco Splash Cafe that overlooks the pool and gardens is an all-day favoured waterhole for Darwin folk and travellers alike, with sundowners and cocktails, Top End beers and light meals.

The central lagoon-style pool with its spa and waterfall, plus Splash Cafe, are the resort's social oasis. Cooling off in the former or chilling out in the latter is the main action. There's a self-guided walking trail in the adjacent nature reserve, too.

From your deck you can hear the rainforest gossip: the creek and cicadas by day and, later, a nocturnal toccata of frogs and crickets. There are surprise visits to your saucer by brilliantly coloured birds, too.

The writer was a guest of Darwin Airport Resorts