Hi--<BR>Does anyone have any thoughts/comments on the Cambridge Park Inn in Sydney (located at 212 Riley St)? Is this a good hotel? Is it in a good area? Any info would be greatly appreciated. <BR>Thanks,<BR>Monica

Monica, I can't tell you anything about the hotel, though I fancy that one can see the sign on the top of the building from the trains as they head into the subway tunnel near Central, and if it's the building I think it is, it was built in the seventies -- but it's really not in much of an area, and it's actually not in Sydney itself but a VERY inner suburb called Darlinghurst. It's very close to some of the great eateries in Oxford Street, around Taylor Square (a well-known gay area), but apart from that, you'd have to walk past lots of small offices and large blocks of units to get to anywhere worth seeing. If you can get a really great deal there, it would be worth it, as we are only talking about a ten-minute walk from the Town Hall, but if you can get an equally-good price within the CBD, I wouldn't choose anything in Darlinghurst.

Alan,<BR>Thanks for the response - I am able to get a rate there of $132 AUD (including taxes, full hot buffet breakfast for 2, welcome gift, and parking). I am also considering the Radisson Plaza (on O'Connell), but their rates start at $229 AUD (just room and tax) or $259 AUD (including taxes, breakfast, and welcome gift). <BR><BR>This will be my 1st time down under, and while am on a budget, don't want a bad area.<BR><BR>Thanks!

Monica<BR>Depending on when you are arriving, why not have a look at needitnow.com.au or wotif.com.au, who have some good last minute rates.<BR><BR>Like Alan, I'd have some concerns about the area, but if this is the best deal, then go for it. I've probably stayed in a lot worse

Hi again, Monica!<BR>Well, there is certainly no difficulty in finding hotels for a cheaper price than you are being charged, and in a better location -- the Criterion, for instance, which is on the corner of Pitt and Park Sts, is in one of the best locations in Sydney, and its double rooms are $AUD66 (no breakfast or &quot;welcome gift&quot;, alas!) -- but probably the standard of the actual accommodation in some of the ones I would suggest wouldn't measure up to the Cambridge Park (at the Criterion, for instance, you share a bathroom). However, before you go ahead and confirm, at least have a look at some of the following on the world-wide-web: The Grand in Hunter Street (check http://sydney.citysearch.com.au/E/V/...99/15/1.html); the Coronation, at 5 Park Street (not much on the net, but you can phone them on 02-9267-8362);the Park Regis, also in Park Street; and, if you want breakfast as the Cambridge Park is offering, the Australian Hotel in the Rocks. If you want a view of the Bridge and you don't mind staying in one of the ugliest buildings in the southern hemisphere (you could take a photo of it to amuse your friends, who would never believe you could stoop so low!) you could try the Palisade (www.palisadehotel.com), where a double costs $118, and you are less than ten minutes' pleasant walk from Circular Quay. All of these would, I think, offer prices around your budget (though none of them is a four-star hotel, you understand), and there is no doubt that any one is in a 600% better location than the Darlinghurst option. Good luck!

Please don't bother with the Park Regis unless you are desperate - the location is the only good thing about it - small pokey rooms, unhelpful staff - I am sure all of Alan's other suggestions would be better.