Hi All:

We're planning a vacation in March-April '04 to Australia. This is entirely leisure, and I could use some advice on where to stay.

I've never been to Australia before, so I could reallly use some help from "seasoned" travelers when it comes to choosing where are the best places to stay and thoughts on our itinerary.

FYI, our itinerary is entirely flexible, so if there are better ideas, I'm all ears.

The current plan is to arrive in Sydney on March 30th, stay in Sydney for 6 nights, depart by car April 5th for Canberra, stay the night in Canberra (5th and 6th currently, although maybe only one night depending on what there is to do there), then drive to Melbourne to stay there the 7th and 8th. We head back to the States on the 9th.

I'd like recommendations on places to stay. I'll say cost is not a big factor, but I really don't want to spend more than $150-200US a night for a hotel room. That (I hope) should get us into something very nice.

The main criteria:

1. We want to stay somewhere nice, comfortable and quiet (for example, the Westin Sydney sounds fabulous, but I get the impression that the only people I'll be seeing in the lobby are folks over 50 (we're in our late 20's early 30's). The W Sydney sounds very cool, but the noise issues I've been reading about are a definite turnoff. For $200 a night I want quiet.

2. Close to "attractions". Shopping, entertainment, dining, culture. The less driving I have to do, the better (we'll be driving enough as it is). Public transportation is fine. Exploring each city is high on the list.

This is one of those "trip of a lifetime" things for both of us, so I really want to go all out, and as such I want to be sure we make the most of our time. Comments on our itinerary are also appreciated. (more time in Melbourne, Canberra, less in Sydney, etc.

Thanks in advance!

- Tony