Aussie Gal

[Jancruz]

What hotel would you suggest as a great location for seeing Sydney 4 or 5 star...

Have you any idea??

Thanks,

Jan

*****

[Kiwifruit]

Lots of good hotels in Sydney but positionwise it is very hard to beat the Park Hyatt which is practically on circular quay (where most cruise ships berth) looking directly out to Sydney Opera House in one direction and Harbour bridge in other direction and within very short walking distance of both. It is a hop, skip and a jump from the cruise terminal and is right in the historic "Rocks" precinct. Only downside is that it is so popular you rarely get discounted rates there.

[Aussie Gal]

Jan,

 

The Park Hyatt would be the most expensive hotel in Sydney as it is situated right on the water just beneath the bridge. If you want a good hotel but not quite as expensive here are some other choices.

 

The Four Seasons is in a good location as well http://www.fourseasons.com/sydney/

 

We are staying in Sydney in 3 weeks time at the Shangri-la which is also in a wonderful location but has bigger rooms than the Four Seasons.

 

http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/sydney/shangrila

 

We have also stayed at a lovely boutique hotel - the Sir Stamford which is right near the Opera House and opposite the Gardens -

 

http://www.stamford.com.au/sscq/

 

Another good one is the Sheraton on the Park which is nearer the shops but is an excellent hotel. We have stayed there many times. Ask for a Park View if you do decide on this one.

 

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=140&PS=GWS_aa_GoogleInternational_the_Sheraton_on_park_sydney_122505

 

You cannot go wrong with any of these hotels, they are all excellent and in wonderful locations.

 

By the way, Sydney is my second home. Our daughter and family lived there for over 7 years and I used to fly up every month for a 3 day visit so know the city and suburbs extremely well.

 

Jennie

[Rosslyn]

The Park Hyatt is expensive, but by far the best positioned hotel in Sydney both for views and location!

[NSWP]

Country Comfort at Central Railway, 5 mins to Darling Harbour/China town, 2 mins to trains, $120 a night, stayed there last year. 3 star quite good.

 

Cheers:) .

[lahore]

I second Aussie Girl's nomination of the Shangri La. We stayed in their corner harbour view suite, with bedroom, lounge, stunning view of harbour, opera house, bridge, and from the bath to ceiling windows you can see the other side of Sydney - Darling Harbour etc.. NOT cheap, but an excellent treat; make it even better by checking into the exec floors, with a club lounge with wall to ceiling views of the harbour and excellent pre-dinner drinks and canapes.

[NAS-KARR]

Aussie Gal has the right idea.

[lahore]

View from our window at shangri-la, with two cruise ships as a bonus.

 

Whoops, somehow you got two pictures as well as two ships - sorry, I can't work out how to get rid of one.

[Dale Jr]

We are staying in Sydney in 3 weeks time at the Shangri-la which is also in a wonderful location but has bigger rooms than the Four Seasons.

 

Where would be the appropriate location to stay if we were going to be in Sydney for a week and were looking to do day trips out of the city each day or perhaps a couple of overnight trips. We are thinking of renting a car but not sure if we want to get involved in driving on what would be the wrong side of the road for us!!

 

We prefer the four or five star hotels.

[KIWI66]

There are 2 hop on hop off buses in sydney that take you to most places .The red bus around all the city highlights and the blue bus out to the heads and beaches.You can arrange tours out to the blue mountains for a couple of days which are stunning, and also harbour criuses around this great city, enjoy!There are many hotels around the darling harbour which is a great location as a base.

[bowlcoach]

We stayed at the ANA Hotel in Sydney. Great hotel.

[Jancruz]

What can I say..you are all the best!!

Thanks so much for all the good information..do any of you live in Sydney so we can meet when we are there?

Regards,

Jan

*****

[meow!]

Another good one is the Sheraton on the Park which is nearer the shops but is an excellent hotel. We have stayed there many times. Ask for a Park View if you do decide on this one.

We stayed at this hotel for ten days in April, 2001. It was quite good and relatively inexpensive. We chose it for its location and price, besides, it gave us Starwood points and allowed us to stay till 4 p.m. if we needed it.

 

It was close to QVB, the main shopping centre, and the corner of King Street and Castlereigh, where the boutique shops were, for us to window shop. At the time, the A$ was 48 UScents, really wonderful. I remember having come across the Paspaley store (moved away this year) and saw this strand of 14 to 18 mm perfect pearls, with no blemishes and such high lustre as to be "oily". The sales lady said it would be only US$750,000 (we would be tempted if it was two zeros less), "an American would really love this!" she said. Well, that was 2001, now with the euro soaring and the A$1 at 86 UScents, I guess she would tell her customers "a EUROpean would really love this!"

[Aussie Gal]

We stayed at the ANA Hotel in Sydney. Great hotel.

 

The ANA Hotel is now the Shangri-la and has had a massive renovation.

 

Jennie

[Aussie Gal]

Where would be the appropriate location to stay if we were going to be in Sydney for a week and were looking to do day trips out of the city each day or perhaps a couple of overnight trips. We are thinking of renting a car but not sure if we want to get involved in driving on what would be the wrong side of the road for us!!

