Sydney Hotel Reviews

''Bills'' for breakfast. Hugos for Pizza! Bayswater Brasserie for dinner. All outstanding!

Places to visit whilst in Sydney are Darling Harbour, Toronga Zoo, Aquarium and Opera House just to mention a few.

Spent most time at Paddington shopping. The Rocks was also worth visiting (opera house, harbour bridge, bontanical gardens, craft market on saturday). Seafood w/ wine at fishmarket was fantastic.

We didn''t need any transportation if we would like to find stores or foods around the hotels area because they are so near to the hotels. We rented a car to go to Hunter Valley (Pokolbin etc), Blue Mountain, Gold Coast, Canberra, etc.

Sydney is an expensive place. Its transportation is not as developed as one would expect for such a large city. Getting around the city is diffcult unless you drive or take the tour route. This is both expensive and can be inconvenient especially if you are drive. Parking space is limited and expensive. An hour''s parking at Paddy''s Market cost me AUD$14 cos I couldn''t find any street parking so have to park in its basement carpark. Also, hotels charge extra for parking even if you stay with them. A day''s parking can cost you AUD$10-$20 depending on the hotel. There are limited train services and NO Mass transit system outside of the few square miles within the city. (Even Melbourne has tram services that goes a distance outside of the city centre.)

I will recommend visitors to take a tour to Hunter Valley where you get to visit vine yard and taste some wine, visit the Blue Mountain, climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, take a walk around the ROCK (early settlement of Europeans) which has been turned into a dining & shopping area.

I really liked being in Sydney. My favorite part was going to the markets especially in Glebe. I love the alternative culture so Glebe was up my alley. I found that eating Japenese food, which is my favorite, was very affordable. Make sure you try food from countries not found at home, for me that was nepalese and vietnemese.

The Rocks is great for strolling, shopping and dining. Wolfies at the waterfront has great steaks. Wildfire is worth a try. But if you have time and money and you are a gourmet you have to try Tetsuya in Kent street. Book well in advance but it could be the experience of a lifetime.

We did the hop on hop off bus - great fun. Nice easy walk to the Rocks Sunday market and performance at the Opera House on Sat. night. The kitchen made it very convenient to eat breakfast at home and we even at a couple of evening meals "at home".

We walked a lot which turned out not to be a bad thing! The monorail around the city is good. Darling Harbour and The Rocks are a must. For those motorcyclists among you - the tour on a Harley D. or on a tricycle is a must. We did a 3hr tour and saw some beautiful beaches well worth another visit in the future!

Sydney - get the free guide books available at the customs hall if flying. Start with a trip up the tower in the middle of the CBD to get your bearings and then do what you fancy. Little gems are the fish market, Star City Casino (very friendly esp. for amateurs) the Oaks Pub in Neutral Bay. Public transport is great and taxis are reasonable however unusally for a major city it is pretty easy to drive around if you hire a car.

I had gotten a tip from a fellow traveller about the Anderson Bus Tour - Blue Mountain Region (ask for David). The tour was excellent. Other musts are a tour of the Opera House, Circular Quay, Darling Harbor and of course, George St. Eateries are plentiful and many of the cafe type. Plan to spend time at the outdoor market at The Rocks on Saturday. The pace is leisurely (I did a lot of walking) and the Australians enjoy the sunny outdoors.

The location is truly central to Sydney. Everything was nearby...grocery stores, internet cafes, restaurants, and more. The CityRail stop is very close for longer voyages, but most things could really be walked to. The Bridge Climb is a must...but only if you feel like spending $160 AUD for a daytime climb. There are some great views from the South Pylon Tower ($8.50 AUD but free for 30 days after you climb the bridge)...and you can take pictures from the Pylon Tower (and not while climbing). There is always plenty to do near other walkable train stations (Town Hall, Central), and Darling Harbour isn''t too far a walk either. Sydney is a great city to walk around....so bring comfortable shoes!!

Travelling with the kids, we always stop at the Taronga Zoo and the Aquarium. We also went to the Power House Museum which has hosting the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Exhibit. Sydney is the only Australian stop for this travelling exhibit. For shopping, it is much nicer to head out of the city centre. Just around the hotel you have all of the international labels and major department stores, but head out to Queen''s Street in Woollahra and then stroll down Oxford Stret to Paddington. Here you will find lots of small boutiques. The other area is Double Bay. Taxis are affordable. We walked a lot and of course took the ferry out to Taronga Zoo.

If you are going from Sydney to melbourne, or from melbourne to sydney, there''s a tour for 195 australian dollars for 3.5 days, which takes you from one city to another, and visit places along the way. It''s a great way to save time and money instead of booking tours separately for some of the places and also includes the transport cost from one city to the other. I only knew about it after I already purchased the grey hound bus tickets (60dollars one way).

From the York Apartments we were able to walk everywhere. Zolies Restaurant (York Apartments) was closed but the adjacent Corus Hotel was very good value for money for dinner. What else can be said about Sydney during New Years Eve other than outstanding.

I would not recommend Bondi Beach at Xmas as after 22.00HRS there is nothing and no alcohol is served. Furthermore the service at the cafes and eateries along Bondi was shocking (excluding Icebergs and NAM)- from the staffs attitude and lazinesss you would think that the food and drinks were FREE! Sydney Kings Cross (Heaven) was only a taxi ride away (15 Dollars) So I would recommend getting a hotel downtown and doing the day trip. When in Sydney - Tank, Icebergs, Hugos, The Sheaf, The White Horse, ARC and Columbian are a must!

We stayed in Sydney for 48 hours before driving toward Gold Coast and Brisbane. I enjoyed the near 1000km drive. We did 400km on the first leg, stay over night at a motel in a little town Kempsey, then move on the next morning. We rented a car with GPS, so I did not have to worried about getting lost, it also helped me to find some points of interest or shopping arcades. My whole family enjoyed the trip. I would recommend this to people who enjoy driving long distance to try it. We explored many beautiful spots on the way.

Sydney is a fantastic place to visit. As well as doing the city and harbour, hire a car for Blue Mountains, Northern Beaches and further if you like. Some kind of forest walk in Blue Mountains is essential.

Child friendly restaurants: Bathers Cafe at Balmoral Beach, Le Kiosk at Shelly Beach.