Sydney - Australia 2004 - page 105

Transit Information Call the Infoline at & 13 15 00 in Australia (daily

6am-10pm).
Useful Telephone Numbers For news, dial & 1199; for the time, & 1194;
for Sydney entertainment, & 11 688; for directory assistance, & 12 455;
for Travelers Aid Society, & 02/9211 2469.
Weather For the local forecast, call & 1196.

3 Where to Stay
The 2000 Sydney Olympics, and the increased exposure the city received as a
result, led to more visitors to the city and more hotels to cater to them. Unfor-
tunately, the worldwide threat of terrorism has had an adverse affect too.
Although it's unlikely you'll find the city's hotels completely booked if you turn
up looking for a bed for the night, it's probably wise to reserve rooms in advance.
DECIDING WHERE TO STAY The best location for lodging in Sydney is
in The Rocks and around Circular Quay—a short stroll from the Sydney Opera
House, the Harbour Bridge, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and the ferry terminals.
Hotels around Darling Harbour offer good access to the local facilities,
including museums, the Sydney Aquarium, and the Star City casino. Most Dar-
ling Harbour hotels are a 10- to 15-minute walk, or a short monorail or light
rail trip, from Town Hall and the central shopping district in and around Cen-
terpoint Tower and Pitt Street Mall.
LAST-MINUTE ROOM DEALS
If you turn up in town without a reservation, you should definitely make use of
the Sydney Visitors Centre Booking desk ( & 02/9667 6050 ) in the arrivals hall
of the airport's International Terminal. It negotiates deals with many of Sydney's
hotels (but not hostels) and offers exceptional value discounts on rooms that
haven't been filled that day—you can save up to 50% on a room. The desk is
open from 6am to the last flight of the day and also offers discounts on tours (to
the Blue Mountains, for example), and cheap tickets for flights within Australia.
More hotels are grouped around Kings Cross, Sydney's red-light district.
While some of the hotels here are among the city's best, you'll also find a range
of cheaper lodgings, including several backpacker hostels. Kings Cross can be
unnerving at any time, but especially on Friday and Saturday nights when the
area's strip joints and nightclubs are jumping. Staying here does have its advan-
tages: You get a real inner-city feel, and it's close to excellent restaurants and cafes
around the Kings Cross/Darlinghurst and Oxford Street areas.
Glebe, with its ethnic restaurants, is another inner-city suburb popular with
tourists. It's well served by local buses, as well as Airport Express Bus route 352.
If you want to stay near the beach, check out the options in Manly and
Bondi, though you should consider their distance from the city center and the
lack of CityRail trains to these areas. A taxi to Manly from the city will cost
around A$35 (US$23) and to Bondi around A$26 (US$17).
The prices given below for very expensive and expensive hotels are the “rack
rates,” the official published rates, which almost nobody pays. Always ask about
discounts rates, package deals, and any other special offerings when booking a
hotel, especially if you are traveling in winter when hotels are less likely to be
full. Ask about weekend discounts, corporate rates, and family plans. Serviced