Hotel Recommendations for Sydney and Melbourne
Nov 26, 2014, 12:14 pm
#31
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: MCI
Programs: AAdvantage ExecPlat, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 316
I wouldn't say it's European in any way. But I personally think it's a better place to eat than Sydney. That's just my experience having spent a good amount of time in both. You can disagree, that's fine, but I stand behind my love of Melbourne.
Nov 27, 2014, 5:18 am
#32
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Now that I've narrowed down the places I think I might go, I'm starting to plan my itinerary to try to figure out how I will handle public transit. (Opal card or not). I am a little confused, they list an "Adult single" price and then an "Adult return" price that is higher. Does return mean just the return ticket or the cost buying a roundtrip?
Arrive from the airport, stop at hotel, go to Manly, walk around, etc, then maybe stop by cockatoo or fort denison on the way over to watson bay, dinner, back to hotel to crash.
If I were you, I'd just pick one of those per day, probably Manly. Take the ferry, stroll down the Corso, walk over to Shelley Beach, have fish'n'chips at the nice little cafe there, drop in for a pint of microbrew at Three Pines on the way back.
Nov 29, 2014, 10:39 pm
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Raddison Platinum, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 5,282
In Sydney, a return is the same price as two singles (great deal innit). Just get an Opal card and let it do the math: if you travel a lot in a single day, you'll hit the $15 cap and everybody beyond that is free.
That's not going to work geographically. Manly is north of Circular Quay, Cockatoo Island is west, Watsons Bay is east, Fort Denison is also east but on a private ferry line not covered by Opal, and the only place to change between the ferry lines for any of these points is CQ.
If I were you, I'd just pick one of those per day, probably Manly. Take the ferry, stroll down the Corso, walk over to Shelley Beach, have fish'n'chips at the nice little cafe there, drop in for a pint of microbrew at Three Pines on the way back.
That's not going to work geographically. Manly is north of Circular Quay, Cockatoo Island is west, Watsons Bay is east, Fort Denison is also east but on a private ferry line not covered by Opal, and the only place to change between the ferry lines for any of these points is CQ.
If I were you, I'd just pick one of those per day, probably Manly. Take the ferry, stroll down the Corso, walk over to Shelley Beach, have fish'n'chips at the nice little cafe there, drop in for a pint of microbrew at Three Pines on the way back.
Ofcourse, looking at the weather, it looks like rain every day.
Nov 30, 2014, 5:09 am
#34
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: iah
Programs: ua-mm *G, hilton-gold
Posts: 704
Thanks, now that I took another look at the map I see the issue. I could probably goto Manly then take the ferry from there direct to Watsons Bay (but I can't use the opal and there are few ferries). That seems doable. Although, other than going to Doyle's (which I don't think I'm going to goto after seeing the prices), I'm not sure what else I'd do there that I wouldnt get in manly.
Ofcourse, looking at the weather, it looks like rain every day.
Ofcourse, looking at the weather, it looks like rain every day.
Dec 9, 2014, 4:26 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Raddison Platinum, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 5,282
So I just finished my trip and would like to thank everyone for their recommendations. I'll summarize my trip and some tips I have learned along the way for the next AUS newbie.
1. In SYD, my bag did not arrive with my flight. There is helpful staff though. The bag came in on the next flight and then they got it to my hotel around late-afternoon. They tell you to hold on to your receipts as they will reimburse (up to approx $50USD).
2. There is an Optus at the airport where you can easily buy a SIM for your phone. They had a $2/day plan that gives you unlimited calls/txt and 500mb of data per day. This was perfect for me and I was able to put on exact enough to get me through my trip. Signal quality seemed good. You also get the first day for free.
3. Get an Opal card at the WH store. I went down the train station to get one and they said they ran out so I had to turn around and goto the WH store. I recommend putting some minimal amount to get you through most of your trip, then topping up near the end of your trip to minimize what is left on your card. There is a $12.60 airport access fee for your departure and return. However, I noticed that your balance can go negative. You need the minimum fare to tap-on thoguh. From CBD peak time this was $3.30. Once you get to the station, and tap off your balance will go negative. If you never plan on using the card again, this can save you a couple bucks.
4. I stayed at the Diamant hotel at Kings Cross. I thought it was a nice hotel. It was too early to checkin but the offered a shower which was basically in a "clean" handicapped restroom. They provide a towel, but no shower shoes, soap, etc.
5. Take the Darling Harbour - Circular Quay ferry if you want a nice close up view of the bridge and the opera house. There are plenty of other ferries.
6. My first day, I went to the maritime museum. I found it interesting as you could go in some of the ships. I had planned to goto the Zoo and Aquarium that day as well since they are mostly indoors and rain was in the forecast. Save money by buying the ticket online in advance. Don't worry on the date you pick for your visit, they will let you use your ticket on a different day. Since the weather was holding up, I decided to go later and go see the bridge and opera house at circular quay instead.
