dcsam

I'll be the one doing most of the planning for my 83 year old mother's and brother's January cruise to New Zealand. They'll be flying out of LAX. What airlines do you all recommend? Any to stay away from?

So, if there cruise begins on the 20th, and they want to spend 2 nights in Sydney, what day shall I book them departing out of LAX?

Any hotel or B&B type of places you would recommend? Nothing too large and impersonal. Someplace 'charming' that offers breakfast; has easy access to room for my mom (not alot of stairs to climb); a place that's a destination in itself, so if my brother decides to go out, she'll be fine on her own staying at the accommodation.
Thanks so much!
Caroline
Washington State

Bokhara2

Hi Dcsam,
As you can probably imagine, Sydney has rather a lot of accommodation within the CBD and nearby, so it would help to know what range your budget is in.

To give you an idea of what is available, have a look at www.wotif.com.au
And for smaller hotels http://www.sydneyhotelsaccommodation...iqueHotels.htm


You lose a day coming from the US, so your brother & mother would need to leave LAX on 16th to have 2 nights here before departing on their cruise on 20th.

Bokhara2

Simpsons is a lovely B & B in Potts Point. Just near Kings Cross, lots of restaurants etc, and within easy walking distance of the railway station and buses to the city. They have 3 ground floor rooms. http://www.simpsonshotel.com/

Bokhara2

Close to Circular Quay, the Botanic Gardens and the Opera House is the Sir Stamford. http://www.stamford.com.au/sscq/
It's smaller than the other international hotels and has a lift (elevator).

dcsam

Thanks so much for the recommendations. Is there any place else you would recommend that's a bit more 'relaxed', less formal feel; something more 'quaint'? I like the looks of the ones you suggested, but they might be a bit too 'fancy' in feel.

dcsam

What about a nice place that has a kitchenette? That would be nice to have should my mother decide she just wanted to stay in. My brother could run to the market and cook in the room.
Thanks again

Bokhara2

Typically, B & Bs do not have cooking facilities. However, there are any number of self-catering apartments that do. I don't know of any which I would describe as "quaint", though.

If you use the www.wotif.com.au link and put "kitchen" or "self catering" into the search criteria, you will get an idea of what is on offer. There is a map for each property, so you can see where it is.

One that I like is Quay West http://www.mirvachotels.com/quay-west-suites-sydney.

However, having no idea of your budget makes it difficult to know what might suit.

Neil_Oz

Caroline, the airlines dominating the LAX-SYD route are Qantas and United. Personally I strongly favour Qantas, and not for parochial reasons - in my experience their catering, staff attitudes and service easily beat United's. Actually I'd go out of my way to avoid UA, mainly because of the brusque and offhand attitude of the cabin crew I encountered.

Air NZ is also good but from memory most if not all of their LAX-SYD flights go via AKL. For an old lady I suspect that the 14 hours taken by direct flights will be plenty.

V-Australia, a budget subsidiary of Virgin Blue, also flies the route. Family members who recently used it had no complaints but other than that I have no feedback.

Delta recently began services on the route but (reading between the lines of a rent press report) it appears they may not be not dealing with the competition too well and their future on the route may be clouded. Having only used them once, on a US domestic flight, I don't have a useful opinion about their service.

dcsam

Thanks everybody for your great feedback. I just booked the cruise. My mom says she prefers just staying 1 night in Sydney before the cruise. I think she's missing out by not staying longer, but actually this would probably be easier on her. I'm looking at V Australia for air. Just a bit over $1000 pp. round trip. That seems darn good. Anybody know how financially stable this new line is? For that price, I'll probably go ahead and book it.
The way it's working, they will arrive the morning of the 19th. Does that seem like a good enough 'cushion' of time to catch the ship the next day? We usually fly in a day in advance, but seems 2 nights might be in order for Australia. I don't know. Just hoping for some feedback.
Now that it's looking like all they'll need is quick access to an airport hotel (for rest and sleep), any suggestions?
Thanks again!
Caroline

oliverandharry

If you choose an airport hotel, there is nothing around them at all, so your family will be stuck all day inside a hotel. Perhaps that is what they will want. Would they not want to be closer to where the ship departs, eg., Sydney Harbor?

dcsam

We ended up booking for 2 nights. Will try and do a Priceline for the hotel or book near where the ship docks. It's the United flight I'm worried about. I've been reading very poor reviews about it. Oh well... the price and schedule were right.
Thanks for all your help.

Bokhara2

The Old Sydney Holiday Inn might suit. It's in The Rocks and very close to Circular Quay. Gets good reviews and often offers special rates.