9Bit - have you ever been in a helicopter sim!?
For the uninitiated, they're not terrible in fwd flight at a sensible height (even low level) but the handling at low speed is usually fairly crap, and the visuals are, at their best, about as good as a computer game from the 90's. What that means is that, certainly for degraded visibility stuff they're useful as a procedural trainer, but nothing like the real thing to fly. More useful for gaining experience of hot/high emergency handling admittedly.
All the above said, thankfully UK military helicopters have joined at least the late 20th century with regards autopilot/stability systems over the last few years, so the risk associated with hurling a 50million quid helo at the desert floor should be significantly reduced, thus reducing the training burden. However, as someone pointed out above, landing isn't everything! Reduced performance at high DA's and the utterly dark desert nights have to be trained in, if you want to play world domination as a government. Put up or shut up....
Yes, some of the locations do occasionally have hotels. But very few, and only when necessary. And usually because they're cheaper than the host nation's military offering, which are often surprisingly expensive and consist of a few tents and a hole in the ground.