Victoria Court Sydney
 

Looking for information about the Victoria Court Sydney B&B. We're thinking of staying there and would appreciate comments about the place and its location.

Hi, edsharr!

It's a lovely old building... a couple of terrace houses from the 1880s knocked together and restored to look like the grand old days of Potts Point, which must have been an elegant area back then. The building hasn't changed, but the district has. Potts Point is almost in King's Cross, and in the last thirty years this has become one of the sleaze areas of Sydney. Some tourists love it for its night life, and the easy availability of sex and drugs, but it's not much of a place to walk around in late at night. And if you travel into the city by train (thus avoiding a half-hour walk) you have to use King's Cross Station, which will NOT, I assure you, feature in your treasured memories of Sydney. Mind where you step.

So, the Victoria Court is a mixed blessing. Depends, I guess, on what you want in a holiday, but, fearful that you'll have a bad experience and remember my city less-than-fondly, I couldn't recommend it.

Alan, thank you so much for your info. Do you or anyone on the forum know of a good centrally located B&B we could look into.

Hi, again, edsharr!

Just off the top of my head, you could try Wattle House in Glebe (a short bus ride to the city) or Cremorne Point Manor at Cremorne (a ten-minute ferry ride to Circular Quay). Both are in interesting, but widely contrasting, areas. I think, also, that both have been mentioned on this forum in recent weeks, so a search above may prove fruitful. I might see if I can find a couple of posts about these, and, if so, I will "top" them for you.

Right, have topped a couple of posts which you may be interested to read... just below this one. Also, if you want a very traditional-looking hotel right near the entrance to the Harbour Bridge climb -- and I think the sign outside offers "bed and breakfast" -- then try the Australian Hotel. You can check it out on http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguid...l_the_sydney-i.

Because of its location, it may blow your budget, but it's certainly not swank in the Marriott/Hyatt class, so maybe there's a pleasant surprise in store regarding cost. Certainly you won't complain about the location!

Good luck!

Here's a few more around Sydney - Arcadia House B&B at Glebe www.arcadia-house.com.au; Bed & Breakfast Sydney Central at Surry Hills (this is a lovely old terrace house) www.BedandBreakfastSydney.com.au ; Balmain Peninsular Bed and Breakfast www.balmainpeninsularbandb.com.au ; Tricketts at Glebe - www.tricketts.com.au - Marshalls of Paddington www.marshallsbnb.net - Simpsons of Potts Point www.simpsonspottpoint.com.au

Pat, that's a great list and worth filing away for future reference. Most of those areas would be great to stay in, and I, for one, would much prefer the atmosphere there to, say, Darling Harbour, where so many of our unsuspecting tourists wind up, in vanilla hotels with service just like you can get at home (in which case, you might as well stay home, I always think!)

Actually, I got back onto this thread to mention one more thing about the Australian Hotel, which I have just been looking up. Actually, the price isn't too bad for the location -- $AUD125 per night on the site I checked -- but there are 3 bathrooms for ten rooms, and I know that many of the posters at this forum won't tolerate sharing a bathroom. Just though I'd warn edsharr about that one.

Alan - I left the last "s" of website for Simpsons - should obviously be www.simpsonspottspoint.com.au - have had glowing reports about this B&B.

We stayed at Victoria Court a couple years ago. The rates were reasonable, the street was lovely, and walking straight down Victoria takes you quickly to the subway, and then to all the cafes of Darlinghurst, and then Oxford Street, which made for easy dining options. Breakfast was just okay, and we never really felt any invitation from the hosts to interact.

Alan is right about Potts Point being so close to Kings Cross. There are many backpacker hostels nearby, which is fine, but just beyond is Kings Cross, which, if you are from a big city, won't scare you, but that doesn't mean you want to stay in the thick of it, either. Still, we quickly figured out the lay of the land, and had no problems, and felt removed enough from Kings Cross.