Hawaii Gals to Sydney in April 2004
Feb 14th, 2004, 06:03 AM
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Hawaii Gals to Sydney in April 2004
Aloha from Hawaii: I have read some of the postings and found them very informative and I though I might give it a try. I am traveling to Australia for three weeks, beginning April 4th 2004. 1st stop is four days in Sydney. I am in charge of planning this leg of the trip and I would like some suggestions to the following questions.
Hotel: I would like to be possible near Hyde Park (is it a nice park worth staying by?), near Oxford(good shopping?) and walking distance to tourist sights. Here are my options for hotels so far: Sheraton at the Inn, The Sydney Boulevard, IBIS Darling(?) Harbour. Any three seem to match my criteria? Or any other suggestions?
Attractions: What are the five things to not miss/see/do while in Sydney? (besides the bridge, opera house, and fish and chips). The beach is not that important, as they are everywhere here in Hawaii =) Wondering about the Zoo. What does the bridge intail? Not good for those with fear of heights? Please advise.
Food: Where is a nice place to have tea with a view of the harbor?
Shopping: Looking more to wonder around then to buy. Any street or area suggestion? What is Australia know for in terms of goods to bring back, like wine, wool stuff???? Just some ideas for souvenirs.
Off to Melbourne: What to do there? Suggestions please. However, I am not in charge of this part so no rush.
Adelair: Wine tasting visit. Any suggestions to certain wineries that are good for touring and drinking?
Mahalo for taking a look at this and thank you for the advice!
Hotel: I would like to be possible near Hyde Park (is it a nice park worth staying by?), near Oxford(good shopping?) and walking distance to tourist sights. Here are my options for hotels so far: Sheraton at the Inn, The Sydney Boulevard, IBIS Darling(?) Harbour. Any three seem to match my criteria? Or any other suggestions?
Attractions: What are the five things to not miss/see/do while in Sydney? (besides the bridge, opera house, and fish and chips). The beach is not that important, as they are everywhere here in Hawaii =) Wondering about the Zoo. What does the bridge intail? Not good for those with fear of heights? Please advise.
Food: Where is a nice place to have tea with a view of the harbor?
Shopping: Looking more to wonder around then to buy. Any street or area suggestion? What is Australia know for in terms of goods to bring back, like wine, wool stuff???? Just some ideas for souvenirs.
Off to Melbourne: What to do there? Suggestions please. However, I am not in charge of this part so no rush.
Adelair: Wine tasting visit. Any suggestions to certain wineries that are good for touring and drinking?
Mahalo for taking a look at this and thank you for the advice!
Feb 14th, 2004, 12:36 PM
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Australia is well known for its wool products and it has some extremely lovely designs that you only see here but if you are from Hawaii you won't want too much of that. Opals are abundant and the Black Opal is only found in Australia. Australia supplies the world's gem trade with 80% of its saphires and allied stones and those too as extremely abundant and interesting in terms of design and quality. Of course our coloured diamonds are of top quality and those are just "to die for".
No need to tell you about our pearls, as you have those as well.
Hyde Park is boring and its not a particularly interesting area as its right in the middle of the CBD.
Oxford Street would NOT be my choice unless you are into cross dressing, and something resembling the San Francisco scene.
Are you meaning the Sheraton on the Park? That is near Hyde Park but certainly not my choice although its a nice 5 star hotel.
You would be much better off near or around The Rocks area ( nice to walk around too ) which is within walking distance of just about everything you would need. Do you want a Chain Hotel or something with some Australian flavour but without the Gym and conference rooms etc? The Russel Hotel would be my choice of hotel both for position and ambience but you would have to do without some of those extras i.e. doormen and the like.
You may be in Sydney for the Royal Easter Show but I am not sure when Easter is this year so that may not be the case. If you were there then that would be uniquely Australian for you.
Wine, and some very interesting liquors, different clothing. I am sure you will see lots of different things here that will take your fancy. My choice of eating areas are in Newtown - long stip of a street with just about any type of restaurant you can imagine. Nothing flash though.
