Hi all-
We're two women in our late 20s, and we'd like something fairly nice - but not too pricey - mainly safe and clean with a private bathroom.

We'll be in Cairns for three nights and would like to spend one day on the reef and one in the rainforest. We won't have a car and will have to rely on public transport. I think we'd prefer to stay near the beach though. Ideally, we'd like the hotel/resort would ideally have a tourist desk that could help arrange trips to the reef and Kuranda.

Any tips on hotels/neighbourhoods would be appreciated.

Also, can anyone recommend a fairly low-key safe, clean hotel in Sydney? In a dream world, we'd be near Circular Quay/The Rocks - but i'm not sure that's going to happen on our budget.

Finally, any tips on a hotel in Adelaide?

Thanks!

Hi BoDa2
Cairns is a pretty busy town with lots to do, but the beach there is not so good, in fact last I heard it was man made, but there has been work faily recently and I am sure others will be along to explain that situation.

Have you considered staying further up the coast, perhaps Port Douglas or Palm Cove areas, search Palm Cove on this forum there is loads of information, plenty of gorgeous resorts to stay at and fabulous beaches. Good public transport and access to the reef via trips etc.

Good luck

Muck

If you don't mind sharing a queen-sized bed and you don't mind sharing a bath, I think the Bed and Breakfast Sydney Harbour Bridge would be a great choice for you. It is located in The Rocks and it is both safe, clean and low-key. The managers are lovely and the breakfasts are delicious. Not only have I stayed here, but my brother and my best friend as well. You can check their website for rates and room descriptions. Another place I have heard a lot of good things about is the Russell Hotel, also located in The Rocks, but I have no personal experience with it.

Hi - what is your budget for accommodation in Sydney? Not too pricy could mean anything.

Please let us know.

Mucky, there is no beach in Cairns city, but basically its a harbour with deep water anchorage for ocean-going ships,fishing trawlers, etc and a take-off point to reef. There are a few beaches over at East Trinity in Cairns' harbour that no-one seems to have noticed, but they're about as interesting as those you'd find in Sydney Harbour, so I don't know why Cairns is constantly criticised for not having a beach. What Cairns does have are rich mudflats which feed migratory birds from as far as Siberia, which is why it attracts birdwatchers from all over the world. I think you're thinking of the huge man-made, yet stingerproof lagoon on Cairns Esplanade - there is no man-made "beach" in Cairns city unless you count a bit of sand around the lagoon.

sorry, I live here, but I couldn't call any tropical North Queensland beach "fabulous", we have wonderfully easy access to reef and some of the best rainforests in the world, but FNQ beaches are not a patch on others further south. The Great Barrier Reef is just that, its a barrier for surf on beaches here. So there's no surf, and unswimmable on beaches (not reef) because of marine stingers in the hotter months of Nov-May, sometimes June. Which is when you feel like an ocean dip the most.

so BoDa2, you may find beachless Cairns city more to your liking, there's a lot more to offer in nightlife and restaurants than you'll find on northern beaches or Port Douglas. No matter where you stay, either in Cairns city or northern beaches, tours will pick up at your accommodation,so don't worry about public transport. All have tour desks or just pick up a brochure and call the operator yourself. There's a huge choice of hotel, motel, apartments, resorts in area, you'll need to do a search to find what suits you the best.

Hi Pat, No criticism of Cairns from me for not having a beach. However it's a popular misconception amongst us visitors that Cairns does have a beach, especially as it is one of the most popular places for tourists to visit. So I think it important to point that out.
I remember a few years ago when we visited, the local council had gone to great lengths to place hundreds of tons of sand down to try and create some kind of beach environment, but I was told that it would blow away in the first storm that came along.

Didn't Palm Cove win best beach award several times over the past few years?

;-)

Muck

In Sydney, by all means get into the Russell if you can possibly afford it. The location will blow your mind. It's got to be one of the best locations of any city hotel in the WORLD, and certainly the best in Sydney. Don't worry about the A/C and the bathrooms. It's perfectly nice in every possible way.

If that's too much, think about going up the hill a bit to the Australian Heritage Hotel. A bit faded, but VERY homey and friendly, and the location is still completely fabulous. A private-bath hotel in the same area will cost you twice or three times as much. The rooms are nice enough, the lounge (two of them actually) are very comfy, there's free port and sherry and a private roof deck. Plus a fantastic pub downstairs, and the Bridge is quite literally a stone's throw away. The nice thing about a shared lounge is that for breakfast your chances of meeting some nice people from six or seven countries around the world at breakfast are close to 100%.

