Sydney & Cairns/Port Douglas/Palm Cove?
 

Hi there,
Can anyone advise on a well located hotel in Sydney, with good views and the best place to book. Currently thinking about staying at the Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour.

Secondly, we are staying around Cairns for 1 week and are trying to decide the best place to stay. We have been considering the Cairns Plaza Hotel or Paradise on the beach in Palm Cove. Is Palm Cove really quiet? We are in our late 20's and early 30's so would like some nice restaurants and a few bars.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Hi, there, we stayed in the Four Points in DH and it was a very comfortable hotel. The views of the bay were great, they even had fireworks for us on our first night there! We especially liked going to the bay across the walkway for dinner outside, and the Aquarium (a must-see) is right there, too. It is a bus/taxi/hike away from Circular Quay, however, so many people opt to stay in The Rocks where you are closer. One place near the 4 Points is the Queen Victoria building, a very cool shopping place with great inside decor. Cairns is a big place with lots happening. I don't know about hotels in Palm Cove because we stayed in a B&B, the Beaches at Holloway Beach, which was a highlight of our trip getting to know a local person. Good room and great breakfast and local advice and services. We also stayed in Port Douglas because it was closer to the reef trips we wanted to take and the Daintree trips, too. Our hotel, Le Cher du Monde (www.lecherdumonde.com.au) was spacious, clean, comfortable and affordable ($150/night in 2004) and right on the main street, but no water view or anything spectacular, but we got that by walking to the park and seeing the sunset. Enjoy your trip!
Sally in Seattle

For Sydney, I suppose it depends on what you want views of.

We recently stayed at the Marriott Sydney Harbour near Circular Quay, and had a view of the Opera House (A$245 with an entertainment card rate). In Darling Harbour, you would potentially have a good view of Darling Harbour, or perhaps a city view.

With regards to well located... I would say that anything in Darling Harbour, city center or the Rocks could be considered well located. We enjoyed the Marriott location because it was very well centered- 3 minutes to Circular Quay, 7 minutes to the Opera House and the Rocks, 10 minutes from the Park, and 15 minutes from Darling Harbour and Woolloomaloo.

Also, I've read that the Marriott is frequently available on priceline in the range of US$140 plus taxes/fees.

We're in our late 20s and eraly 30s and LOVED palm cove. It is a quit place with some restaurants but it is so relaxing and beautiful. Definetely not a lot of bars. We stayed at the Breakfree Amphora - great price, great location (right across the street from the beach), great rooms - I highly recommend it.
Have fun!

Scouse,

Palm Cove is much quieter than Port Douglas...that said, if you're doing a bunch of day tours and are going "flat out" you may appreciate that; however, being in your late 20's you may also be of a mind to experience Port Douglas which has more of a nightlife...for your to decide which is a good match for you.

Hope this is helpful!

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Verandas at Port Douglas is really nice, we just came back from there and the apartments are really nice, just around the corner from the main street and about a 2 minute walk from the beach. Aqueous looks really nice as well, has swim up verandas to the apartments, we could see them out of the window from Verandas. Rates are really cheap at present as it is basically the North wet season but over 10 days we only had drizzling rain for about one hour.

Verandas is the name of th apartments we stayed in - hope it did not cause any confusion. Not sure what there web site address is as we just dropped in to see what there rates were like.

If you want views in Sydney, you are probably thinking of the famous harbor, with the opera house and bridge. Darling Harbor is a separate area. If that's okay, fine. Not my favorite area, but you are close to Chinatown, and the aquarium is there. It's all a big manufactured sight with some restaurants and a few shops, an IMAX, etc. As for Palm Cove, I hear it's quieter than PD, which we stayed in and loved. I'm sure it is also great. Don't worry that PD will be too bustling, though. It's mostly just a few blocks of a main street.

Palm Cove is really beautiful and relaxing.
It's well worth staying there as it has a good location as it is between Cairns and Port Douglas,so is great as a base to visit the surrounding area.
It has some nice restaurants and a couple of bars, but if it's dancing the night away you want, then PD is probably better for you.

PC has the lifeguards/surf club which is a great place to meet locals and is just like a pub. So plenty of folk your age in there.

I liked the sophistication of Palm Cove and having a beautiful beach and fabulous luxury accomodation made it a truly great memory.

check out this site

www.palmcove.net


Goodluck

Muck

Sydney..

Just a suggestion. Give thought to the north side like the Vibe Hotel. Even though over the Harbour Bridge you have train, bus or ferry transport that is very short trip and also you could walk over the bridge to get into town.

Perhaps even quicker than getter to and from Darling Harbour.

Also has views.

Close by are many suburbs that offer a range of restaurants and bars where Australians go. Downtown Sydney is all businessmen or tourists.


Cairns...

If it were me I would stay at multiple locations over a week. Too long for Palm Cove or Port Douglas.

Cairns Plaza is about a ten minute walk into the main centre. (If I have the right place in mind). So close enough to walk unless you want to pop in and out often, then perhaps you will need to be in the thick of it.

I would suggest though a change of address over a week so you can see more of the area. Our last trip we did a little loop tour going north, then south through the tablelands to Mission beach and back north to Cairns.

Another time we headed north into Cooktown and Cape Tribulation. With a week you have a great opportunity to go further afield than those who have only a couple of days.