Watson's Bay and eating at Doyles ( PUB )after a ferry boat ride there, walking along the cliffs on the other side.
Cafe' de Wheels in Wooloomooloo for a uniquely Australian meal!
No need to tell you about our pearls, as you have those as well.
Hyde Park is boring and its not a particularly interesting area as its right in the middle of the CBD.
Oxford Street would NOT be my choice unless you are into cross dressing, and something resembling the San Francisco scene.
Are you meaning the Sheraton on the Park? That is near Hyde Park but certainly not my choice although its a nice 5 star hotel.
You would be much better off near or around The Rocks area ( nice to walk around too ) which is within walking distance of just about everything you would need. Do you want a Chain Hotel or something with some Australian flavour but without the Gym and conference rooms etc? The Russel Hotel would be my choice of hotel both for position and ambience but you would have to do without some of those extras i.e. doormen and the like.
You may be in Sydney for the Royal Easter Show but I am not sure when Easter is this year so that may not be the case. If you were there then that would be uniquely Australian for you.
Wine, and some very interesting liquors, different clothing. I am sure you will see lots of different things here that will take your fancy. My choice of eating areas are in Newtown - long stip of a street with just about any type of restaurant you can imagine. Nothing flash though.
Watson's Bay and eating at Doyles ( PUB )after a ferry boat ride there, walking along the cliffs on the other side.
Cafe' de Wheels in Wooloomooloo for a uniquely Australian meal!
Feb 14th, 2004, 01:21 PM
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Coogi sweaters are beautiful. Living in Hawaii, you probably won't want the wool versions of them, but there are some lovely cotton ones too. The further south you go in Australia, the bigger the selection of wool Coogis, and the further north you go, the bigger the selection of cotton ones.
Feb 14th, 2004, 01:54 PM
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They answer to either "sweater" or "jumper" in Oz. But bear in mind that an American "appetiser" is an "entree" here, and an American "entree" is the main course.
Feb 14th, 2004, 06:06 PM
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Thank you for the responses: Now I know The Rocks is a good place to stay in but looking on-line the hotels are quite expensive. What about Darhling Harbour, is the location there any good? We leave Sydney on the 8th so before Easter. Any other suggestions for hotels? The Russell seems unavailable whe nI do my search. Continued thanks for the info. Aloha!
Feb 14th, 2004, 06:50 PM
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alohacheryl - Coincidentally I was just looking for the Russell for one of my guests (I'm in Queensland) and found it with no trouble on www.therussell.com.au
although I believe the rooms are small (some anyway) it's in a perfect location in The Rocks. It's highly recommended in Frommers. Nearby is Bed&Breakfast Sydney Harbour - www.sydneyharbour.com.au Darling Harbour is not on Sydney Harbour proper- more an inlet of - with convention centre, hotels, shops, Imax etc - all quite new and rather ugly, to me at least.
although I believe the rooms are small (some anyway) it's in a perfect location in The Rocks. It's highly recommended in Frommers. Nearby is Bed&Breakfast Sydney Harbour - www.sydneyharbour.com.au Darling Harbour is not on Sydney Harbour proper- more an inlet of - with convention centre, hotels, shops, Imax etc - all quite new and rather ugly, to me at least.
Feb 15th, 2004, 12:09 AM
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G'day again
Look on www.wotif.com.au and you will find something 2 weeks out from your visit that is not too expensive within the rocks area. Take a look now and see what you are looking at in terms of $$$
Look on www.wotif.com.au and you will find something 2 weeks out from your visit that is not too expensive within the rocks area. Take a look now and see what you are looking at in terms of $$$
Feb 15th, 2004, 02:32 AM
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Aloha again: great info so far. I did find the russell online (thanks Pat) but could not locate the B&B you mentioned. Any other suggestions for places to stay in The Rocks besides the Russell? Or what is the nearest area near the rocks to also search for hotel accomodations, no pool no fluff, just good location. Thank!
