The Honeymooners Down Under: Final Stop, Old Sydney Holiday Inn

Where: 55 George St, Sydney, Australia, 2000

March 2, 2007 at 4:28 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

HotelChatter's Senior Editor Juliana borrowed a page from vintage Britney Spears' 2004 playbook and got hitched after a brief engagement. Juliana and spouse went a little further than Brit and K-Fed's honeymoon in Fiji by spending their first few weeks of newlywed bliss in Sydney, Australia with a sidetrip to the Whitsunday Islands. For the rest of the week, she'll be telling you where she stayed and whether or not it was honeymoon appropriate. So, if you have any questions about honeymoon or Australia travel, send 'em our way.

We started the trip off with a bang, staying at the hip Park Hyatt Sydney and then moving over to posh The Observatory Hotel.

Things were dicey when we hit up the Hayman Island Resort and upon our return to Sydney for one final night before going home, we were all out of honeymoon spending money. Fortunately, we were able to get a room at the Old Sydney Holiday Inn, right in the Rocks near Circular Quay. (Truth be told, we wanted to go back to the Park Hyatt down the street but those rooms were going for $700 AUD a night.)

The full, but brief, Holiday Inn review after the jump.

Room Reaction:
The weird thing we noticed immediately about this hotel is that the floors have a sort of half-level. For instance, we stepped out of the elevator and headed to room 820 (we forget actual room #) and there was a sign that said rooms 800 to 819 were to the right, while rooms 820-840 (guessing again) were downstairs. Yes, down about 8 steps of stairs and off to the right. Weird.

However, we had a deluxe room which was a bit bigger than the standard rooms in the hotel and came with a fold-out couch. There was plenty of closet space, although the bathroom was a tad tiny. Still this was a Holiday Inn so we weren't expecting much.

The View and Amenities:
We had a partial view out to the Harbour and a king-sized bed with a flat-screen TV. The hotel graciously brought up a voltage transformer at 2 in the morning for us, but then charged us for it. There was wireless internet access but unlike the Holiday Inns in the states, this place charged you for it by the minute with a maximum charge of about $25 a day.

Would We Stay Here Again?
We actually would. The price is right (about $250 US a night) and the location is awesome. It's near all the pubs, restaurants (Sailor's Thai across the street is our favorite) and shopping on George Street, along with being near the Harbour and public transpo at Circular Quay.

Even better on Saturday mornings, the Rocks Market is held right next door where you can buy all sorts of cute things to take to your family back home.

Honeymoon Appropriate?
Absolutely not. Although, they did give us a free bottle of champagne.

Related Stories:
· The Honeymooners Down Under [HotelChatter]

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