Sydney Hotel Tips by kooka3

When I was attending the University of Sydney, I lived at Wesley College; I know that they rent rooms out at university breaks. Other colleges do the same. Wesley charges about A$40 last I knew; that was for a single room and breakfast in the morning. You can also buy dinner.

Colleges are secure; not only does the university have security, but the colleges usually have all their doors locked except for the front doors during business hours. They will give you a key to access the building at any hour.

Unique Qualities: Usually, colleges are very quiet. They are away from the immediate city center, so you don't get all the traffic noise. Since most students commute to University, all the Unis are on major bus lines, so they are easily accessible. Sydney Uni has about 14 bus routes that go right by the university.

Colleges have different facilities that people can use - sometimes tennis courts, pools, etc. Sometimes universities will also let the residential colleges give day passes to work out in gyms, and you can usually access unions for the food and services (haircuts, travel agents, chemists).

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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Address: Sydney University is most easily accessible
Directions: Sydney Uni is located about 3 miles from the CBD. This is most easily accesible. There are 2 other Unis in Sydney - Univ. of NSW and Macquarie Univ. but they are much further out from the city.
Website: http://www.wesley.usyd.edu.au/index.html
Other Contact: www.sydney.edu

This is a fairly basic hotel, but does the job and the price is right. It costs Aus$79 a night, and is a 7 minute walk from the domestic terminal. 4 people can fit into a room - usually in a queen sized bed and a bunk bed. The rooms are small but not cramped, and have a tv, alarm clock, and small desk in each one.

The people were very helpful, and the hotel was clean and well secured (good locks, security cameras, etc).

Unique Qualities: This is a pretty basic hotel, so no pool, spa, workout facility, etc, but it is very convenient to the airport. They have a fridge for everyone's use in the dining area as well as a microwave. They do have vending machines, including one that has good frozen meals like Thai green curry chicken or lasagna. They also have a couple internet terminals for Aus$2 for 20 minutes, which is a decent price for Sydney.

They also sell a good breakfast - cereals, toast, jam, coffee, tea, juice, etc - for Aus$6.

You can get a shuttle to the airport for Aus$4.50 - worth it if you are going to the International terminal, but unless you have a heap of bags, walking to the domestic terminal will take you less than 10 minutes.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Phone: (61-2) 8339-1840
Address: 5 Ross Smith Avenue, Mascot NSW
Directions: Next to the DHL warehouse by the Domestic Terminal.
Other Contact: E5957-RE@accor.com

Definitely try this hostel out. This is one of the best hostels in the city because of its location, price, and quality. It's less than a 5 minute walk from Central Station, so if you can't (or don't want to) walk to something, it's easy enough to catch a train to get to wherever you want! The building is listed as a heritage site, and it's beautiful inside and out. Everything is clean, and a lot of the interior has been renovated recently. The staff is so nice and very helpful. This price is a little high for typical hostels (A$33-35 for dorm rooms), but worth it for the location and the amenities.

Unique Qualities: Other than the typical kitchen and common rooms (lounges, tv room, etc) that you find in all youth hostels, there is also a pool, a sauna, a bbq, and a cafe. The dorm rooms are large. Some have bay windows -- ask to be put in one of those! If you don't want to cook for yourself in the kitchen, there are heaps of cheap takeaways, cafes, and nicer sit-down restaurants within walking distance. There is an internet cafe next door, money-exchanges around Central Station (or go to one of the many banks on George Street). The most unusual part of this hostel is the nightclub underneath it -- you don't even have to leave the building - just take the elevator down.

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Theme: Hostel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Phone: (02) 9218 9000
Address: 11 Rawson Place
Directions: On the corner of Pitt and Rawson Streets
Website: www.yha.com.au/hostels/
Other Contact: sydcentral@yhansw.org.au