ULUM Moab Review: Luxury Glamping in the Utah desert
ULUM Moab is one of the most compelling luxury glamping stays in the American Southwest — a 200-acre desert resort 25 minutes south of Moab with safari-style suite tents, three dipping pools, a genuinely good restaurant, and Looking Glass Arch sitting in its front yard. We stayed with four adults and four kids across a Suite Tent and a cabin, and the verdict is simple: the setting, the food, and the design are exceptional, but the tents still deliver real camping texture — canvas flapping in the wind, first-light brightness, the occasional ant in the bathroom. Book the cabin if you want zero compromise; book the tent if you want the full desert immersion. Either way, we can't wait to go back.
The first thing to know about ULUM Moab is that it is not in Moab. The resort sits roughly 25 minutes south of town, down a blink-and-you'll-miss-it gravel turnoff, tucked into a crescent of 100-foot sandstone cliffs with views stretching toward Canyonlands National Park. The name is a bit of a misnomer, and honestly, that's the point. You are not staying near the brewpubs and Jeep rental lots of Highway 191. You are staying in the desert — the real, silent, star-drenched, tumbleweed-rolling desert — and that distance is exactly what makes the property work. (For how ULUM fits into the broader lodging landscape, from in-town luxury to glamping, see our complete Moab travel guide.)
ULUM is the luxury offshoot of Under Canvas, the glamping operator with camps scattered across America's national parklands, and it represents everything that brand learned, refined. Fifty safari-inspired suite tents are staked on raised platforms across the property, oriented around the indisputable main character of the place: Looking Glass Arch, a natural sandstone arch you can walk to directly from your tent. With eight of us — four adults and four kids — we took two units for the night: one Suite Tent with a king bed and a pull-out sofa bed, and one cabin that reads much closer to a traditional hotel room. That split turned out to be the most instructive way to experience ULUM, because the two accommodations deliver two genuinely different trips.
The Setting Is the Star
We have stayed at plenty of properties that market a view. ULUM lives inside one. The camp occupies a rock cove backed by cliffs on three sides, with the open desert rolling away in front and the arch anchoring the horizon. The hike to Looking Glass Arch is easy enough for the youngest members of our crew — this is not an expedition, it's a stroll with a spectacular payoff — and if your group includes climbers, guided ascents up the arch itself can be arranged through the resort's adventure concierge. When you're ready to venture farther, our guide to the best hikes in Moab breaks down the routes worth prioritizing in Arches and Canyonlands, sorted by difficulty.
The property is a designated DarkSky resort, which means low, soft lighting everywhere and a night sky that performs on a level most travelers have simply never seen. Sunset from the terraced patio, cocktail in hand, watching the cliffs go from ochre to rose to violet, is the kind of moment that justifies the drive from anywhere.
The Tents: Glamping With Genuine Texture
The Suite Tents are beautiful — roughly 360 square feet of interior space on an elevated deck, with a king bed dressed in Parachute linens, a queen sofa bed in the lounge area, a wood-burning stove, an evaporative cooler, and a proper ensuite bathroom with a rain shower, flushing toilet, and Aesop products. On paper, and largely in practice, it is a hotel room made of canvas.
But canvas is canvas, and this is where honest expectations matter. When the desert wind picks up at night — and it does — the tent walls rustle, snap, and hum. It is not quiet. We also found ants in the bathroom, which is less a housekeeping failure than a fact of sleeping in the desert with a zipper for a front door. And when first light hits, the tents glow. If anyone in your party hopes to sleep past sunrise, pack earplugs and an eye mask; consider that our single most important practical tip for this property.
None of this ruined the experience. For us, it was part of the experience — falling asleep to wind in the canvas is precisely the sensation a place like this promises. But it is camping-adjacent in a way that a resort brochure can gloss over, and you should choose your accommodation knowing it.
The Cabin: The Zero-Compromise Option
Our second unit was a cabin, and it functions almost exactly like a well-designed traditional hotel room — solid walls, real doors, dark and quiet at night, no wind noise, no ants, no dawn glow. If you are traveling with light sleepers, skeptical in-laws, or anyone whose enthusiasm for glamping is theoretical rather than actual, the cabin is the answer. You still get the setting, the pools, the restaurant, the arch, and the stars; you simply opt out of the canvas. For a multigenerational group like ours, the tent-plus-cabin split was ideal — the kids got the adventure, and there was always a genuinely comfortable retreat available.