Feb 15th, 2004, 11:10 AM
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Alan has mentioned a couple of hotels near and around the rocks about 1,000 times and I cannot remember the name of them. If he does not come in here and help us out then do a search for either Sydney accommodation or Alan on this site and you should get some great ones.
I have checked a couple out myself there and although I cannot remember the names they were all great locations and comfortable hotels - though NOT 5 star. I will see if I can find the B&B for you though.
I have checked a couple out myself there and although I cannot remember the names they were all great locations and comfortable hotels - though NOT 5 star. I will see if I can find the B&B for you though.
Feb 15th, 2004, 11:37 AM
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It was easier to find a post by Alan that try and find what I was looking for. So here it is:
Author: Alan
Date: 11/13/2003, 07:27 pm
Message: Hi, 2seeds!
Do you mean this COMING Dec 30th.... in five weeks? If so, you can just about forget any of the popular hotels around the Rocks -- if there was accommodation left in any of them, I fear that it would be similar to what one poster found last year -- the Park Hyatt had rooms for something a bit more than $AUD900 per night. Of course, if "2seeds" is the log-in name for Bill Gates, then go for it! Otherwise, I would be looking at the hotels that no-one knows about, and that are NOT tourist-type hotels where, as soon as you mention New Year's Eve, all the prices multiply by your age next year.
The very-best located, as Janese stated, is the Russell, but it's tiny and there's no view, until you step outside. Another great one that MIGHT still have a room is the Lord Nelson Brewery, but, once again, there's no view. You may well score a view at the Palisade, and, not being too particular about getting five-star service and colour-coordinated rooms when I go travelling, if it were me I wouldn't hesitate, as their rooms are around $AUD120 per night, which is pretty good for a room that looks at the Harbour Bridge (not from the ideal angle, however). Before you book it, however, check its website (I think its www.palisade.com) and see what you think of it -- it's old and funny and not at all grand. I hesitate to recommend it to tourists (except for backpackers) as I worry about getting hate mail when they find that it's the ugliest old building built in pre-1930 Sydney!
Talking of grand, however, another possibility that might still have a vacancy that doesn't require you to mortgage the farm is the Grand in Hunter St. Their rooms, normally around $AUD120 a night, increase by about $AUD10 per night in New Year week, so they can hardly be accused of profiteering. However, it's not quite by the water -- about a seven minute walk -- there are no harbour views, and you share a bath (still, with what you save on the Hyatt places, you could afford to buy out the three or four rooms around you to ensure you got a bath to yourself!)
Darling Harbour is not a place I would normally recommend -- I get annoyed when the hotels around there advertise their rooms as having "harbour views:, and lure unsuspecting tourists who expect, naturally enough, that this means views of beautiful blue SYDNEY harbour, and not the tawdry complex of freeway overpasses, convention centres, an Imax complex, and chain hotels, with a miserable strip of water running between them -- which is what Darling Harbour (surely an estuary, not a harbour) actually is. However, I will say that in the Christmas-New Year period there is a lot going on around there; they have their own fireworks on New Year's Eve, and there are all sorts of holiday activities in the walking areas around the Imax. It's not, by any means, a no-go area! I can't recommend any one hotel in that area -- they all look exactly alike to me, which is the usual US-chain rip-offs which I avoid at all costs whether I'm in Sydney, Australia, or Sydney, Nova Scotia, or anywhere in between. But I'm sure they are all very clean and comfortable if you don't mind throwing all your money at them. The Medina, I guess, is as good as any -- but if the location is where I think it is, then the word "Harbourside" is a bit of a fudge.
If your research turns up some vacancies for the Christmas-New Year week, I hope you will share these with this forum, as I think there would be a lot of readers who would like to know where to score a good room near the Bridge at that particular time of year. Good luck!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Alan
Date: 11/13/2003, 07:27 pm
Message: Hi, 2seeds!
