Hi,

I'm going to Sydney for the Intl AIDS conf in July and bringing my sister. I was looking for a place to stay in the Hunter Valley wine country for 2 nights (Wed & Thr July 18/19). I was looking for something in the 150USD range.

The plan is to visit some wineries & do some bike riding. I didn't want to get a car so if anyone has any suggestions on a group wine tour that would also be appreciated.

I have hotels (The Grace from wotif.com & the conference) for most of our stay in Sydney. But, I need one night on July 17th for when we arrive. Any suggestions for that one night would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

Hi, here are two web sites that I found helpful (havent' stayed anywhere yet, just researching) http://www.winecountry.com.au/
http://www.visitours.com.au/Hunter_V...Wine_Tours.htm
This is a place that looked good to us, not too expensive and at a small winery with other ones in the vicinity. Again, I haven't stayed there, but I corresponded with them.
http://www.kv.com.au/accommodation/vintage.php
Good luck and let us know where you end up.
RE Sydney for one night, we are hoping to be able to stay at the sydney harbor bed and breakfast. It has had good reviews here. http://www.bedandbreakfastsydney.com/html/info.html
Sally in Seattle, where summer hasn't arrived yet except for one day last week

There was a review for a Sydney Hotel just near Chinatown in last weekend's paper, Valentine and George. It comes up on Check-in for $155.

http://www.check-in.com.au/Sydney/CBD_hotels.htm

Another possiblity is the Vulcan, that's $130

http://www.vulcanhotel.com.au/

Hello Tim, from South Australia. I too am going to IAS and then we are off the next day to Seattle for ISSTDR and Canada for a holiday! Had we "met" sooner, we could have almost swapped houses and you could have visited the wineries of the Barossa Valley! Parts of the Hunter Valley have experienced severe flooding in the last couple of weeks so you may find some disruption still but someone more familiar with this area can probably advise what the situation is at present. See you in Sydney!

Hey Tim...why not give the mystery 5* a try on wotif...A$155 and close to darling harbour.

As for the hunter they are open for business and desperate to get tourists back.Bike riding up there in the middle of winter is not my cup of tea.In any case its sort of a poor mans napa.

Thanks for the help. I booked George & Valentine through wotif.com for 165AUD. It had a good review on tripadvisor.com, and is across the street from Central Station since we are heading to Hunter Valley the next morning.

I'm wondering where to stay in the Hunter Valley. We are going to arrive by train and will arrange a wine tour. It appears Pokolbin or Cessnock would be the places to stay. But, I'm not sure if they have a "downtown" like in Napa or Sonoma where one can stay and walk to restaurants. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again.
Tim

Cessnock is a mining town nearby, Pokolbin is where most people stay. My preference would be Cessnock. From the last time I went a few years ago, the wineries, restaurants and the B & Bs etc in Pokolbin are fairly spread out, so there is no sense of a village or a "downtown."