The B&B mentioned is also right in the Rocks, fabulously located, though I haven't been inside.

Keep in mind that you're not traveling across the globe to see hotel rooms -- the closer you are to the city you came to see the less time you'll spend walking to it, and the more inclined you will be to get OUT of that room. Having your hotel right smack in the Rocks area makes it so much easier to step back in to freshen up after a day's sightseeing before heading back out to dinner or whatever.

There's downtown Sydney, and then there are the suburbs. Last year we stayed in an area called Double Bay at the Stamford Plaza. It was a very nice but reasonably priced hotel. The area of Double Bay has some nice shops and restaurants. it's about a 10 minute water taxi ride to downtown Sydney. We found it very peaceful and a nice change from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

Also, we stayed in Palm Cove at the Sebel Reef. We went into Cairns and, frankly, I wasn't too impressed with it. The only problem with Palm Cove is it might be TOO quiet. Cairns would offer much more in the way of activity at night.

Priceline.com frequently offers the Marriott Sydney Harbour for about US$140 (plus taxes/fees). The hotel is a typical Marriott, but the location is very good, just a couple minutes from Circular Quay.

In Adelaide, we stayed at the Majestic Roof Garden Hotel, which is very near the Rundle Mall area, and about a 15 minute walk from what I'll term the town center. It's a very modern, boutique style hotel that's only about 2 years old. They were running specials when we were there for about AUD$150/room, including a really good breakfast buffet for two.

That's what I mean, Mucky, there's this odd perception that Cairns city has a sandy beach, even by many other Australians. No-one expects Brisbane to have a beach, I just wonder why they do of Cairns.

A lot of sand fill was moved to Esplanade when council re-vamped the foreshore and built the incredibly popular lagoon. It didn't blow or wash away in the first cyclone, its now well covered with grass for the lagoon sunbathers and its tropical gardens are now quite well established.

Recent cleanest beach awards in North Queensland have gone to Palm Cove, nearby Trinity Beach and further south on Townsville's Strand.

Thanks everyone!

We hadn't realized that there weren't proper beaches in Cairns. Though we don't have a lot of time there, we would like to spend an afternoon laying out by the water. Does anyone know how long it takes to get to Port Douglas or Palm Cove? And is it easy/affordable to get transport to/from there? Unfortunately, we can't stay too far out as we have to catch a 7 am flight from the Cairns airport.

As for price range, ideally less than AU$160 a night for lodging - though since it is high season, we might be able to go higher. And as for nightlife, we may want to go out for a drink or two, but we're not going to go completely wild as we don't want to spend our time nursing hangovers.

Also, any advice on whether we should book a hotel/Reef trip/Kuranda railway/skyway package or buy separately? And can anyone recommend a good company/group to get out to the reef and/or into the Kuranda?

Thanks again for all the advice.

I think Palm Cove is about 40 mins by bus from Cairns, Port Douglas is further on, maybe another 40 mins, but I am not sure.
Many of the resorts and hotels are feet away from the beach.
www.palmcove.net

Pat, I suspect that we imagine that everywhere has a beach in Queensland and Cairns being so popular it is assumed to be a beach resort.
It is strange but as BoDa2 confirmed she thought there was a beach there too. I did until I spoke to a friend who lives just up the road.

As for transport, many hotels can arrange for you to be picked up from the airport, its not very expensive, talk to your hotel.

Good Luck

Muck

Hi - just a thought, but you said in your original question - a day at the reef and a day at the rainforest. You may well need a tour to go to the rainforest, but you do not need a tour (in the sense of a strictly scheduled trip with others) to go to Kuranda. You can buy all sort of combination trips up there - rail there;skyway back (chose your own departure times) or combine with a trip to the Tjapukai Cultural Centre, when your schedule for the day will be more fixed.

But Kuranda may be in the rainforest but it's really a tourist draw card with a market and stuff. Butterfly centre is nice.

When people talk about the rainforest they usually mean the UNESCO World Heritage listed Daintree area. Tours of all sorts going there, and imho, a far more interesting place to spend time than Kuranda.

And I would second whoever it was that said accommodation is only a place to sleep. And location is more important sometimes, especially if are short of time in a city like Sydney, than a slightly better class of hotel.

Just my two cents' worth.

Have a great time.

In Australia we call a spade a spade. The Great Sandy Desert is called so because it is a sandy desert. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is called that because it is a bridge that crosses a harbour in Sydney.