Do you mean this COMING Dec 30th.... in five weeks? If so, you can just about forget any of the popular hotels around the Rocks -- if there was accommodation left in any of them, I fear that it would be similar to what one poster found last year -- the Park Hyatt had rooms for something a bit more than $AUD900 per night. Of course, if "2seeds" is the log-in name for Bill Gates, then go for it! Otherwise, I would be looking at the hotels that no-one knows about, and that are NOT tourist-type hotels where, as soon as you mention New Year's Eve, all the prices multiply by your age next year.
The very-best located, as Janese stated, is the Russell, but it's tiny and there's no view, until you step outside. Another great one that MIGHT still have a room is the Lord Nelson Brewery, but, once again, there's no view. You may well score a view at the Palisade, and, not being too particular about getting five-star service and colour-coordinated rooms when I go travelling, if it were me I wouldn't hesitate, as their rooms are around $AUD120 per night, which is pretty good for a room that looks at the Harbour Bridge (not from the ideal angle, however). Before you book it, however, check its website (I think its www.palisade.com) and see what you think of it -- it's old and funny and not at all grand. I hesitate to recommend it to tourists (except for backpackers) as I worry about getting hate mail when they find that it's the ugliest old building built in pre-1930 Sydney!
Talking of grand, however, another possibility that might still have a vacancy that doesn't require you to mortgage the farm is the Grand in Hunter St. Their rooms, normally around $AUD120 a night, increase by about $AUD10 per night in New Year week, so they can hardly be accused of profiteering. However, it's not quite by the water -- about a seven minute walk -- there are no harbour views, and you share a bath (still, with what you save on the Hyatt places, you could afford to buy out the three or four rooms around you to ensure you got a bath to yourself!)
Darling Harbour is not a place I would normally recommend -- I get annoyed when the hotels around there advertise their rooms as having "harbour views:, and lure unsuspecting tourists who expect, naturally enough, that this means views of beautiful blue SYDNEY harbour, and not the tawdry complex of freeway overpasses, convention centres, an Imax complex, and chain hotels, with a miserable strip of water running between them -- which is what Darling Harbour (surely an estuary, not a harbour) actually is. However, I will say that in the Christmas-New Year period there is a lot going on around there; they have their own fireworks on New Year's Eve, and there are all sorts of holiday activities in the walking areas around the Imax. It's not, by any means, a no-go area! I can't recommend any one hotel in that area -- they all look exactly alike to me, which is the usual US-chain rip-offs which I avoid at all costs whether I'm in Sydney, Australia, or Sydney, Nova Scotia, or anywhere in between. But I'm sure they are all very clean and comfortable if you don't mind throwing all your money at them. The Medina, I guess, is as good as any -- but if the location is where I think it is, then the word "Harbourside" is a bit of a fudge.
If your research turns up some vacancies for the Christmas-New Year week, I hope you will share these with this forum, as I think there would be a lot of readers who would like to know where to score a good room near the Bridge at that particular time of year. Good luck!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 15th, 2004, 01:23 PM
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Hello,
Don't write off the beaches so quickly. Sydney beaches are excellent and certainly different to those in Hawaii. 2 great options are a ferry along the Harbour to Manly, or a train/bus to Bondi and coastal walk to Coogee. Great half-day options.
As for the Bridge, the Climb comes highly recommended. It cost $A155 pp (more in the veneing or on weekends). You can book online. Its very professional and caters well for those fearing heights. Unless you want to spend the extra money to go at twilight, I'd recommend an early morning walk - usually clearer and less windy. See www.bridgeclimb.com.au
Although I wouldn't stay at Darling Hbr as my first choice, its a good place to visit. It has the excellent Aquarium and Maritime Museum and some nice bars overlooking the waster on the Cockle Bay side.
Don't write off the beaches so quickly. Sydney beaches are excellent and certainly different to those in Hawaii. 2 great options are a ferry along the Harbour to Manly, or a train/bus to Bondi and coastal walk to Coogee. Great half-day options.
