xmas and new year!!!
Dec 31st, 2003, 04:23 AM
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xmas and new year!!!
Ive just witnessed one of the most amazing new year celebrations ever in sydney and Ive decided next year I will have to be there. What is the accommodation situation like in Sydney around Xmas and New year time? (I will be a backpacker so I will be staying in the hostels)
Dec 31st, 2003, 12:02 PM
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Expensive!
See if you can book now - something like the Central Sydney YHA! I can't hink of any cheap accommodation nearer the Harbour, but Alan always has great ideas, and will check in later, I'd bet!
C'mon down!!!
See if you can book now - something like the Central Sydney YHA! I can't hink of any cheap accommodation nearer the Harbour, but Alan always has great ideas, and will check in later, I'd bet!
C'mon down!!!
Dec 31st, 2003, 12:59 PM
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The celebrations for NY in Sydney just gets better and better and that time of year there is soooooo much to do and see because it is "party-time"! There are other areas in and around Sydney that you could stay at and just travel by ferry into the Quay area for those celebrations but it is wise to book ahead as much as possible for the best accommodation. If you have the time try and stay over, or get back to Sydney, January 26th which is Australia Day and there are celebrations then as well.
At the best of time Sydney is a great place to be but if you are from the northern hemisphere it is a fantastic place and time of year to be away from the cold/wet of the northern winter.
At the best of time Sydney is a great place to be but if you are from the northern hemisphere it is a fantastic place and time of year to be away from the cold/wet of the northern winter.
Dec 31st, 2003, 04:53 PM
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Hi, jordycarter!
Accommodation in Sydney is generally easy to find and affordable, but at New Year most of the popular hotels -- i.e. the "chains" -- show their Mr Hyde side and raise the prices to absolutely exorbitant levels. One poster to this forum was quoted around $AUD900 for one night at the Park Hyatt! Talk about profiteering! I would gladly give them a bad rap, but what's the point -- seventy-five percent of the other hotels around them are doing exactly the same thing.... ripping you off.
The advice to book as soon as possible is better than good -- it's beyond dispute. If I can add something to it, I would exhort you not to bother contacting any hotel which also has a branch in your home town. All the Marriotts, the Holiday Inns, the Mercures, the Four Seasons, and similar, will have already costed with the New Year demand in mind. There are some hotels, however, which don't seem to put up their prices too much in spite of the expected demand. Currently in Sydney, Mucky (one of our "old faithfuls"
got a good deal at the Waldorf, which is not a great hotel by any means, but has a kitchenette with microwave, etc, and is reasonably close to everything... around half the price of the Medina, which he also canvassed, a few metres away. Anothe nicely-placed hotel, the Grand in Hunter St, usually has double rooms for about $AUD120 a night, and they told me that they put a premium of around $AUD10 on this for the New Year period... that's not such a strain, and you can walk to a viewing area for the Bridge fireworks in five minutes. I can't tell you what the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, one of the most interesting places in Sydney, does for New Year, but since they're not a world-renowned chain, you could contact them and see if they will give you a double at around their "normal" price of $AUD180.
If the fireworks is your most important reason for coming to Sydney, you might like to stay on the north side of the harbour, near some of the prime viewing locations there. Have a look at this site for a guest house right near Cremorne Point: http://www.cremornepointmanor.com.au/
Your travel agent might be able to give you the names of many more likely prospects, but the minute he/she starts telling you that you HAVE to be prepared to pay upwards of $AUD500 a night at this time of year, and shows you the rates at the "chains" to prove it, this is a sign that he doesn't really know much about Sydney, so in that case you should forget about him and come back to this forum. I have topped another post for you -- someone three months ago seeking a serviced apartment -- which might give you some more clues on places to look that your agent doesn't know about. However, I don't know what these people do about their rates in New Year week -- you will have to ask them for a straight answer on that one.
But the most important thing is still the very first -- do it NOW.
Hope this has been of some help.
Accommodation in Sydney is generally easy to find and affordable, but at New Year most of the popular hotels -- i.e. the "chains" -- show their Mr Hyde side and raise the prices to absolutely exorbitant levels. One poster to this forum was quoted around $AUD900 for one night at the Park Hyatt! Talk about profiteering! I would gladly give them a bad rap, but what's the point -- seventy-five percent of the other hotels around them are doing exactly the same thing.... ripping you off.
The advice to book as soon as possible is better than good -- it's beyond dispute. If I can add something to it, I would exhort you not to bother contacting any hotel which also has a branch in your home town. All the Marriotts, the Holiday Inns, the Mercures, the Four Seasons, and similar, will have already costed with the New Year demand in mind. There are some hotels, however, which don't seem to put up their prices too much in spite of the expected demand. Currently in Sydney, Mucky (one of our "old faithfuls"
got a good deal at the Waldorf, which is not a great hotel by any means, but has a kitchenette with microwave, etc, and is reasonably close to everything... around half the price of the Medina, which he also canvassed, a few metres away. Anothe nicely-placed hotel, the Grand in Hunter St, usually has double rooms for about $AUD120 a night, and they told me that they put a premium of around $AUD10 on this for the New Year period... that's not such a strain, and you can walk to a viewing area for the Bridge fireworks in five minutes. I can't tell you what the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, one of the most interesting places in Sydney, does for New Year, but since they're not a world-renowned chain, you could contact them and see if they will give you a double at around their "normal" price of $AUD180. If the fireworks is your most important reason for coming to Sydney, you might like to stay on the north side of the harbour, near some of the prime viewing locations there. Have a look at this site for a guest house right near Cremorne Point: http://www.cremornepointmanor.com.au/
Your travel agent might be able to give you the names of many more likely prospects, but the minute he/she starts telling you that you HAVE to be prepared to pay upwards of $AUD500 a night at this time of year, and shows you the rates at the "chains" to prove it, this is a sign that he doesn't really know much about Sydney, so in that case you should forget about him and come back to this forum. I have topped another post for you -- someone three months ago seeking a serviced apartment -- which might give you some more clues on places to look that your agent doesn't know about. However, I don't know what these people do about their rates in New Year week -- you will have to ask them for a straight answer on that one.
But the most important thing is still the very first -- do it NOW.
Hope this has been of some help.
Dec 31st, 2003, 06:48 PM
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there is a lot of discussion about this and similar issues for backpackers at the thorn tree message board
www.lonelyplanet.com
www.lonelyplanet.com
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