Hi, 646wyck!
Try a hotel in the Rocks area, which is the best location in just about every way. There are two sstandout hotels (as far as location is concerned) in the Roocks, only a few metres from each other, and as different in ambience as you can imagine. One is the Old Sydney Holiday Inn, which is what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn, but this one managed to grab one of the best spots in all of Sydney. The other is a tiny two-floor 160-year-old hotel called The Russell, which is almost too beautiful for words... it's like stepping back in time to the middle of the nineteenth century. No elevator or air-conditioning, which worries some people -- but most are captivated by its quiet elegance.
Both of these hotels would, normally, be pushing your budget a bit (because of that location!), but if you try www.wotif.com.au about a fortnight before you are due to come here, you can often pick up either one at bargain rates. A few weeks ago, the Russell had rooms on wotif for $AUD116, which is about eighty US dollars.... if I didn't live in Sydney, at that price I'd go and sleep there myself.
If you're not willing to leave your accommodation bookings to the last moment (but you should, as Sydney is rarely full, and November is not yet into the busy time), then you might have to step away from the Rocks a little to get a room under your budget limit.... unless you are prepared to take a down-market hotel, such as the Mercantile (a rowdy Irish pub right in the heart of the Rocks) or the Palisade (which is also like stepping back into the past, but perhaps more like The Picture of Dorian Gray than Jane Austen!). If you think this is a bit rough for you, the Grand in Hunter Street might suit you.... only a seven-minute walk to the Rocks, and the rooms there can be had for around $AUD100 a night. But the Russell, on Wotif, is my pick of the bunch.
Try a hotel in the Rocks area, which is the best location in just about every way. There are two sstandout hotels (as far as location is concerned) in the Roocks, only a few metres from each other, and as different in ambience as you can imagine. One is the Old Sydney Holiday Inn, which is what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn, but this one managed to grab one of the best spots in all of Sydney. The other is a tiny two-floor 160-year-old hotel called The Russell, which is almost too beautiful for words... it's like stepping back in time to the middle of the nineteenth century. No elevator or air-conditioning, which worries some people -- but most are captivated by its quiet elegance.
Both of these hotels would, normally, be pushing your budget a bit (because of that location!), but if you try www.wotif.com.au about a fortnight before you are due to come here, you can often pick up either one at bargain rates. A few weeks ago, the Russell had rooms on wotif for $AUD116, which is about eighty US dollars.... if I didn't live in Sydney, at that price I'd go and sleep there myself.
If you're not willing to leave your accommodation bookings to the last moment (but you should, as Sydney is rarely full, and November is not yet into the busy time), then you might have to step away from the Rocks a little to get a room under your budget limit.... unless you are prepared to take a down-market hotel, such as the Mercantile (a rowdy Irish pub right in the heart of the Rocks) or the Palisade (which is also like stepping back into the past, but perhaps more like The Picture of Dorian Gray than Jane Austen!). If you think this is a bit rough for you, the Grand in Hunter Street might suit you.... only a seven-minute walk to the Rocks, and the rooms there can be had for around $AUD100 a night. But the Russell, on Wotif, is my pick of the bunch.
Another option in the Rocks (apart from Alan's excellent recommendations of the Russell and the Old Sydney Holiday Inn) is the Harbour Rocks Hotel, situated in Harrington St.
It is smallish hotel 50 rooms approx in a refurbished heritage protected building, very nice rooms with all the amenities you would require. I don't think there is a lift but the hotel has only two floors (above a group of shops) so that is no hardship unless you have accessibility issues. Rooms are abought $140/150 Aus, which I think equates to around $100US
It is smallish hotel 50 rooms approx in a refurbished heritage protected building, very nice rooms with all the amenities you would require. I don't think there is a lift but the hotel has only two floors (above a group of shops) so that is no hardship unless you have accessibility issues. Rooms are abought $140/150 Aus, which I think equates to around $100US