As for the Bridge, the Climb comes highly recommended. It cost $A155 pp (more in the veneing or on weekends). You can book online. Its very professional and caters well for those fearing heights. Unless you want to spend the extra money to go at twilight, I'd recommend an early morning walk - usually clearer and less windy. See www.bridgeclimb.com.au
Although I wouldn't stay at Darling Hbr as my first choice, its a good place to visit. It has the excellent Aquarium and Maritime Museum and some nice bars overlooking the waster on the Cockle Bay side.
Feb 15th, 2004, 03:20 PM
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Thank you LizF for the wonderful information thru Alan. I have received a qoute from the Russell @235AUD per night. Does this sound okay? I really liked the Lord Brewary and will inquiry about a room there. Thank you mpoll for the info on the bridge. I will make my reservations for the AM. However what does "veneing" mean? THe tour of the Opera house is definetly on my list to do as well as a ferry tour on the harbour. I will go to Bondi beach, as my friend also said it is spectacular! Wow, four days in Sydney doesn't seem so long now as there is so much to do! Anyone recommend the Zoo? Mahalo again for the information! You are all so very helpful!
Feb 15th, 2004, 05:52 PM
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Hi, alohacheryl!
It was interesting to see one of my OLD posts has come back to haunt me -- but I hope you realise that this was in response to someone who was coming for New Year's Eve, the very busiest time in Sydney, so my comments were not all that applicable to April 4. If I were you, I would try and stick with the Russell, but instead of paying $AUD235 a night, I would wait until mid-March and check www.wotif.com.au. They have last-minute (actually a fortnight ahead) specials, and the Russell was featured on this site less than a week ago at $AUD120.
Other hotels around the Rocks are the Lord Nelson Brewery (which you have already been alerted to) the Old Sydney Holiday Inn (great location, but it's a Holiday Inn), the Australian (a bed-and-breakfast hotel right up near the Harbour Bridge entrance), and the Harbour Rocks Hotel (which was once an old hospital: your bags are carried up, I hear, on the dumb waiter). I may have mentioned the Palisade and the Mercantile in my last post, but I wouldn't dream of sending you to either of these if you were responsible for planning for other people -- they might not appreciate going quite that bizarre!! These two are for bargain hunters interested in a unique experience, and I'd stay there in a minute (I'm a tightwad, and I don't like to be waited on anyway), but I wouldn't take anyone there who wasn't ready to laugh at everything. Of course, if anyone in your party is Irish, then the Mercantile starts sounding much better.....
Bondi Beach is Australia's most famous beach. It is also vastly overrated and the area is starting to look decidedly tacky. As an alternative, do Manly, and go by ferry (beats the Bondi bus!)right up the harbour, past the Bridge and the Opera House. After you've strolled through the shopping corso, you will come to the main Ocean Beach.... head to the right and around the walkway at the water's edge to Fairy Bower. This is a really pleasant area and is far superior to anything Bondi has to offer.
If you absolutely can't stand the thought of missing Bondi, then do yourself one large favour. When you get there, and have had your fill of all that tourism, hop the Watson's Bay bus and ask the driver to put you off at the Dudley Page Reserve. This is only a six-minute ride, and the view of Sydney from this reserve (which otherwise is just a small, flat open field) is one of the best you will ever see.... the photographs you take will have even Sydneysiders asking "Where did you take that from?" Twenty minutes later you are back on the same bus (which turns around two kilometres further on)and heading back to "beautiful" Bondi.
I haven't read all the threads on this post, but in the first one you mentioned the possibility of staying at the Boulevard. I hope that has long been discarded from your plans.... it's in a relatively poor area which is noisy and full of earthworks -- and uncomfortably close to the sex-and-drugs section of Sydney.
The zoo is definitely worth a visit. It would be possible, with just a bit of bus changing, to see the Zoo and Manly in a single day, entailing a ferry ride at the beginning and the end of the day.
