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Sydney's Shangri-La Upgrades Its Cafe Mix Restaurant

Where: 176 Cumberland Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Sydney's Shangri-La Hotel already serves up drinks in a bar we approve of - its Blu Horizon Bar which has amazing views over Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. Downstairs, the all-day dining spot Café Mix has just had a revamp and earlier this month relaunched with a new look and a new menu.

The new look includes extra seating and Café Mix now seats over two hundred guests. You can get nearly anything you want here: there's Indian, Japanese, Chinese and Australian cuisine, plus (something we really like) a dessert buffet which includes a chocolate fountain.

To celebrate the new look there's a special on every Friday night until October 16. It's a seafood buffet with fresh oysters, king prawns, crab and lobster for A$99 ($85) per person.

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Tags: Healthy Hotels / Sydney Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags

Get a Taste of the Healthy Life on Hilton Sydney's Health Retreats

Where: 488 George Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

If you're looking for a vacation that's healthier than the average overindulgent getaway, here's a suggestion: the Hilton Health Retreat which they run four times a year at the Sydney Hilton. The next retreat is coming up soon, from June 12 to 14, so get packing for Oz fast and you'll come away feeling pretty good – or pretty exhausted.

The Hilton Health Retreat is a pretty full-on weekend, led by an expert nutritionist and a fitness pro. You have to undertake a fitness and nutrition assessment before you even get there, so those two experts can set about planning all the right activities for you.

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Tags: Sydney Hotels / Hotel Deals / Escape the Economy Hotels / → All Tags

'Ruddy Good' Deals at Aussie Hotels Mean 'Ruddy Good' Things

Down in Australia, the government's decided to prop up the economy by giving most tax-payers a A$900 bonus, and with the money starting to arrive in everyone's accounts, hotels are among those trying to tempt people to spend their bonuses. And in Sydney, the "stimulus package" deals are a-flying freely.

For non-Aussies, the names of the deals probably seem a bit odd. You have to know that the Prime Minister down there, who is (in a sense) the guy who's giving out the money, is named Kevin Rudd; and that in Aussie slang,"ruddy" is kinda like the Brits' "bloody." You following?

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Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Cookies / Sydney Hotels / → All Tags

The Establishment Hotel Woos Us With Cookies

Where: 1 Bridge Lane, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000

If donuts are the new cupcakes, then cookies are the new turndown mint. It's no secret that we at HotelChatter love cookies. If you didn't, well then see our reaction when someone mentioned taking away our cookies.

Thanks to our sweet tooth, we were delightfully surprised to see that the hip Establishment Hotel in Sydney's Central Business District offers cookies at turndown.

And it might be really strange to hear us say this but it's almost as if Doubletree Hotels knew all along the power of the cookie long before the rest of the hospitality world caught on. Imagine that: Doubletree, the hotel cookie pioneer.

Tags: Guess The Hotel / Sydney Hotels / → All Tags

Have A Go At Our Hotel Will Ya?

More Guess the Hotel fun!

Ok this one is easy, especially for any of you Sydneysiders out there. Most hotel mavens know the drill but in case you're new, here's how it works. We put up a snapshot of a hotel somewhere in the world, drop a few hints, and you put in your guesses in comments below. And away we go.

· This shot is the view from our current room here in Sydney and it was taken shortly after sunrise.

· The hotel is on the water, but possibly closer to the Cross than the Quay.

· The hotel used to have a popular name but now it has a colorful name.

Put your guesses in comments below and we will unveil the hotel's full identity on Friday.

Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Architecture Hotels / Where to Stay in Sydney / → All Tags

Inside Sydney's Establishment Hotel

Where: 1 Bridge Lane, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Currently we are incredibly into old meets new architecture hotels, and the 31 room Establishment Hotel smack dab in the middle of Sydney's CBD certainly qualifies. The rooms are full of minimalist elements that accentuate the unique building, structural beams and all.

The deceivingly enormous building houses three bars, Hemmesphere being the most active, and possessing the most jaw dropping atrium, two restaurants, two penthouses and a gym.

The location allows you to easily walk to The Rocks, Circular Quay, or pick up a bus on George or at the Quay.

Room: 445

Type: Standard

Square Footage: ~300 square feet

Best Feature: Sleek design in a central location -- oh and free Internet.

This Might Make You Hesitate: No view and staffers are hit or miss -- some great, while others have out of place LA attitude in SYD.

Biggest Surprise: Despite the extremely active bar downstairs (Hemmesphere, Tanks was very chill) our room was incredibly quiet.

Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Sydney Hotels / Hotel Balconies / Park Hyatt Hotels / → All Tags

Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr Get Cozy at Park Hyatt Sydney

Where: 7 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney, Australia

The ultra-posh Park Hyatt Sydney is known for its killer views out onto Sydney Harbour — but obnoxiously hot couple Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr are giving Sydney Harbour a name for, er, its killer views onto hotel balconies.

We spied these pics of Bloom and his Aussie model girlfriend over on TMZ — and as only the most embarrassingly-obsessive type of hotel geek can, we instantly recognized that balcony as Park Hyatt's. The luxe hotel has 158 "grand mansion-style" rooms sitting right at the base of the famed Harbour Bridge, overlooking the Opera House (which these two seem to be doing here) in Sydney's historic Rocks district — but last time we hit up the place, we realized it was key to make sure to book a Harbour View room (otherwise the city view looks out onto a wall; bummer).

