Threatening note in Hilton Hotel room sparks Darwin bomb scare

A piece of paper could hold the key to a bomb scare in the Darwin CBD, which triggered an evacuation of the Hilton Hotel on Mitchell Street.

About 6.40pm yesterday, a hotel guest found a disturbing note stating there was a bomb in her room and alerted Northern Territory Police.

"We were having dinner in the dining room when a gentleman came along and said we had to evacuate the hotel, there has been an incident, and that's all we were told," New South Wales tourist Jan Trent told 9News.

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Tactical response officers swarmed a middle-level storey, conducting an extensive search as hotel guests waited outside.

After two hours, authorities deemed the building safe, with no device located.

Guests were allowed to return to their rooms and resume evening activities and Hilton Darwin provided dinner for free.

"It's great to see that everybody was safe, everybody knew what to do, guests felt taken care of," Hilton Darwin general manager Markus Kaliss said.

Patron Sandra Watson was understanding about the inconvenience.

"What can you do about it? You know, it wasn't their fault," she said.

It's understood the note had been slipped under the guest's door but with no CCTV cameras in the hallways, police are still working to track down the offender.

The piece of paper has been sent off for forensic testing and the results are pending.

Looking at the silver lining, Mr Kalliss told 9News the scare was a good test for its staff.

"Good to see that things work because we practice them on tabletop exercises but last night we had an opportunity to put it in practice," he said.

Anyone with information relating to the hoax is urged to contact police on 131 444 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.