For a meal with a great view of the harbour there are about a hundred different possibilities, as many restaurants are vying for positions with that outlook! Since April is such a pleasant month, here is an alternative suggestion which will probably appeal to everyone: from wherever you are staying, walk to Wynyard Station and buy all the ingredients for a picnic lunch at the Coles Express on the upper level (there are a couple of shops nearby for fresh cakes and pies, also). Then hop the train going north, and go just one stop, to Milson's Point. This is just across the Harbour Bridge. When you exit the station, head back towards the bridge for about 200 metres, and there are plenty of open parks and seats all around the water's edge. If you're feeling the heat, you can sit in the shade of the Bridge. The view is sensational, and you can walk both left and right after you eat and see Sydney with both the east side and the west side of the Bridge in the foreground of your view. This is like seeing New York from the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge, and, really, should not be missed.
Hope this has been of some help.
It was interesting to see one of my OLD posts has come back to haunt me -- but I hope you realise that this was in response to someone who was coming for New Year's Eve, the very busiest time in Sydney, so my comments were not all that applicable to April 4. If I were you, I would try and stick with the Russell, but instead of paying $AUD235 a night, I would wait until mid-March and check www.wotif.com.au. They have last-minute (actually a fortnight ahead) specials, and the Russell was featured on this site less than a week ago at $AUD120.
Other hotels around the Rocks are the Lord Nelson Brewery (which you have already been alerted to) the Old Sydney Holiday Inn (great location, but it's a Holiday Inn), the Australian (a bed-and-breakfast hotel right up near the Harbour Bridge entrance), and the Harbour Rocks Hotel (which was once an old hospital: your bags are carried up, I hear, on the dumb waiter). I may have mentioned the Palisade and the Mercantile in my last post, but I wouldn't dream of sending you to either of these if you were responsible for planning for other people -- they might not appreciate going quite that bizarre!! These two are for bargain hunters interested in a unique experience, and I'd stay there in a minute (I'm a tightwad, and I don't like to be waited on anyway), but I wouldn't take anyone there who wasn't ready to laugh at everything. Of course, if anyone in your party is Irish, then the Mercantile starts sounding much better.....
Bondi Beach is Australia's most famous beach. It is also vastly overrated and the area is starting to look decidedly tacky. As an alternative, do Manly, and go by ferry (beats the Bondi bus!)right up the harbour, past the Bridge and the Opera House. After you've strolled through the shopping corso, you will come to the main Ocean Beach.... head to the right and around the walkway at the water's edge to Fairy Bower. This is a really pleasant area and is far superior to anything Bondi has to offer.
If you absolutely can't stand the thought of missing Bondi, then do yourself one large favour. When you get there, and have had your fill of all that tourism, hop the Watson's Bay bus and ask the driver to put you off at the Dudley Page Reserve. This is only a six-minute ride, and the view of Sydney from this reserve (which otherwise is just a small, flat open field) is one of the best you will ever see.... the photographs you take will have even Sydneysiders asking "Where did you take that from?" Twenty minutes later you are back on the same bus (which turns around two kilometres further on)and heading back to "beautiful" Bondi.
I haven't read all the threads on this post, but in the first one you mentioned the possibility of staying at the Boulevard. I hope that has long been discarded from your plans.... it's in a relatively poor area which is noisy and full of earthworks -- and uncomfortably close to the sex-and-drugs section of Sydney.
The zoo is definitely worth a visit. It would be possible, with just a bit of bus changing, to see the Zoo and Manly in a single day, entailing a ferry ride at the beginning and the end of the day.
For a meal with a great view of the harbour there are about a hundred different possibilities, as many restaurants are vying for positions with that outlook! Since April is such a pleasant month, here is an alternative suggestion which will probably appeal to everyone: from wherever you are staying, walk to Wynyard Station and buy all the ingredients for a picnic lunch at the Coles Express on the upper level (there are a couple of shops nearby for fresh cakes and pies, also). Then hop the train going north, and go just one stop, to Milson's Point. This is just across the Harbour Bridge. When you exit the station, head back towards the bridge for about 200 metres, and there are plenty of open parks and seats all around the water's edge. If you're feeling the heat, you can sit in the shade of the Bridge. The view is sensational, and you can walk both left and right after you eat and see Sydney with both the east side and the west side of the Bridge in the foreground of your view. This is like seeing New York from the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge, and, really, should not be missed.
