# Location of Sydney hotels & other questions



## Jwerking (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi all:

Daughter will be on her way to Sydney next weekend to do her semester at UNSW.  We have our airline tickets booked to visit for 3 wks in July - first 3 nights at Sydney, week to Port Douglas, ????

I have spent alot of time looking for Sydney hotels online today and am a bit confused with locations and distances to major sites.  We need a hotel room to accomodate 4 adults or may treat ourselves and stay in a 2 BR apt.

Do alot of hotel rooms in Oz only sleep a max of 3?  It appears some will sleep 4 with 2 doubles , but it appears you cannot always book these online.  

Hotels are cheap by the Central Train station.  How far is this from major sites at Circular Quay, etc - can you walk, if so how long to walk, if not, how long to take bus, etc?

Are hotels by Darling Harbor a good location for quick access to major sites?  Some appear to be almost as far south as the Central Train Station.

Looking at Meriton Apt rentals:  My choices are World Tower, Pitt St. and Kent Street.   Does anyone know which one of these would be most convenient to major sites?

Thanks,

Joyce


----------



## Aussie girl (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi Joyce,

Yes, a lot of places only accomodate 3 but you can request a rollaway.


----------



## nonutrix (Jan 28, 2007)

If you are looking for a hotel room, I would stay in "the Rocks" area.  There are hotels at all price ranges from boutique to deluxe.  Just about everything is in walking distance, and what isn't, can be reached easily by bus from this area.  The "hop on hop off" buslines go through this area about every 15 minutes, and they'll take you to both city locations and outlying areas.  Also, the water ferries and taxis located right in Circular Quay, which is essentially the same thing as "The Rocks".

Try this link for more info:

http://www.therocks.com/sydney-Where_to_stay_in_The_Rocks.htm

I hope this helps!

nonutrix


----------



## sage (Jan 29, 2007)

*Sydney*

Hi again Joyce,
Unfortunately, a lot of hotels do only accomodate 3 people - one way to cash in on families travelling together.
Darling Harbour has some hotels but only some of the attractions. Lots of places to eat and very safe at night.
I would recommend the World Tower or anything in the centre of the city if you can get it. From there you have a short walk to Darling Harbour; the main shopping district in George Street; the stations (Town hall and Museum) and nearly ALL the buses that go in and out of the city! You can catch the train or bus to Bondi Beach from near here as well.
The two stations I mentioned are on the city circle - a big loop around the city that will get you to Central (for Blue Mountains day trips) and to Circular Quay for the Harbour.
The next choice would be the Rocks as it is near the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and Circular Quay. Lots of pubs and restaurants also. It is a very historic area with lots of converted convict buildings and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
The Mercure apartments at Central are apparently quite reasonable but a bit away from the restarants but near Central station. This is only a 10 minute bus ride to Circular Quay and buses come every few minutes.
Gillian


----------



## chubby (Jan 29, 2007)

Hi Joyce
You are 2 and half KLS away from Circular Quay where the ferries leave from you could catch a bus down George street to it or catch the underground train at the Townhall station  to Circular Quay station 
 The Meriton aparments are good  but are a little bit out of the way of the city centre but you have the mono rail going past the door you can catch it does a circle to the centre of the city to Darling Habour


----------



## Jwerking (Jan 30, 2007)

Hi all:

Thank you for replies.  What do you guys thing about the location of the York apts.  The website is below - sorry it is not clickable and I was not able to figure out how to copy and insert the location map - I am a bit computer challenged.   It looks like it would be fairly close to the major sites.  So would we be able to walk to the Circular Quay, etc.?

It was reasonable at $295 AU per night for a 2 BR/2Bath apt - as much as I would have to pay for some hotel rooms that may only really sleep 2.  Any comments would be appreciated.

www.theyorkapartments.com.au

Thanks,

Joyce


----------



## chubby (Jan 30, 2007)

Yes hotels in Sydney are not cheap York Street is in the centre of the city and the end where those apartments you could walk any where to the places of interest I have never stayed in those apartments but they look ok on the web and they seem to be priced ok also would be beter location then the world tower apartments and would be cheaper to


----------



## Sydney (Jan 30, 2007)

From the York Apartments you'd just have to walk about a block to the bus stop. It's a quiet area. The buses go up and down George St which leads from Central to Circular Quay. There's the Rocks Markets on Sat & Sun at the end of George St. Do you need to make it to the UNSW? If you do at all, you'd have to catch the bus from Central Station. Central isn't too bad a place to stay because everything connects there. The train goes from Central to Circular Quay in a few minutes. It would take you over 1/2 an hr to walk the length of George St from Central to Circular Quay but it's an interesting walk with shops, restaurants and cinemas along the way. The Circular Quay end have mostly office buildings.

Central is close to Darling Harbour. When we go into the city, we park in Central and walk to Darling Harbour. There's a ferry that goes from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. Darling Harbour is also the location of the Chinese Garden and the Aquarium. There's a good tourist information office there and an Australian Outback travel centre that has free didgeridoo shows - excellent and very informative. There are quite a few hotels that will have two double beds. You can check that on their websites or if you ask them beforehand, they can tell you wether they have those rooms. If they do, you can just book a room on the internet and request that type of room in the comments section. We do this whenever we book a room.