And so the Great Barrier Reef is called that because it one huge barrier between the ocean and the mainland.

The ocean between the reef and the mainland is so close to being an inland waterway beacause of the extensive reef and thousands of offshore islands.

So beaches are perhaps not what you picture like Hawaii or the very southern part of QLD on the Gold Coast where finally the ocean is free from this massive barrier and can crash onshore with all it's might.

Still there are some magical beaches if you can change expectations. Just gorgeous with far more wildlife than you would find on other beaches. Sands that change with the tides creating temporary lagoons, turtles hatching, crabs galore and some beautiful vistas with so many islands visable from shore sitting in clear turquois waters.

If you can expect this difference you may see why this whole area is world heritage listed as it offers something unique and wonderful. But not the typical beach picture so many seem to have.

Regarding accommodation.

In Palm Cove I have stayed at Saray'i which is sandwichd right between expensive resorts. It is showing some age and needs a paint job, more outside than inside but has some character and the apartments are spacious, clean and safe. Not 4 star but great location.

http://www.sarayi.com.au/

In Port Douglas I have stayed at the Treetops which is too far out of town and also at Villa San Michelle which was right in the cente of town meaning grounds were smaller but the units were lovely for the price and great location.

http://www.villasanmichele.com.au/

In Sydney I recommend the Harbour View Hotel. It is on the nothern side of the harbour bridge with great views and many options to travel to Circular Quay, bus, train or ferry or walk.

http://www.viewhotels.com.au

In Cairns I have stayed at Cairns Outrigger for $140 for a samll one bedroom apartment but that was standby rate. There are a few apartment places in the dead centre of town but range in price. I have also stayed at Shooting Star Apartments which are basically studio room with a small kitchenette and a pool in the car park sort of place but last time I stayed it semed maintainence was dropping at an alarming rate. Just a few weeks ago stayed at the Cairns Queenslander which was getting a little too far away from downtown for walking.

I try to get as much value as I can, especially now we live on the road so hope all he hours I have spent trying to get more for little money helps someone!

Mucky, I think the confusion lies with Cairns' city and Cairns' northern beaches, and Palm Cove is the most northerly beach suburb of Cairns. As Palm Beach is the most northerly beach suburb of metropolitan Sydney.

fuzzylogic, I do agree with your take on Kuranda, BUT walk ten minutes out of the village, take some terrific rainforest trails, there's eastern dragons, butterflies,other wildlife galore and some knockout rainforest scenery and views. This is also World Heritage Rainforest. For those who don't mind a bit of a stiff 6km hike, see www.cairnswildernesswalks.com - not much of a website as the operator is just starting to build her business, it costs far less than the Kuranda Train/Skyrail thing and guarantees more wildlife and no crowds as she only takes 6 people, cassowaries spotted regularly over the last few weeks. But everyone seems to want to do the Skyrail/Railway trip and of course it doesn't need to be booked as a "tour", unless you don't speak English and need a guide. It is essential to pre-book in high season, Kuranda morning train at the moment is booked out until Monday next week.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the help. We've booked into the Sea Temple in Palm Cove and the Russell in Sydney. Cannot wait!

I just returned from Australia and had relied in a number of recs for the Russell Hotel in Sydney. We had two front rooms which were incredibly noisy (we never got to sleep before 2-3 am leaving us feeling exhausted during the days). The hotel, bathrooms, and bedrooms overall were fairly rundown and in need of basic cleaning. Given the price, it was a total disappointment!

I'm interested in hearing whether others have had bad experiences at the Russell. We're booked to stay there in late September, but I'm now wondering whether I should change to somewhere else. We'd like a good location, but don't want a noisy one.

Thanks.

Do da one and two, in Cairns why not stay with Pat Woolford at Lilybank who can do all your bookings for you with the best of the bunch tour people in and around the area. Its kind of special to stay with Pat and Mike as she really goes out of the way for Fodorites and she has all the information and will tell you all the best tours and the best places to eat, drink and be merry! People from overseas often make a dreadful mistake and do their bookings through an agent in their country - this of course often leaves them disappointed because the only tours that use travel wholesalers are those who are the biggest and fit and pack more people in per square inch than the trains in Tokyo. Always rely on local knowledge and you cannot go wrong. In case you are wondering, yes I have stayed with Pat in Cairns and yes I would stay with Pat again when and if I return. I have done a report but it could be a long way back if you intend to do a search.