Hope this has been of some help.
Feb 15th, 2004, 06:27 PM
#16
Hi Cheryl-
We're also from Hawaii and stayed very happily at th B&B Sydney harbour:
http://www.bbsydneyharbour.com.au/
WE were there with our 2 daughters so had one room on the front (street) side and one on the back. Taking both rooms on the floor gave us private use of the bathroom.
The location right in the Rocks was great...about a 30 second walk from the Bridge climb start, 5 minute walk from circular Quay, and right next door to the ANA hotel, where we were given free use of the spa.
The breakfasts are GREAT..full English style, and the owners were even better...gave us a list of good restaraunts and sights to see, kept tea and reading materials in the parlor, and were incredibly nice and helpful. We mentioned wanting to see a rugby match, and they immediately found out where we could do so. If you are into the B&B experience, this is a good one.
Do not miss the Bridge climb..Despite my fear of heights and of hiking, it was definitely a highlight of our trip.
We also enjoyed the aquarium, ferry ride to Manly Beach, and just wandering the shopping areas. Missed the zoo, as we'd been to various other wildlife places in Queensland, and only walked outside the opera house.
There is a really nice market on the streets of the Rocks on Sundays- we got our best shopping done there.
Nice souvenirs: wine, aboriginal art, Tim tam cookies, lemon butter and surprisingly, art and jewelry. Lots of interesting artists have shops in the Rocks area.
Have a great time!
We're also from Hawaii and stayed very happily at th B&B Sydney harbour:
http://www.bbsydneyharbour.com.au/
WE were there with our 2 daughters so had one room on the front (street) side and one on the back. Taking both rooms on the floor gave us private use of the bathroom.
The location right in the Rocks was great...about a 30 second walk from the Bridge climb start, 5 minute walk from circular Quay, and right next door to the ANA hotel, where we were given free use of the spa.
The breakfasts are GREAT..full English style, and the owners were even better...gave us a list of good restaraunts and sights to see, kept tea and reading materials in the parlor, and were incredibly nice and helpful. We mentioned wanting to see a rugby match, and they immediately found out where we could do so. If you are into the B&B experience, this is a good one.
Do not miss the Bridge climb..Despite my fear of heights and of hiking, it was definitely a highlight of our trip.
We also enjoyed the aquarium, ferry ride to Manly Beach, and just wandering the shopping areas. Missed the zoo, as we'd been to various other wildlife places in Queensland, and only walked outside the opera house.
There is a really nice market on the streets of the Rocks on Sundays- we got our best shopping done there.
Nice souvenirs: wine, aboriginal art, Tim tam cookies, lemon butter and surprisingly, art and jewelry. Lots of interesting artists have shops in the Rocks area.
Have a great time!
Feb 15th, 2004, 07:33 PM
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Many Many thanks for the help with the hotel help. Man this forum is amazing, especially you all! Okay I need a raise of hands here on which hotel ot stay at. I have narrowed it down to two...the drum roll please.....
they are
1. The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel*180AUD
or
2. The Harbour Rocks Hotel 194AUD
*Lord provides a continental b-fast.
Cast your votes and I will inform you of my choice! Aloha CHeryl
they are
1. The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel*180AUD
or
2. The Harbour Rocks Hotel 194AUD
*Lord provides a continental b-fast.
Cast your votes and I will inform you of my choice! Aloha CHeryl
Feb 16th, 2004, 01:26 AM
#18
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Oh the Lord Nelson of course!
Just one other thing DO NOT take a tour ferry ride. Outside and across the road from Circular Quay is a booth with all the bus, ferry etc information. You can get a day pass ( I think I have the right city) and that will do for all modes of public transport. Take one of the Ferries which goes to middle Harbour as well as the Manley Ferry and then you will see quite a lot of the harbour. You can't hear the audio properly on the tour ones anyway.
