honu

Hi everyone at QF. As a new resident of NSW Far South Coast, I'll be using CBR quite a bit (about 3 hrs away). I happen to have an upcoming early-am CBR-BNE (6:30, lucky me!), so I'd like to know if there's a hotel very close to CBR that offers courtesy airport pick up and drop off. I did a bit of a search online, and I found some hotels not far from the airport, but apparently none with a shuttle. I know it's a small airport, and distances are relative in Canberra, but is there really no hotel w/regualr car service? I know it's a tiny airport, but...

I tought of booking a taxi the night before, but it worries me that it might not show up (happened once, not in Australia, though).

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions you might have.

[This message has been edited by honu (edited Feb 12, 2004).]

Jackit

Honu,

The other alternative to staying in Canberra, is staying in Queanbeyan - which is just next door to the airport but actually in NSW.

A couple of cheapish suggestions from my years in living in Canberra and regularly commuting - Olims, right near the city centre and easy access to the airport and Motel Monaro - in Kingston and not far away at all. You should find both these hotels on wotif.com.

I'm not sure that any of the hotels in Canberra have courtesy buses (although I stand to be corrected) but taxis are really reliable - I've caught 50+ early morning taxis to CBR airport and never had any probs.

A word of warning though for your flights, Canberra is notorious for getting 'fogged' in during Winter - you'll be fine as long as you catch the earliest flights as they have been 'parked' in CBR o/night. If you are relying on an inbound aircraft just be aware that you could experience long delays at certain times of the year.

Alan in CBR

As a resident of Canberra I'm actually one of the worst people to answer a question about hotels in Canberra (since obviously I have no need for them), but I hope I can help with transport questions.

As far as I know (which as indicated may not be worth much) none of the hotels have shuttles. A quick Google search seems to confirm this - even when there are mentions of a shuttle, this is the Airporter Shuttle which does the Airport-CBD loop and visits a few hotels on the way. Unfortunately it doesn't operate for the very early flights.

The good news is that the taxis are quite reliable for the early start - CBR is relatively busy at that time with QF flights to SYD (x2), MEL, ADL and BNE between 0600 and 0700. Another option to consider is limos - they are at most a few dollars more than taxis and if your company has negotiated a deal they can even be cheaper.

CBD to airport is quick, no more than 15 minutes and at that time of the morning probably closer to 10.

Edited to add: If you really just need a bed for the night, the closest hotel is probably the Comfort Inn Airport in Queanbeyan - they claim 5 minutes to the airport, which is just about right but would probably require some speeding. It's a fairly desolate location in an industrial area, but as I said if you're just after a bed it's probably OK.


[This message has been edited by Alan in CBR (edited Feb 15, 2004).]

honu

Thanks for the replies and the advices. Well, I guess I had done my homework correctly, and I didn't find any true airport hotels because there aren't any. I'm relieved to hear that taxis are reliable, even so early in the morning.