Central will be where you can catch the airport shuttle also, at the same bus stop where you could catch a bus to UNSW. It's close to China Town for good cheap food as well. Restaurants at the Circular Quay end tend to be more expensive. There are more choices at Draling Harbour also. 

If it was us, we'd stay at Darling Harbour or closeby and just walk or catch the train/bus to Circular Quay on the day that we want to see the Opera House and the markets. Anything else can be done from Darling Harbour.

I checked the www.accorhotels.com.au website and they have rooms at Novotel Rockford Darling Harbour for $152. I think you'd be much happier with it's location than The York.


----------



## Jwerking (Feb 4, 2007)

Sydney said:


> Central isn't too bad a place to stay because everything connects there. The train goes from Central to Circular Quay in a few minutes. It would take you over 1/2 an hr to walk the length of George St from Central to Circular Quay but it's an interesting walk with shops, restaurants and cinemas along the way. The Circular Quay end have mostly office buildings.
> 
> Central is close to Darling Harbour.
> 
> ...



Hi Sydney:

Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed explanation - it is really helpful.  Glad to know that it is only a 30 min walk from Central to the Quay or a quick trip on the train.  

Unfortunately I still have the problem with finding a room that will sleep 4 of us, the Novotel hotel you linked- once again - only sleeps 2 and a max of 3.  I would have to get 2 rooms anyway - which would be same costs as a 2 br apt at the York.  But I will look for additional hotels or perhaps apts in the Darling Harbour area.  I like the thought of staying in areas with reasonable places to eat - esp chinatown, where you can buy some yummy pastries/dim sum for breakfast.

What do you think about a hotel at Central?  There is a very reasonable YHA hotel right in the train station- I think - and it does have family rooms that sleep 4.  Not luxury - but honestly - i am not concerned as we only need a place to sleep since we will be out sightseeing most of day - since will only be there for 3 days from Thurs to Sat ( leaving sunday morning and Thursday is arrival day after a 24 hr trip from the US).  I guess the only thought for a hotel room is all being in one room and having only 1 bath when we are use to timeshares - LOL!

Also, tell me about the airport shuttle from Central?  Are you talking about the train?  For 3 or 4 of us, isn;t it just as cost effective to take a taxi and just get service door to door ?  Your airport is close to town - so not terribly far in a taxi.

Thanks, Joyce


----------



## sage (Feb 5, 2007)

*Sydney Apartments*

Hi Joyce,
I just found a website 
www.sydneyservicedapartments.net 
that lists several serviced apartments in the city. Most of the prices are low season and the time you are visiting is right in the middle of the school holidays. 
One option you could look at is wait until about 3 weeks before you arrive and you may get really good deals on 
http://www.lastminute.com.au
http://www.needitnow.com.au
The only thing is that these sites are for short notice bookings.
http://www.check-in.com.au
APVC (Accor Premier Vacation Club) Pinnacle Apartments at Darling Harbour are currently listed on this site at $230 for a week night. They are a block from Darling Harbour, fully self contained and very modern. I've stayed there before and they are really nice! If you're with II they are in the directory (code PKL).

If you are considering a backpackers look at 
independentbackpackers.com.au
I've never stayed at them but a couple at Central or Surry Hills have been shown on our travel shows.
The train from the airport is $10 per person. A taxi may work out cheaper.
Gillian


----------



## Sydney (Feb 6, 2007)

The YHA at Central is supposed to be pretty good. Check it out here. My sister-in-law stayed there once and seemed quite happy with it. I think they serve breakfast there as well. It's only a few minutes walk to Chinatown and Darling Harbour from there.

I was talking about the bus airport shuttle but yes, you're right that the taxi would be just as cheap, if not cheaper for 4 of you. We caught a taxi from Chinatown to the airport once but can't recall how much it was. It's so much more convenient anyway with luggage.

Also you can catch a ferry to Circular Quay from Darling Harbour so you have a lot of options staying in the Central/Darling Harbour area. If you like sushi, they have inexpenseive and excellent sushi in Chinatown at Ippon Sushi on Sussex St or Sushi Train on George St inside the Hoyts Cinemas. Of course the Chinese food there is awesome.

The sites Gillian gave you are good for last minute availability. We've used both lastminute and needitnow a number of times. A really good one we've also used for last minute availability is wotif. Needitnow and wotif charge a small booking fee but they're great sites. Check all three and I'm sure you'll find something good on one of those sites.

The Accor website sometimes have amazing deals, e.g. over our Summer, they had many of their hotels, including Novotel Darling Harbour, on special for $50/nt. We got one of those Novotel rooms that had the 2 double beds for $50 for Christmas Eve down here in Mebourne. My sister booked 6 consecutive nts at that rate for a 2 double-bedded rm when she came to visit us and she also booked a couple of rms at Novotel Darling Harbour for her own family of 4 and her in-laws. Not sure if they'll have that rate again soon. It could have just been a Summer deal, but you never know your luck.


----------

