scae0706

Anyone out there stayed at the Star City Hotel and Casino in Sydney. We are going to be in Sydney for 4 nights next April and we are attracted to this hotel which is situated near Darling Harbour. Rate we can get is $280Aus per night. Thanks in advance for any info.

margo_oz

I live in Sydney, so I've never stayed there.

Although, theoretically, Star City is right on Darling Harbour (sort of) - it's not very convenient.

For starters, as Alan always tells us, Darling Harbour is NOT Sydney Harbour, but rather a backwater to the west of the city proper. And the Casino in on the far western side of DH. It's a fair hike to just about anything you'd want to go to (except the Good Living Food Markets, 1st Saturday of each month - see earlier post). If you're not rabid walkers, you's probably need to resort to the ferry or light rail to get to where you could start being a tourist.

I'm not sure what you get for $280/night - but I'd have a look at the offerings on wotif.com to get some sort of idea of what else is available. If I was paying $280/night - I wouldn't be at that end of town.

There have been occasional mentions of one of the city Marriotts on Priceline for about $US150 - this would be a much better bet - unless, of course, your purpose in coming here is to make suitable donations to the coffers of the casino by gambling.

On wotif today, there are offers for Four Seasons, Hilton, Intercontinental - all for less than $280, and all much better located.

Have a look: http://www.wotif.com/Search.jsp?refi...p;viewType=all

You can't book yet - but you should get a better idea of the options. It may depend on the time in April - Easter may cause changes.

ozgal

Margo is right, the location is a fair walk even to Darling Harbour proper, and further to the rest of Sydney. I've stayed there (just because we were seeing a show there, and it was convenient)but that was a few years ago. One thing that I found odd was that to get to any of the restaurants or the theatres from your room, you have to go through the gaming rooms. Quite surreal when you pop down for breakfast all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and you walk past all these people who have been there all night and looking distinctly the worse for wear!

Of course, if you enjoy casinos, then it would be a good choice for you, otherwise I'm sure you can do better for the same price.

scae0706

Thanks to both Margo and Ozgal. On the information from both of you we will be looking elsewhere. We may take a little trip to have a look see but will not stay so far out. We may even be really daring and have a go with Priceline. Regards.

travellin

I'd give it a miss too. Our dil booked her parents in at the casino because it looked so glitzy. We were staying in Sydney CBD at the same time so we walked over to see them. It is a bit out of the way and (when we were there) the surrounding area seemed a bit dodgy.