Dining at ULUM Moab
Let's be honest about the usual bargain at remote wilderness properties: you trade culinary ambition for location, and everyone quietly agrees not to mention it. ULUM refuses that bargain. The glass-walled restaurant and lounge — bifold doors open to the terraced patio, Looking Glass Arch framed in every sightline — serves a Southwest-inspired menu built on seasonal ingredients, and it is legitimately good. Not good-for-a-campsite good. Good. Dinner leans into the region without cliché, and the cocktail program follows suit, working local botanicals like sage, juniper, and prickly pear into drinks that taste like the landscape outside the window. On certain evenings, live acoustic music drifts across the patio while you eat, which sounds like a gimmick and absolutely is not.
Mornings run through the espresso and smoothie bar, with a full breakfast menu available (note that breakfast is not included in the rate) and grab-and-go items for anyone heading out early to beat the heat on the trail. The detail that won our family over, though, was the complimentary trail mix station — a small, endlessly restocked gesture that kept four kids fueled between adventures and that we found ourselves visiting more often than we'd care to admit. And when the sun goes down, the fire pits host the nightly gourmet s'mores ritual, which our kids would rank among the highlights of the entire trip.
One practical note: ULUM enforces a strict no-food-in-tents policy — a sensible rule in the desert, and one that explains those bathroom ants staying merely occasional rather than ambitious. Keep snacks in a locked car and plan to do your eating where the property wants you to: at the restaurant, on the patio, or around the fire.
Pools, Programming, and the Details That Elevate It
Then there are the three plunge pools, terraced into the landscape and set at different temperatures, all facing Looking Glass Arch. A cold plunge after a dusty morning hike, followed by a slow migration to the hot pool, is the ULUM routine in miniature: wilderness first, indulgence immediately after. Complimentary programming rounds it out — morning yoga on the deck, live acoustic music, stargazing sessions — none of which feels obligatory and all of which feels considered.
If you're building a wider Utah itinerary around a stay here, ULUM pairs naturally with a few days in the mountains; our guide to the best hotels in Park City covers the luxury side of that route, and our Moab travel guide has everything else — where to eat in town, how to plan Arches versus Canyonlands, and when to visit.
The Verdict
ULUM Moab succeeds at something very few properties even attempt: it delivers real luxury without erasing the wilderness that justifies the trip. The location is extraordinary, the food is far better than it needs to be, the pools and s'mores and trail mix station show a property that understands families, and Looking Glass Arch is a permanent, walkable miracle out the front flap. The trade-offs are honest ones — wind noise, early light, the occasional insect — and they are entirely avoidable by booking a cabin. We left already planning our return.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ULUM Moab actually in Moab?
No — and that's a feature, not a flaw. ULUM Moab sits about 25 minutes south of the town of Moab, in a secluded 200-acre desert setting beside Looking Glass Arch, with views toward Canyonlands National Park. You'll want a car for exploring Arches (about 40 minutes) and Canyonlands (about an hour), but the payoff is total desert immersion instead of highway-strip proximity. Our Moab travel guide covers how to structure the drive-and-explore days.
Should I book a tent or a cabin at ULUM Moab?
Book a Suite Tent if you want the full glamping experience — canvas walls, wood-burning stove, wind in the fabric at night, and dawn light filtering through. Book a cabin if you want the setting without any of camping's texture: cabins feel like traditional hotel rooms, with solid walls that stay dark and quiet. Light sleepers should pack earplugs and an eye mask for the tents regardless.
Is ULUM Moab good for families with kids?
Yes. The Suite Tents sleep up to four with a king bed and queen sofa bed, the walk to Looking Glass Arch is easy for young children, and the nightly gourmet s'mores, complimentary trail mix station, and three plunge pools are essentially engineered for family delight. There is no kids' club, so this is a together-time property rather than a drop-off one.
When is ULUM Moab open?
ULUM Moab operates seasonally, roughly late March through late October. Summer brings serious desert heat (the tents have evaporative coolers), while spring and fall offer the most comfortable hiking weather. Nights can be cold in shoulder season — the wood-burning stoves are not decorative.
Is there a restaurant at ULUM Moab?
Yes — a glass-walled restaurant and lounge serving a seasonal, Southwest-inspired menu, plus an espresso and smoothie bar, grab-and-go items, and craft cocktails made with local botanicals like sage and prickly pear. Breakfast is available but not included in the rate, and nightly complimentary gourmet s'mores by the fire pits are a family highlight. Note that food is not permitted inside the tents.
Do the tents at ULUM Moab have bathrooms and air conditioning?
Every Suite Tent has a private ensuite bathroom with a rain shower, flushing toilet, and Aesop bath products, plus an evaporative cooling unit and fans for warm days and a wood-burning stove for cold nights. It's a genuine hotel-grade bathroom — just remember you're still in the desert, so the occasional ant is part of the deal.
