Songdoc

Hi -

I'm aware of wotif -- but was wondering if there are any other discount websites -- where you don't have to wait until so close to departure.

On Priceline, Sydney is not separated by zones and I'm scared to wind up at the airport.

I don't care about luxury -- all I need is a clean, quiet basic room. But a great location is important in Sydney because I don't plan on renting a car. (I will have a car in NZ.)

I'll be in Auckland and Christchurch in late May -- and Sydney in June -- so with it being off-season, I'm guessing I could wait for wotif -- but I'd love to have everything locked in.

With this being a month-long trip I'm trying to go for budget lodgings -- but with great locations. I'm thinking of places analogous to Days' Inn or Motel 6 and hoping to spend under $125/nt. -- but I can go a little higher if needed.

Self-catering would be great, too.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Jed

My experience is that sometimes if you email the hotel directly, you can ask for the best rate, and you might get the wotif rate, even a long way off. Might be worth a try.

Songdoc

Thanks, Jed. That's great advice!

guaranteed

Priceline shows a map , where their Hotels are.
The zone is the Business District.
I got the Marriott at $133 late April.
Do whatever you want.
Priceline.com is probably not good for New Zealand.

mlgb

Accor (the parent hotel of Motel 6) also has hotels in Australia and NZ.

http://www.accorhotels.com.au/

I also got some good deals on wotif.

Songdoc

Accor looks like it may be perfect. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

FYI, I went back to Priceline -- but the only options I see are "Sydney" (which encompasses the entire city and airport area) OR a list of various suburbs. There is no option that I can find for CBD or business district.

And Jed ... so far, the first hotel that responded did not offer a lower rate than what is listed on their website. That's higher than the wotif rate -- but my trip is almost eight weeks away.

JamesA

I've used www.asiaoz.com and they have been fine, I like the 'instant confirmation' so you don't have to find out if available or not, have used for years and never any problems at all.

JohnFitz

Also see www.needitnow.com.au .

kimbobb

We used travelbug.com.au and travelbug.com.nz to find reasonable rates way ahead of our arrival.

The sites are user-friendly, and the response is very quick.

sunsurfsand

Possibly www.lastminute.com.au

Geordie

I was recently at the Travel Show in Sydney and I saw a company called ubid4rooms
http://www.ubid4rooms.com/

It looks a lot like Wotif but what you do is look for a destination and then a selection of hotels will appear and the normal price will appear and you can then bid lower. You'll find out in about 3 hours if you are successful or not

I haven't tried it so I don't know what kind of savings to expect

Geordie

venice52

I suggest you stay at hostels they are really good and most have great kitchens also in the centre of the cities close to public transport.Check out Hostel bookers .comthey have ratings and people write comments.Theyu dont have a booking fee either.I used them in China and ratings and comments were spot on.

lorikeet

http://www.wotif.com/ is the main one used and at least has the advantage of once clicked it is really booked.

Songdoc

Hi ...

Re: ubid4rooms ... this is obviously a division of wotif (it's virtually the identical website) and you can only book 2 weeks prior to your stay (as opposed to 4 weeks on wotif).

I'm eager to lock things in and cross them off my list, so I just wish I didn't have to wait so long. But that said, it looks great and if I can muster some patience, it might provide the best deals.

I wasn't comfortable about giving travelbug my credit card info before I could do anything -- and I'm a little leery of sites I have to pay for.

Hostels? No, I don't need luxury -- but at this stage, I'm looking for en suite bathrooms, quiet, and privacy.

Thanks so much for your suggestions!

mlgb

At least in NZ, you might find some B&B's that work for you, with ensuite rooms. I've used the website bnb.co.nz to search for them, then you usually email directly to the owners. It does require a bit more work than just booking a hotel room.

You can also sign up with Millenium hotels for their email specials. Sometimes you can get the equal to the wotif price with the right code.

KathyNZ

www.ratestogo.com