7. I had a little extra time so I decided to visit the Navy Base museum on garden island, Cockatoo island, and Manly all on the same day. there is a $15max so this along with multiple bus trips was a great deal on this day. There is not alot on garden island to see but I found it interesting. If you time it right with the ferry, you dont have to stay long. I found cockatoo island rather disappointing. Almost all the buildings were closed, eventhough their tour path tells you to go through them. I was able to find side doors and get in but there wasnt really anything in the buildings. The place would be much more interesting if it was quite so derelict. As I took the ferry to Manly, we were closely followed by dark storm clouds and lighting. Shortly after arriving it was a heavy down pour for maybe 20min. Other than that it was fine. I did see lots of attractive girls with little bikinis but now with layers of clothing on top due to the rain and temperature drop. So it was a little disappointing
8. On the last day, I went to the zoo and aquarium. The zoo was quite small and the animals seemed to like to hide towards the back of their habitats. I guess I would too if I were in their situation. I found the aquarium more interesting with the underwater tunnels.
9. I had booked a late flight to MEL on TigerAir. I was a little concerned because a thunderstorm rolled though as I was on the train going to the airport. I briefly contemplated what i might do if they cancelled it and I got stranded. Checkin was quick, then later at the gate, I noticed the same attractive girl working the gate. I guess they keep things minimally staffed on this airline. Their boarding process was interesting where if you are in the back half you go outside and get on through the back, and if you're in the front half, you take the gate bridge to the front. Unfortunately several people didn't want to go out in the dirizzle and clogged up the aisles, oh well.
10. Upon arrival in melbourne, you have to go outside and walk to terminal 3 to get to the skybus. It is a short walk but annoying in the drizzle. The bus was quick and ran smoothly. Unfortunately, arriving on a weekend at night, the hotel transfer shuttles stopped running so I took a taxi.
11. I stayed at the pegasus apart hotel. Room was OK, clean, decent size. I found the HVAC remote control a bit confusing to use. Also, the first day, no one serviced my room. Otherwise the place was fine.
12. I visited the Old Melbourne Gaol which was interesting. They have a guy pretend to lock you up which is somewhat entertaining. Then you can go view the jail. It gets old after a while since every cell starts to look the same.
13. I also visited the immigration museum. I found this quite boring.
14. I mainly too the free tourist tram around, but found it to be unreliable. It says every 12min but its more like every 20min. Some how they manage to make sure two trams going the other way pass everytime I waited. I got screwed one night where I waited for half an hour and ended up on the last tram that didnt get me where I wanted. Luckily the Central area is quite walkable.
15. I decided to visit St. Kilda beach. I asked the hotel for directions, it was then that I realized that they have a service where you can borrow a Myki card. Had I known this earlier I prob would have been saved alot of walking but I guess I needed the exercise. The beach was nice but it was quite cold (so had the similar issue as I had at manly). I went to see the penguins come out at sunset. I did end up seeing a few but it was quite dark and hard to see and getting really cold. It seems the weather can go from quite warm during the day to freezing cold at night.
16. Finally I went over to the crown casino to see the gas brigades. It was interesting but not quite as good as the bellagio or the wynn macau. They had the atrium decorated for xmas so that was nice. I did play the slots a little and actually won, although then accidentally hit "bet max" and ended up quickly losing a chunk.
17. I scheduled the skybus hotel transfer to pick me up 1hr before I wanted to arrive at the airport on the hotel's recc. The skybus ended up coming about 15min later than schedule and it too about 1.5hrs. I asked skybus about this and they told me they recc 1.5hrs. You also have to walk a little bit of a distance to get to the terminal. Between arriving on skybus, and getting to my gate, going through checkin, security, customs, it took me about 45min. I had gone to the Air NZ lounge for about 10min. It was a nice lounge and wish I could have been there a little longer.
So overall it was a decent trip. Hope some of my tips above are helpful
1. In SYD, my bag did not arrive with my flight. There is helpful staff though. The bag came in on the next flight and then they got it to my hotel around late-afternoon. They tell you to hold on to your receipts as they will reimburse (up to approx $50USD).
2. There is an Optus at the airport where you can easily buy a SIM for your phone. They had a $2/day plan that gives you unlimited calls/txt and 500mb of data per day. This was perfect for me and I was able to put on exact enough to get me through my trip. Signal quality seemed good. You also get the first day for free.
3. Get an Opal card at the WH store. I went down the train station to get one and they said they ran out so I had to turn around and goto the WH store. I recommend putting some minimal amount to get you through most of your trip, then topping up near the end of your trip to minimize what is left on your card. There is a $12.60 airport access fee for your departure and return. However, I noticed that your balance can go negative. You need the minimum fare to tap-on thoguh. From CBD peak time this was $3.30. Once you get to the station, and tap off your balance will go negative. If you never plan on using the card again, this can save you a couple bucks.
4. I stayed at the Diamant hotel at Kings Cross. I thought it was a nice hotel. It was too early to checkin but the offered a shower which was basically in a "clean" handicapped restroom. They provide a towel, but no shower shoes, soap, etc.
5. Take the Darling Harbour - Circular Quay ferry if you want a nice close up view of the bridge and the opera house. There are plenty of other ferries.
