We are traveling to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth this February, 2010. We are upper middle-aged, fit, and will have a month to spend. Does anyone have a recommendation for a chain of hotels that are reasonably priced but clean and not too shabby? We would prefer not to spend more than $200/nite, is that reasonable?
Thank you, Gail

Hi Gail,

February is a quiet month in most places, with school and the long Christmas/New Year holidays just over and everyone back at work, so you should be able to get some great rates.

Have a look at www.wotif.com It will give you a good idea of what's available, and you can view the properties. Keep in mind though, that rates in February should be a little better than what's on show in this period leading up to Christmas.

Accor group has a range of hotels (Mercure, Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel) in all the capitals. www.accorhotels.com.au/Australia

Rydges might be worth a look, too. www.rydges.com I just booked at their Brighton Beach property (Melbourne) for $171.

I travel a lot and prefer serviced apartments - more space, kitchen facilities and very often more economical than hotel rooms.
These are just two groups that you might consider:
www.questapartments.com.au/
www.mantra.com.au/

Thank you very much. I will look at all those web sites. Gail

I also prefer serviced apartments. I've stayed at Medina properties several times and highly recommend them:

http://www.medina.com.au/

I second Bokhara's recomendation for Rydges Hotels.

World Square Sydney was great value in sept, Canberra Rydges was being renovated but should be close to completion soon.

Tip- Make sure you sign up for their Rydges priority guest card before you book. (you can do it on line). That will give you an additional 10% discount off prices.

Muck

Thanks, all your recommendations were a great help. We have booked a service apartment in Sydney as our first stop and might wait until we arrive to look at the other cities and countryside. We have just discovered the Fodor's forum; what a treasure trove of information!

May I second Bokhara and Melnq8 .I have stayed in various properties owned / run by these groups

In Adelaide I will , if not staying with friends , always stay at the Medina Grand Treasury Apartments .

In Sydney I like Fraser Suites .In Melbourne (where I live) the Paramount Apartments are good . In Brisbane The Emporium is excellent .

As the others say there is a big range of options and it is probably best to think about what you want to do in each of these cities and then see if the locale of the various hotels suits your plans .

If you feel like stopping in places other than cities another great site is www.stayz.com.au

Remember it can get very hot in February so make sure you have a place that is cool and for me a pool would be essential - but I grew up by the beach in Perth so water and summer go together.

Thank you all. We are booked in Sydney and will check out the other cities/countryside later.

We stayed in several Quest properties on our 2006 trip and found them clean, comfortable, and cost-effective. Each had a washer/dryer either in the unit or on the property, so we could pack more lightly. Check out the properties on the Quest website, then cross-check rates on wotif.com.

http://www.questapartments.com.au/