Hmm, wonder if they're taking V Australia to LA afterward? And hey, you never know: maybe the two were out on the balcony discussing Bloom's potential to get busy with little bit of hair dye to enter the Richard Branson lookalike contest. There's gotta be a reason Bloom still has that haircut.

[Photo: Flynet via TMZ]

Tags: Odd Hotels / Cockatoo Island Houses / Sydney Hotels / Jail Hotels / → All Tags

Stay In Sydney Harbour, Literally, at the Cockatoo Island Houses

Where: Cockatoo Island, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

When in Sydney, you might well be craving harbor views, but we've got a new alternative--just stay in the middle of Sydney Harbour itself.

We’ve experienced the camping version of a stay at Cockatoo Island, but if you want to stay overnight in more style on this island in the middle of the harbor--with clear views to the Sydney Harbour Bridge--you're in luck.

The Cockatoo Island Historic Houses are available for up to ten guests per house, and according to a Sydney Morning Herald review, these two historic houses (formerly prisons) have been elegantly refurbished and include three plasma TVs per house. The digs are available for A$400 ($260) a night during the week or A$1200 ($780) for a Friday to Sunday weekend stay. Those are somewhat decent prices for the views you're getting, especially if you're traveling with a group.

Tags: Room Rate Drop Watch / Sydney Hotels / Australia Hotels / → All Tags

Sydney Hotel Rates Not Dropping Yet

With ever cheaper flights down to Australia, we figured it was time to check if hotels in Down Under's tourist hotspot of Sydney were getting cheaper or not. Apparently room occupancy rates dropped a bit over the last year so we hoped this might mean hotels will drop rates.

However, the global economic crisis hasn't hit Australia quite so hard to date--they're not even in a recession (yet). Perhaps that's why we can't see too many fantastic Sydney hotel bargains.

For example, one of our faves, the Shangri-La Hotel, is still starting their room rates at over A$300 ($200), which ain't a price dip. We checked a couple of others like the new-ish Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park (non-package rates go down to A$243 ($160)) and Darling Harbour's Holiday Inn (lowest advance purchase rates start at A$180 ($115)) and were also disappointed.

One set of stats is even predicting room rates will continue to rise around Australia this year--not because there are plenty of people with money, but because hotels have to break even somehow with their falling occupancy rates. Come on guys, we'll stay if you make it cheaper, we promise.

[Photo: manarh]

Tags: Hotel Bars / Sydney Hotels / Shangri-La Hotels / → All Tags

Shangri-La's Blu Horizon Bar Rocks The Rocks

Where: 176 Cumberland Street The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

We might have thought that the Shangri-La Hotel in The Rocks part of Sydney was a touch too pricey for New Year's Eve but with the fireworks over, we're keen to head to the Blu Horizon Bar on Level 36 of the Shangri-La.

Back in 2007 this bar won the Australian Hotel Association's big award as the "Best Hotel Bar of the Year" and there's no reason to think the standard has slipped since then. The view alone is probably enough to win over most customers, with panoramic windows looking over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Some reviews say that you can have long waits for a table or that the drinks are too expensive, but since this is one of the most scenic bar locations in the whole world, we don't think there's much reason to complain. However, from Monday to Thursday crowds are much smaller, so grab your drink then and you'll have less people between you and the view.

[Photo: Amit (Sydney)]

Tags: HotelChatter Reviews / Sydney Hotel Reviews / Ibis Hotels / Hotel Bathrooms / → All Tags

Ibis Darling Harbour Gives You "Four Minutes To Save the World"

Where: 70 Murray Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Someone told us not to expect any kind of view when we checked into the Hotel Ibis Darling Harbour in Sydney, and when we booked a last minute special for A$89 ($60) we definitely expected to be shoved into a room resembling a corner closet.

But no--the Ibis Darling Harbour really surprised us. Sandwiched between the more expensive Novotel and Grand Mercure Apartments, the Ibis turns out to be great value for such a sought-after tourist spot. And our cheapie room even had a view--not over Darling Harbour but in the other direction towards the Star City casino complex and the "other" bridge in Sydney, the Anzac Bridge.

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Tags: Sydney Hotel Reviews / Accor Hotels / → All Tags

Sydney's Menzies Hotel Lives Up To Expectations

Where: 14 Carrington St, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Just before Sydney went mad with its annual New Year's Eve fireworks, we snuck into the Menzies Hotel quite pleased with a last minute rate of just A$110 ($75) a night; the average rack rate is more like A$250 so don't expect bargain prices like that all the time.

The Menzies belongs to the Accor gang of hotels and seems to live up to its four stars. Friendly service seemed the order of the day, even if the concierge team weren't really too clued up on the info we'd expect them to know like basic ferry timetables and routes. At least they admitted their failings in that friendly Aussie way we love.

The rooms were comfy and new-looking, without anything that made us spectacularly satisfied, but also nothing wrong: a good shower, air-con that dealt with Sydney's humidity well and that all-important decent bed.

With a location directly opposite Wynyard train station and easy walking access either down to Circular Quay with its famous Bridge and Opera House, or in the other direction to the shopping and eating of Darling Harbour, we can't complain, and we'd happily stop by again.

[Photo: NoneColumbus]