Welcome to Canberra's Jamala Wildlife Lodge - Australia's only zoo hotel.

Jamala is nestled within the National Zoo and Aquarium, just 15 minutes from Canberra's city centre, and is the brainchild of Canberran conservationists Richard and Maureen Tindale who bought and reinvigorated the zoo two decades ago.

The lodge offers five-star rooms that overlook the lion, bear, tiger, giraffe and cheetah enclosures, as well as a room that shares a glass wall with a shark tank.

I earned some serious brownie points taking my partner Amelia to stay and on arrival we were taken to the uShaka lounge inside the aquarium.

If the sharks and giant gopher fish weren't enough to grab our attention, the room's fine art and sculptures from Africa certainly did.

We met guests from the other 18 rooms and after refreshments were taken on a tour of the zoo which concluded at our bungalow door.

Approaching our wooden door (with a lion's head sculpted into it), the anticipation levels began to rise rapidly. But there was no preparing for what met us on the other side.

The door swung open and we quite literally stepped into the lion's den, with only four enormous glass panels separating us from the jungle kings.

On one side of the glass panel was a luxury suite with a king-size canopy bed and a bathtub positioned against one of the windows, while on the other side - smack bang at the foot of our bed - was the lions' den.

Beyond the lions' sleeping quarters was an enormous enclosure where the zoo's three adult lions, Millie and her two boys Saba and Marjan, were lazing in the sun.

The zookeeper pulled back the gate to their bedroom and almost immediately the trio came striding up to investigate their new roommates.

Saba was the first to arrive and with my face pressed to the glass in amazement he walked up to within centimetres of my nose and stared me dead in the eye. I froze.

The 15-year-old beauty then made it clear we were in his territory and turned around to spray the glass with urine.

It was an awesome and humbling moment.

We spent a few hours observing these magnificent animals, before getting picked up and taken for drinks and canapes on a balcony overlooking the zoo grounds before dinner.

Following drinks we made our way to the dining room and were shown to our seats, with a hyena enclosure behind us and another lions' den just metres to our right.

If the experience thus far wasn't already mind-boggling enough, the five course meal pushed the adventure out of this stratosphere.

Entrees included oysters, stuffed zucchini, pork belly, beef bobotie, seared scallops, satay prawns and mini rosti, before we moved onto our mains. I enjoyed the spiced lamb rack with mash, while Amelia tucked into the prosciutto-wrapped ballotine chicken.

We finished with cheesecake and raspberry chocolate fondant, mousse, ice cream and a cheese board. It was hands-down the best restaurant experience of our lives.

We'd been warned about the roars in the middle of the night but nothing could have prepared us for being woken by the sheer power of a lion's cry in the dead of the night.

The feline brothers became particularly restless around 3am and began barging up against the glass as Amelia starting planning our escape route.

In the morning, we curled up on the floor next to them and just lay there for another hour. It was an incredible experience to be so close to these creatures - you can inspect every tooth when the lions yawn luxuriously.

After breakfast we set off on a second guided tour around the grounds before the zoo is opened to the public.

We arrived back at our room for one more hour of quiet observation, before checking out of the luxury and into another enclosure for an encounter with Jura the cheetah.

What really capped our Jamala adventure was the incredible passion shown by the staff, their dedication is genuine and the once in a lifetime experience would not be the same without them.

The verdict: There's a reason Jamala Lodge has won countless awards around the world and while it's not cheap, all profits are injected back into the zoo to ensure the animals' welfare. It's a truly priceless experience hidden in our backyard which is great for Canberra and even better for the animals - many of whom have been rescued.

Details: Jamala Lodge is always heavily booked but you can try your luck for later this year by visiting http://www.jamalawildlifelodge.com.au/