 

We prefer the four or five star hotels.

 

We have stayed at the Sheraton on the Park for up to a week and have found that it is a great hotel for that length of time. We always request a Park View room and often have been upgraded to a Junior suite. It has a pool which is great if you are in Sydney in hot weather.

 

It is very close to the shops, in fact it has a direct walk way into David Jones which is one of our biggest and most upmarket Department Stores. We have always rented a car up there but I understand you not wanting to as we wouldn't do it in the States, too worried about driving on the wrong side!

 

Often you can get specials, look on the Starwood Website and try and get your breakfast included which is a wonderful buffet. If not, just next door in the arcade are cafes that have very cheap breakfasts so you will not be stuck.

 

Jennie

[spindrift]

We were originally at the Marriott Circular Quay but due to varying circumstances with the cruise line, air, etc. etc., we are now at the 4 Seasons. The only rooms available are the "Opera House View." Will we be able to see the bridge, ships, etc. etc. or only the Opera House? The hotel website doesn't show the view for our category. We really love to watch the water action.

 

The Harbor view (which is less than the Opera House view) is no longer available as it is less in cost than the Opera View). Help me with this info. Even tho the cost is less, if that is a better view, then I will ask for a "wait list." Thanks.

[Aussie Gal]

Spindrift,

 

I think you wil find you have a fantastic view. You will be looking out all over the harbour with the Opera House in the picture. The Harbour Bridge view would be straight ahead with just the Bridge and not a lot of the harbour itself.

 

You will be able to see Circular Quay with all the ferries, probably the ship when it docks and everything else that is so special about Sydney. I wouldn't worry about your room, it will be fabulous.

 

Jennie

[lahore]

Spindrift, I am not familiar with the Marriott actually, can't recall it. I would make a general comment though, not to put you off but my personal feeling: I am Australian and I drive on our side of the road of course. I wouldn't want to drive in Sydney, and I live in a big city. Sydney CBD has a reputation for having a lot of counter-intuitive streets (many which go in weird directions and are one-way). If you drive there you are a braver person than I would be! But to put that in context, when we visited USA we had a car hire booked and paid for - we never used it, were too afraid of driving on the 'wrong side'.

[taxare]

The ANA Hotel is now the Shangri-la and has had a massive renovation.

 

Jennie

 

We have stayed at the Shangri-La twice. We had wonderful stays. The view from the upper floors is fabulous. One warning, if you have trouble walking, its a very steep hill up/down to the harbor.

[mochuck]

Where would be the appropriate location to stay if we were going to be in Sydney for a week and were looking to do day trips out of the city each day or perhaps a couple of overnight trips. We are thinking of renting a car but not sure if we want to get involved in driving on what would be the wrong side of the road for us!!

 

We prefer the four or five star hotels.

 

Lahore is absolutely right about driving in Sydney, its a nightmare. I live and work in Sydney and absolutely hate having to drive in the CBD which is where you will probably be staying. I can't imagine what it would be like trying to drive when you're not familiar with the area. All I can say is you are very brave.

 

Really the public transport is quite good and your best option. Plus its quite a nice city to walk around if your legs are in good shape.

[lahore]

Hi Mochuck, LOL, thanks for that. I live in Melbourne so I was nervous about posting something that could be construed as bagging Sydney, so I was pleased to see you have the same percpetion. :)

[spindrift]

Woops, hope I don't post this message twice. I wasn't paying attention (multi-tasking) and hit some button and my incomplete message disappeared. Anyway, lahore, I wasn't the one who was inquiring about driving. You can be assured I wouldn't chance that.

 

I will be the one walking and looking for a liquor store to have a drink in my room as I understand about 3 yrs ago a glass of wine w/dinner was $16.

 

And Aussie Gal, thanks for the fabulous information. I won't worry anymore. I do enjoy "views." Can't wait to go to Sydney.

[tgh]

Traffic phobia's are source dependent .. If you are used to driving in Bombay .. or Dubai.. Sydney is a breeze.

 

Coming form Brisbane , I think Sydney is the pits .. although you can go lower... :eek:

 

I hate heavy traffic , but always cope in Sydney because it's relatively easy to get north or south via freeways.

 

If you want to see something , other than endless sprawling suburbia.. hiring a car an heading north or north west is a worthwhile option.

 

I have found the left right driving thing relatively easy , and never get into trouble in the US or Europe .. but I do pay attention and work at it.

 

I would strongly recommend a gps Navigator , and will never travel to Europe or the US again without one.

[Aussie Gal]

Driving in Sydney is harder than Melbourne but I still find it relatively easy though Sydney does have a lot of one way streets which one needs to know about.

 

Once you leave the city centre then it is no harder than anywhere else. If you want to go to the Blue Mountains as the OP suggested, I would take a tour or go with a guide/driver due to the fact that the traffic is very heavy and you would be concentrating so hard on where you are going, what side of the road you are on etc. that you wouldn't see the sights.

 

This happened to my DH when we were in the South of France and we were driving along the coast road to Monaco. He didn't see a thing and it wasn't until we returned a few years later and were driven by a guide that he actually saw what he missed out on.

 

Jennie