Long term stay in Sydney
 

We would like to spend Feb/March in Sydney. Would like to be able to just rent a car on occasion but generally just use public transportation. Any idea where we can start to look for accommodations? We are retirees and looking for something not too expensive - a one bedroom would suffice. VRBO doesn't have much and google searches haven't turned up much either. Any suggestions?

I would look for holiday home lets that advertise weekly rates and negotiate.The longer the term normally they reduce the bill. Cleaning bills also will reduce if they do not need to organise a weekly cleaner. Maybe offer a bond in lieu of cleaning? I would imagine a cleaner to cost over $100/week so a good saving can be found that way.

I have seen one website called Ozstays and also cheack with real estate listings in the area of your choice.

Bash, as an aussie who has lived in sydney for 9 years, now in brisbane (god i love being home) i can give you plenty of advice. 1 to 2 month accommodation is a tough one. Have you chosen a particular area of sydney you want to base yourself from?

I have lived in the following places of sydney; Bondi, Randwick, Coogee (eastern suburbs of sydney), Cronulla (southern suburb) and Manly (northern). If i were to recommend somewhere, i would recommend anywhere near manly. It is great over there. If you are in manly, you have the beaches at one side and the harbour the other. All within 5 - 10 min walk. You have the ferry that will take you into the city and its a beautiful ride.

Anyway, you would obviously be looking for something furnished. As i have said, it is a tough one because if you were to rent a unit permanantly it is usually 6 months. Maybe you could negotiate with someone to give you a 2 or 3 month lease at a premium to the quoted price. The landlord might think it is worth it. If you wanted to look for accommodation like this, our biggest realestate website here is www.realestate.com.au. If you go there, click on nsw, the type in for example Manly. you can narrow down the search and it might even give you shorter term leases.

Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected]

good luck.

oh, and i forgot to add. A decent one bedroom apartment in a good spot like manly, bondi or cronulla would set you back around 350 a week, furnished. That could be over a 6 month lease. I do know a great little pub in randwick/coogee that i would highly recommend for its accommodation. Remember its a pub though. The accommodation is surprisingly good and the bathroom's which are communal, but very very good quality and large. I should know, i lived there for 8 months while i was weighting for my house to get built. Its about 1km from coogee beach, right on the bus stop, has a laudry next door, a cinema 300metres away and about 15 decent quality restaurants next to the cinema. You could probaly rent that for 250 a week if you negotiated. its like a normal motel room though. But, you get it cleaned every day. Its called the Royal Hotel at Randwick.

For cheap hire cars check out

www.bayswatercarrental.com.au/default.htm

They did fine by us - with a tiny Toyota stick shift that got us everywhere. On Sunday they're open now, too, but only for a couple of hours.

WK

Hi Bashful,
If you google "Holiday accommodation - Sydney", you will find quite a few options.

You might try these as starters:
www.realestate.com.au; www.wotif.com.au (the hotels/apartments are usually only listed 2 weeks ahead, but in my experience, if you call them direct & quote the Wotif rate, you can usually do a good deal on a longer stay.)

In Feb/March, you will probably do quite well as the long school holidays are finished and the "high season" rates will have eased off.

If you have an idea of the area you would like to stay in, I'll find some Real Estate Agents in the area who have holiday lettings for you, if you wish. I agree with GeoffSpears, Manly would be a good base. It's also a "holiday" destination so would be likely to have a good selection of furnished apartments/flats available for short term rentals.

Hi again

We searched for long term housing in Sydney and found it available on Corporate housing. In searching for housing using Google a number of sites came up and although I am not at my home base pc I believe that the one we used was ApartmentsPlus in Sydney. The rates covered the spectrum as to what you would require from one through three or four bedroom units. Pictures were available on most and we finally settled on one because of the great attitude we were getting from the people at that company. Lucky for us - they were indeed good.

If I remember more info I'll post it. Good luck and have a great time. I loved Sydney in Feb/March.

This might be a little help to you. We've rented two of their apartments.

http://www.apartmentsplus.com.au/

I dealt with a Margaret Hackett