Hi everyone,

Me, my husband and 2 friends are traveling together and boy is it hard to find accomodations that will take a quad. We might end up booking a Hostel I guess but I found the rates expensive compared to Europe. Does anyone know of any apartment rentals that would be more in the $120-$130 range, if it's more then that then we'll probably stick to a hostel or book a triple and sneak the foutrh person in. I'm a travel agent in Calgary, and I'm pretty well travelled. Like decent and clean accomodations, and have backpacked a few places before and did the hostel thing and it wasn't bad. I have never had this much difficulty as I have with Australia, and the Lonely Planet wasn't much help for once. We plan on staying in Sydney around May 6, and then heading to Surfer's Paradise, followed by a 3 day Whitsunday sailing trip (any info on that), then we're spending the rest of our time in Cairns. If anyone has info on any websites, contacts, or suggestions let me know. You can e-mail me at [email protected] or post a message but I might forget I signed up for this.

Thanks so much!!!

Here's a recent discussion thread about reasonably priced family style accommodation in Sydney. It mentions a place that costs A$130.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3

A search for Sydney would bring up more discussion threads.

As for your Whitsundays sailing trip, it isn't clear to me if you've already booked that or if you're looking for a recommendation of a good cruise.

In September 1999 my husband and I went on a 3 day Whitsundays cruise on the Windjammer, a 10 passenger yacht. We LOVED it. Based on a Google search, the Windjammer still seems to be in business. I realise our trip took place a while ago, though, so our feedback regarding the excellent service we received might not necessarily be relevant today. All the same, feel free to ask if you want more details.

>>>>>>You can e-mail me at [email protected] or post a message but I might forget I signed up for this.<<<<<<

Well, Jo, I sure hope you haven't forgotten us.

By the way, Jo, for the Cairns portion of your trip you might want to check out the B&Bs listed by Bed and Breakfast and Farmstay Association of Far North Queensland

http://www.bnbnq.com.au/

Hi, travelcalgal!

I clicked on the link Judy-in-Calgary gave you, but either my computer or this site wasn't up to it.... so I chased it up with a search; at least, I THINK the one I chased up is the one Judy referred to. I have topped it for you, so it should be just below this post.

Thank you, Alan. Yes, you did top the thread I was thinking about. Here is the correct URL for it:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34464732

We've just come back from Oz. Spent 3 days in the Whitsundays on racing yacht Siska. Had a really good time. 20 people on board, in early 30's, lots of partying (it was New Year's eve admittedly), fantastic scenery. Siska is not very comfortable so you have to really like sailing and racing!Southern cross is the name of the charter company.

Hi Judy, and Alan

Thanks so much for your help. I found several great websites, and found a decent apartment for $148 in Sydney on Expedia.ca it's called the Woolloomoolo Apartments (probably not spelling it right), as for Cairns we found a really nice hostel called the Bohemia resort, own private room and bathroom for $62/nt and it seems to have a good location, and some extra great services included. We were going to do Surfer's Paradise but a few of my clients said to avoid it so we have decided on Noosa instead. I found a bunch of accomodations there as well. As for sailing, I think we're going to do the 2 nt, 3 day Anacondo II and us 4 don't mind sharing for that time. It's only $390 pp. I'm really happy that things are coming along now, and it's just a matter of some people getting back to me that I e-mailed. So once again, thanks everyone for suggesting some of those websites. They did help us a lot.

Hi, travelcalgal!
I am glad to see everything worked out okay. I presume that Sydneyy price (and, yes, you did spell "Woolloomooloo" correctly!) is Australian dollars, not US dollars; if so, that's a pretty good price, as wotif.com.au lists last-minute rooms at this hotel for $AUD130 to $AUD135. Of course, you can only book this rate up to 14 days in advance, but, unless you are coming at peak time (and May 6 is pretty quiet) that wouldn't be a problem. To all readers planning a trip to Sydney, my advice is to follow the wotif listings to see what's available.... if a hotel is ALWAYS offering rooms on this site, there's no reason to think that it won't have any when you're ready to make your move. New Year's Eve excepted, of course!

Have a happy trip, travelcalgal... it will be cool but pleasant in early May... the winter hasn't really started at that time, and you should get some beautiful days.

Just a postscript to that recommendation about wotif.com.au: I note that this week wotif is offering the Russell Hotel at the Rocks -- one of the nicest places to stay in Sydney -- for $AUD120 a double room. When, on other threads, people talk about getting a "good deal" at one of the Mercures or the Marriotts for something like $US250 (which is nearly $AUD400), once again I start to boil at how tourists, with no knowledge of the local scene, allow themselves to be robbed blind before their holiday is even begun.

Alan

I love your rants on hotels! It always amazes me that people travel great distances to stay in an hotel identical to the one in their home town.

Get out there, people!

I am always amazed at how much some people are willing to spend on accommodation, to begin with. They must have a lot more discretionary income than I do. $400 AUD is about $400 CAD as well - that's a lot of money! Rarely is staying in a hotel the highlight of my trip.