http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-26T03:51:01Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelhotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/local/1398 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/6/04552/69022 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Sydney_Harbour_and_Holiday_Inn.jpg" class="top"><p> <p>With <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/5/33439/39253/travel/With+V+Australia+at+Its+Heels%2C+Qantas+Steps+Up+With+Cairns+Deal">ever cheaper</a> flights down to Australia, we figured it was time to check if hotels in Down Under's tourist hotspot of <b>Sydney</b> were getting cheaper or not. Apparently room occupancy rates <a href="http://www.propertywire.com/news/company-news/occupancy-down-major-hotel-australia-200901132389.html">dropped</a> a bit over the last year so we hoped this might mean hotels will drop rates.<p>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. <p>For example, one of our faves, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Shangri-La+Hotel,+Sydney/ian/131394"><b>Shangri-La Hotel</b></a>, 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 <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Pullman+At+Sydney+Olympic+Park/ian/268098"><b>Pullman amandak 2009-02-06T09:16:00-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/12/4/42341/4816 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Holiday_Inn_Darling_Harbour_Sydney.jpg " class="top"><p> <p>With an ever-shortening countdown to New Year's Eve, it's hard to get a good rate in Sydney for the big night. We already decided the <a href=&#148;http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/12/2/02030/3002/hotels/Shangri_La_Sydney_Not_Worth_Double_Price_for_NYE&#148;>Shangri-La's rates</a> were no great deal and now there are just a handful of central Sydney hotels with rooms still available.<p>One of them is the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Holiday+Inn+Darling+Harbour/local/1398"><b>Holiday Inn Darling Harbour</b></a>. Now, we're not usually big fans of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Holiday%20Inns"><b>Holiday Inns</b></a> but when New Year's Eve is fast approaching, well, you know the saying 'bout how we can't be choosers.<p>The Holiday Inn still has some packages going for New Year's Eve (at least it does on lastminute.com.au--weirdly the hotel site itself claims fully booked like everywhere else in town). For A$699 amandak 2008-12-04T09:19:37-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/