Australia Hotel Reviews

If staying here and hiring a car to visit the Melbourne city centre, beware of the Citylink motorway through the city centre. This seems to have been set up for residents, regular visitors and those in the know. It involves a prepaid fee, which can be paid or topped up at any Shell garage by credit card. But there are no toll pay stations, and a hefty fine will result if you use the Citylink without paying. A picture is taken of your vehicle reg when passing under a gantry, and action taken from there if the reg is not recognised.

We took the ferry to Manley and had fish and chips on the beach. This was a good opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney for an afternoon. We also climbed Sydney Bridge at twilight, best time of day but also off-peak - book well ahead. We hired a trained nanny from a local agency to babysit for us while we climbed the bridge ($15.00 p/h). I think the hotel can also assist with babysitting. We recommend an evening meal at The Sydney Cafe. The balcony overlooks the Bridge and has spectacular views. We booked 24 hours ahead. For $80.00 we hired a water taxi from Balmain back to Watson Bay. The skipper stopped so that we could take photographs and let the kids take the wheel going under the Bridge! We spent the afternoon at Balmain on the beach and swimming in the sea.

The nearby cafe The Verge was excellent, with fabulous menu, including the best kangaroo I have experienced, an impressively stocked bar, and wonderful atmosphere. Tram stop almost at the door for easy daytime city exploration, and the city circle trams stop at 6 pm. so no noisy trams to keep us awake. Perfect! We never did get to eat at the Claypots restaurant, but I would have loved to. It is a tiny almost impossible to find little local haunt in St Kilda and they don''t take bookings, you just turn up and hope for the best. Well we didn''t get in, but one doesn''t need to be a rocket scientist to see that this place is fantastic. the aroma and the laid back friendly atmosphere was enough to make us beg for a table. We just couldn''t wait much longer for dinner so we ended up at Yefsi in Ackland St. What a great place to explore. Yefsi has a wonderfully exotic selection of Greek delicacies and we were not at all disappointed. Service, food and atmosphere were outstanding. And after dinner we wandered took in the sights and sounds (and maby patisseries) of Ackland Street. I want to go back.

Visiting Adelaide - its got to be the vineyards. Great visits to Penfolds at Magill, Coriole and D''Arenburg at McLaren Vale with samples resulting in some lovely red and a nice port being bought. A visit to the leathershop in Hahndorf is recommended and the blokes out there - a visit to the National Car Museum is only 30 - 40 minutes away.

Spent most of my time in the Queen Street mall area (Myer Center). If you happen to be in Brisbane on a warm Sunday afternoon or evening, and like to have a drink with friend, make sure you go to the Victory. I made all my travels by either foot or taxi.

Melbourne is a lovely city - very cosmopolitan. Highly recommended for business or pleasure.

Must go to restaurant: Rockpool. Day trip to Hunter Valley is a must.

The free CAT buses at the door are fantastic! Being so close to the city, you can walk everywhere but its great to know you can catch a free bus home if you have too much shopping to carry or have exhausted yourself sight-seeing!

Close to a must-see Victoria Market and the famous Italian restaurant area.

One of the recommended restaurants is Han''s Cafe in Hays street. Not only cheap but also good interesting mixed asian tastes.

Lone Pine Koala santuary is Boat Cruise away (M.V.Miramar). Boat Quay is 10min walk away from hotel. Brisbane City Tour (on Public Transport City Sights) is recommended. Superb introduction to Brisbane. Bus stops at Adelaide St, again 5 min walk from hotel. Queen Street mall is 7 min walk away too! Hotel in super location.

Palm Valley is well worth a visit (you definitely need a good 4WD). It is an enchanting valley full of whispering Palm trees. Time your visit well and have the place to yourself!

Palm Cove is a good alternative to Port Douglas for people who are staying in the Cairns area for a limited period of time but still want to go to the beach. (There''s no beachfront in Cairns proper.) It''s very close to the airport and all major attractions plus downtown Cairns are easily accessible, although you''ll want to rent a car or arrange van transportation - a taxi will probably run you $30US. Palm Cove itself has a lovely crescent-shaped beach lined with trees. There are several good restaurants as well as numerous cafes and small shops lining the beach, so you won''t get stuck eating in hotel restaurants. Other than dining out or sitting on the beach, there''s little else to do in Palm Cove itself, but the area is close to attractions such as the Kuranda Skyrail, the Tjapukai aboriginal museum and a wildlife park.

The underground oil tunnels, Art Gallery & museum, Boat Trailer Club, MGM Grand, fish feeding. After visiting several sites in Kakadu we were fortunate enough to have the use of a friend''s vehicle to find our way around Darwin.

Diving and snorkeling are the activities of choice on the Great Barrier Reef. Definitely do a trip to the outer reef, where the coral and fish life are fantastic. I took a day trip with Great Adventures and while the day is a bit rushed, it was a convenient way to see the reef. You can do your choice of activities from their two-level pontoon, and can also eat lunch and shower there. It''s 45 minutes from Green Island, or 1 1/2 hours from Cairns. We also went to Kuranda; the activities at the city itself were not particularly impressive, but the train and skyrail trips offered stunning views and were very worthwhile.

Perth is not, for me, the best of the Australian capitals. Bland and boring is my perception of the city. However, I do like Freemantle, which has a much better ambience, and is much more compact. If you are driving, it''s essential you invest in a good map. To get anywhere, you need to actually know the name of the road(s) on which you need to travel. Most road signs will show an exit for the road name, and NOT for the town or city for which you''re heading. If you try to drive, for instance, from Perth to (say) Rockingham, you must look at a map and note down the name of all the interconnecting roads en-route. Even if you do happen to see a sign for Rockingham, at the next junction it will totally disappear. Extremely tourist-unfriendly! The area around Perth is, on the whole, very flat, and the scenery generally uninteresting. If your undecided on your Australian destination, I''d recommend NSW and Queensland as being much more scenic and interesting.

The Pyrmont Seafood and Steak Restaurant would be recommended and we used the Ferry, Sydney Express buses and monorail to get around.

Ayer''s Rock was well worth seeing. Did the climb, which is not really PC anymore, but there were plenty of others doing it as well. The night sky tour was good, and the Predator Show at the small stadium next to "Sails in the Desert" was worth seeing, especially if you have kids as they can play with the animals after the show. The Sound of Silence is very nice, even if it is a bit expensive. It is popular though, so book in advance if you can. Rent a car to get around, it is nice driving in this area, but book the car before you arrive.

Sydney Explorer Pass is a good value if you stay here longer than 3 days and want to see Sydney at leisure, getting on and off the buses at your convenience.

Ayres rock is awesome - ok after a while it wears off but at first sight it''s amazing - wish we''d had longer than 3 days (although we then went to erldund - the next roadhouse and much cheaper) there''s loads to do - the star talk is fantastic and there are camel rides.