Help please, hotel in Sydney

[estebofarr]

We are booked in the Park Royal Hotel on Day Street. Is this location accessible or will we need taxis just to get to the Circular Quay? We're supposed to be harborview but is it a good view or should we try and get a hotel nearer the Opera House? This will be for Feb. 11, 12, 13. Thanks.

 

Janis

[Globaliser]

If you've got a map of Sydney city centre, Day St is at the bottom end of Darling Harbour, just to the east of it. It's about half way between Central Station and Circular Quay, so it would probably take you about 20-30 minutes walking to get to Circular Quay.

 

However, I suspect that harbour view in this case may mean "Darling Harbour view", not the classic view of the main Sydney Harbour that people dream about. You might want to check that with the hotel. It looks like it's become the Crowne Plaza Darling Harbour, but again you may want to check that.

 

Nevertheless, being near Circular Quay is not the be-all-and-end-all of Sydney - the hotel's location is good for many tourist attractions too. However, it would mean that you'd have to get a taxi to the ship.

[estebofarr]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Well, we knew we would have to take a taxi from the ship, but it would be nice to be able to walk and not HAVE to take a taxi. The first time in a new city is always difficult until we get our bearings.

[Globaliser]

Now that I've got a few more minutes, I can add a bit to what I said before. For sightseeing purposes, everything in the centre of town is easily walkable from there. You're going to be within a few minutes of everything in Darling Harbour, which includes the Aquarium, the Maritime Museum, the Imax, Cockle Bay Wharf (lots of restaurants there) and of course the Marketplace. Star City (the casino complex) and the Powerhouse Museum are just a few minutes further away - and you could probably quite easily walk to the Fish Market too.

 

On the other side of the hotel, you're very close to the Queen Victoria Building (said to be the most beautiful shopping mall in the world), the Town Hall, St Andrew's Cathedral (Anglican) and Chinatown. A few minutes more across town will get you to all the downtown shopping, Hyde Park, The Australian Museum and St Mary's Cathedral (Roman Catholic).

 

However, if you really do want to think about moving hotels, the Sydney Harbour Marriott seems to come up on Priceline quite regularly for between $80 and $100 (according to posts on http://www.biddingfortravel.com) so that may be worth looking into. My friends who stayed there last month got a room which had a partial view of the Harbour Bridge, although they turned down the offer (made by the hotel on check-in) of an Opera House view which would have cost them another $40 (AUD, I think) a night.

[estebofarr]

Thank you SO much for your detailed answer. I am definitely going to the Queen Victoria Mall. Especially if we are right next door! Sounds like we picked a good hotel after all.