Aliens not included: world's largest underground motel for sale in UFO town

The world's largest underground motel, in a town resembling a dusty UFO dragged out of an aircraft hangar in Area 51, is looking for a new owner. Aliens not included.

The famous White Cliffs Underground Motel in outback NSW is part of the wacky outpost of White Cliffs, which rests atop the desert plains like an alien spacecraft.

White Cliffs is a remote opal mining town in the Central Darling Shire, approximately 255 kilometres northeast of Broken Hill and 93 km north of Wilcannia. Its population is 150.

White Cliffs gets so hot most people live in underground dwellings called "dugouts". The lack of ordinary buildings, plus the surrounding opal mining shafts like pockmarks in the dirt and scrub, make the town resemble an outer space landscape.

The White Cliffs Underground Motel is one of only three dugout motels in Australia, but it is also the largest, with 48 subterranean rooms, and the biggest in the world.

The quirky accommodation dates back to the early 1900s when opal miners sought sleeping quarters away from the heat. It later became a family home and opened as a motel in 1989, attracting guests from across Australia and around the world.

The motel changed hands in 2016 when hospitality business Out of the Ordinary Outback owner Scott Smith took it on as a passion project.

"For the same cost as a house in Sydney or Melbourne, an inspired buyer seeking a new investment prospect or an adventure-filled life in the outback can own this famous motel and craft a new vision for it," Mr Smith said.

"Approved development plans offer a clear path for enhancing the property including a possible new future as a desert wellness retreat. This distinctive and exciting property offers endless opportunities."

The property boasts 44 guest "cave rooms", two outside rooms, a driver's room, a manager's cave and a three-bedroom cave house.

The property has a fully licensed bar facility, restaurant, conference facility and museum.

Underground, guests enjoy a constant temperature of 22 degrees year-round.

According to the selling agent, Tourism Brokers director Michael Philpott, the motel would suit someone working in the tourism industry or wanting to enter it.

He said its uniqueness is its selling point, and White Cliffs, though remote, is a desirable tourist destination, particularly for bus tour groups.

"The stairway to heaven that goes up to the country outlook, you're right on the peak, the sun sets and the sunrises are phenomenal," Mr Philpott said.