6. My first day, I went to the maritime museum. I found it interesting as you could go in some of the ships. I had planned to goto the Zoo and Aquarium that day as well since they are mostly indoors and rain was in the forecast. Save money by buying the ticket online in advance. Don't worry on the date you pick for your visit, they will let you use your ticket on a different day. Since the weather was holding up, I decided to go later and go see the bridge and opera house at circular quay instead.
7. I had a little extra time so I decided to visit the Navy Base museum on garden island, Cockatoo island, and Manly all on the same day. there is a $15max so this along with multiple bus trips was a great deal on this day. There is not alot on garden island to see but I found it interesting. If you time it right with the ferry, you dont have to stay long. I found cockatoo island rather disappointing. Almost all the buildings were closed, eventhough their tour path tells you to go through them. I was able to find side doors and get in but there wasnt really anything in the buildings. The place would be much more interesting if it was quite so derelict. As I took the ferry to Manly, we were closely followed by dark storm clouds and lighting. Shortly after arriving it was a heavy down pour for maybe 20min. Other than that it was fine. I did see lots of attractive girls with little bikinis but now with layers of clothing on top due to the rain and temperature drop. So it was a little disappointing
8. On the last day, I went to the zoo and aquarium. The zoo was quite small and the animals seemed to like to hide towards the back of their habitats. I guess I would too if I were in their situation. I found the aquarium more interesting with the underwater tunnels.
9. I had booked a late flight to MEL on TigerAir. I was a little concerned because a thunderstorm rolled though as I was on the train going to the airport. I briefly contemplated what i might do if they cancelled it and I got stranded. Checkin was quick, then later at the gate, I noticed the same attractive girl working the gate. I guess they keep things minimally staffed on this airline. Their boarding process was interesting where if you are in the back half you go outside and get on through the back, and if you're in the front half, you take the gate bridge to the front. Unfortunately several people didn't want to go out in the dirizzle and clogged up the aisles, oh well.
10. Upon arrival in melbourne, you have to go outside and walk to terminal 3 to get to the skybus. It is a short walk but annoying in the drizzle. The bus was quick and ran smoothly. Unfortunately, arriving on a weekend at night, the hotel transfer shuttles stopped running so I took a taxi.
11. I stayed at the pegasus apart hotel. Room was OK, clean, decent size. I found the HVAC remote control a bit confusing to use. Also, the first day, no one serviced my room. Otherwise the place was fine.
12. I visited the Old Melbourne Gaol which was interesting. They have a guy pretend to lock you up which is somewhat entertaining. Then you can go view the jail. It gets old after a while since every cell starts to look the same.
13. I also visited the immigration museum. I found this quite boring.
14. I mainly too the free tourist tram around, but found it to be unreliable. It says every 12min but its more like every 20min. Some how they manage to make sure two trams going the other way pass everytime I waited. I got screwed one night where I waited for half an hour and ended up on the last tram that didnt get me where I wanted. Luckily the Central area is quite walkable.
15. I decided to visit St. Kilda beach. I asked the hotel for directions, it was then that I realized that they have a service where you can borrow a Myki card. Had I known this earlier I prob would have been saved alot of walking but I guess I needed the exercise. The beach was nice but it was quite cold (so had the similar issue as I had at manly). I went to see the penguins come out at sunset. I did end up seeing a few but it was quite dark and hard to see and getting really cold. It seems the weather can go from quite warm during the day to freezing cold at night.
16. Finally I went over to the crown casino to see the gas brigades. It was interesting but not quite as good as the bellagio or the wynn macau. They had the atrium decorated for xmas so that was nice. I did play the slots a little and actually won, although then accidentally hit "bet max" and ended up quickly losing a chunk.
17. I scheduled the skybus hotel transfer to pick me up 1hr before I wanted to arrive at the airport on the hotel's recc. The skybus ended up coming about 15min later than schedule and it too about 1.5hrs. I asked skybus about this and they told me they recc 1.5hrs. You also have to walk a little bit of a distance to get to the terminal. Between arriving on skybus, and getting to my gate, going through checkin, security, customs, it took me about 45min. I had gone to the Air NZ lounge for about 10min. It was a nice lounge and wish I could have been there a little longer.
So overall it was a decent trip. Hope some of my tips above are helpful
Dec 15, 2014, 4:18 am
#37
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Scotland - ABZ
Programs: Qantas LTG, BA-Blue, KLM -Gold, SAS - Silver
Posts: 2,060
11. I stayed at the pegasus apart hotel. Room was OK, clean, decent size. I found the HVAC remote control a bit confusing to use. Also, the first day, no one serviced my room. Otherwise the place was fine.
Dec 22, 2014, 2:34 am
#39
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
Personally I prefer the Westin but that Sheraton was a Luxury Collection hotel until a few years ago and it shows -- great club if that matters to you. Westin has the best swimming pool of any hotel in Sydney. Neither has the iconic Sydney views (for that you need Shangri-La or IC or FS or PH or even the Marriott).