Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Note:
All accommodations listed in
this topic have private bathrooms
unless otherwise noted.
HOTELS
It's a rare hotel room that
does not have reverse-cycle air-condi-
tioning for heating and cooling, a tele-
phone, a color TV, a clock radio, a
minifridge if not a minibar, an iron
and ironing board, and self-serve tea
and coffee. Private bathrooms are
standard, although they often have
only a shower, not a tub. The largest
hotel group in Australia is the French
chain Accor, which has more than 100
properties (that's about 15,000 rooms)
under its Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure
and All Seasons, Ibis, and Formule 1
brands.
Many other international chains,
such as Marriott, Sheraton, and
Hilton, have properties in Australia.
SERVICED APARTMENTS
Ser-
viced apartments are favored by many
Aussie families and business travelers.
You get a fully furnished apartment
with one, two, or three bedrooms, a
living room, a kitchen or kitchenette, a
laundry, and often two bathrooms—in
other words, all the facilities of a hotel
suite and more, often for less than the
cost of a four-star hotel room. A nice
two-bedroom apartment will usually
cost anywhere from around A$165 to
A$255 (US$130-US$455) a night,
depending on your location and the
season. (Not every apartment kitchen
has a dishwasher, so check if that's
important to you.) Australia's apart-
ment inventory is enormous and
ranges from clean and comfortable, if a
little dated, to luxurious. Most apart-
ments can be rented for 1 night, espe-
cially in cities, but in popular vacation
spots, some proprietors will insist on a
minimum 3-night stay, or even a week
in high season.
Medina Serviced Apartments
(
&
1300/300 232
in Australia, or 02/
9356 1000; www.medinaapartments.
com.au) has a chain of midrange to
upscale properties in Sydney, Mel-
bourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide
and—beginning in mid-2004—Perth.
Australia's biggest apartment chain is
the
Quest Serviced Apartments
(
&
1800/334 033
in Australia, or
03/9645 2566, 0800/944 400 in New
Zealand; www.questapartments.com.
au). It has four brands: the upscale
Quest Establishments, the midrange
Quest Inns, Quest Lodgings for
longer stays, and Quest Resorts, in
every state and territory except the
Northern Territory.
MOTELS & MOTOR INNS
Aus-
tralia's plentiful motels are neat and
clean, if often a little dated. You can
count on them to provide air-condi-
tioning, a telephone, a color TV, a
clock radio, a minifridge or minibar,
and self-serve tea and coffee. Most
have only showers, not bathtubs. Some
have restaurants attached, and many
have swimming pools. Motor inns
offer a greater range of facilities and a
generally higher standard of rooms
than motels. Rates average A$70 to
A$110 (US$46-US$72) double.
BED & BREAKFAST INNS
B&Bs
are cheap and plentiful in Australia. It
is easy to find charming rooms for
around A$80 (US$52) for a double.
Bathroom facilities are often shared,
although more properties now offer
private, if not always en-suite, bath-
rooms.
Travel agents rarely list B&Bs
because the establishments are not big
enough to pay commission, so they
can be hard to find. A good source is
The Australian Bed & Breakfast Book
(published by Moonshine Press;
&
02/9985 8500
), which lists more
than 600 B&Bs across Australia.
Although the B&Bs pay to be in the
book, they have to meet standards
required by the editors. The entire
book is posted on the Web at
www.bbbook.com.au. In Australia, it's
widely available in bookshops and