Just one other thing DO NOT take a tour ferry ride. Outside and across the road from Circular Quay is a booth with all the bus, ferry etc information. You can get a day pass ( I think I have the right city) and that will do for all modes of public transport. Take one of the Ferries which goes to middle Harbour as well as the Manley Ferry and then you will see quite a lot of the harbour. You can't hear the audio properly on the tour ones anyway.
Feb 16th, 2004, 02:31 AM
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Of the two hotels, I would also vote for the Lord Nelson Brewery, because its location, at the "back" of the Rocks, is rather interesting, I always think.... quiet, even a bit elegant, not tarted up with overpriced souvenir shops like the rest of the Rocks is nowadays, and close to the one post office I know which is so underpatronised that you can generally walk in there and be the only customer. Also, there's a very historic old church nearby, and the walk from the harbour to the Rocks takes you through an underpass that has quite a history.... a hundred or so years ago, you walked through there at your peril, and the only loiterers were either rough men after your money or rough ladies after your money. Although it's perfectly safe now, there's still a bit of atmosphere lingering there, late at night.
The B&B next to the ANA Hotel (now called the Shangri-La Hotel) is a lovely old building, one of the grand old private homes of Sydney, I'd imagine; however, some thoughtless town planners made the Harbour Bridge approaches go right across the narrow street, so all you're looking at is concrete. Worse, they put the tollgates almost directly opposite the front door, so the noise at peak hours might be a bit off-putting. It's not really in the Rocks, anyway.... you walk up quite a steep hill to get to this part of town, which is one reason I seldom recommend the Shangri-La. It's not as steep as San Francisco, but, loaded down with the inevitable souvenirs, it is enough. I am interested to hear that patrons of this B&B get to use the Shangri-La's spa.... I smell a takeover, and the inevitable price rises which go with such a deal. How much were you quoted for the B&B? It OUGHT to be comparable to the Lord Nelson and cheaper than the Russell.
So, the Lord Nelson it is! (But I still like the Russell from wotif.com better).
Have a great time!
The B&B next to the ANA Hotel (now called the Shangri-La Hotel) is a lovely old building, one of the grand old private homes of Sydney, I'd imagine; however, some thoughtless town planners made the Harbour Bridge approaches go right across the narrow street, so all you're looking at is concrete. Worse, they put the tollgates almost directly opposite the front door, so the noise at peak hours might be a bit off-putting. It's not really in the Rocks, anyway.... you walk up quite a steep hill to get to this part of town, which is one reason I seldom recommend the Shangri-La. It's not as steep as San Francisco, but, loaded down with the inevitable souvenirs, it is enough. I am interested to hear that patrons of this B&B get to use the Shangri-La's spa.... I smell a takeover, and the inevitable price rises which go with such a deal. How much were you quoted for the B&B? It OUGHT to be comparable to the Lord Nelson and cheaper than the Russell.
So, the Lord Nelson it is! (But I still like the Russell from wotif.com better).
Have a great time!
Feb 16th, 2004, 02:46 AM
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Sorry about the small gaffe above -- I see you do have a price for the B&B.... a bit high for my money.
One nice thing about your choice of Lord Nelson is that you get easy access to walking across the Harbour Bridge.... if you do my picnic lunch idea at Milson's Point, when the basket is empty and no problem to carry, you could walk back across the Bridge and be in your hotel five minutes after going down the flight of stairs at the Sydney end. Also, just on top of the hill in the park opposite your hotel is the Sydney Observatory... there are sometimes evening activities going on there (more in recent months because of the proximity of Mars), so that's worth checking out when you arrive.
One nice thing about your choice of Lord Nelson is that you get easy access to walking across the Harbour Bridge.... if you do my picnic lunch idea at Milson's Point, when the basket is empty and no problem to carry, you could walk back across the Bridge and be in your hotel five minutes after going down the flight of stairs at the Sydney end. Also, just on top of the hill in the park opposite your hotel is the Sydney Observatory... there are sometimes evening activities going on there (more in recent months because of the proximity of Mars), so that's worth checking out when you arrive.
