[Anonymous]

[RoadKing]

Me and my wife are doing Australia and New Zealand this Christmas. We plan to stay in Sydney 31/12-02/01.
Anyone have a recommendation for hotel in Sydney?

[VintageKrug]

I’ve done several NYEs in Sydney, and had an apartment there for a number of years.

You might choose to begin or end your stay with a sunset Bridge Climb; the Bridge is closed to the public on NYE as the fireworks are set up that evening.

My advice would be to book up your hotel now, and be prepared to pay the full cost upfront; watch out to ensure the room is cancellable should plans change – sometimes over this period it is not and you’d lose out if you could not be there.

I’m lucky to have friends in Circular Quay with a terrific penthouse view of the Bridge and Opera House; the nearest you’ll get to replicating this will be the Club Lounge at the Intercontinental:

http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/executive-style/business-travel/australias-best-hotel-club-lounges-20130205-2dwzo.html?selectedImage=0

See if you can get a Friends & Family rate, package bundled with your flights, Quidco cashback, use Amex FHR or Virtuoso to extract more value; a great use of points if you can, though again a tad late to be booking on points now.

You’ll need to pay for this on top of your room rate; don’t count on Ambassador or even Royal Ambassador getting access for the main event!

The Park Hyatt is another option, though the roof isn’t as accessible as it once was since the renovations, and it’s a little too close to the Bridge to get the full effect.

If you can guarantee a Bridge-view room, the Quay Grand might work, though you’ll be lucky to get in even now:

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-8779-pullman-quay-grand-sydney-harbour-prev-quay-grand-suites/index.shtml

The Four Seasons, Shangri-La and even some rooms at the Marriott on Circular Quay (not the other one) are all well located options as well.

You can’t really go far wrong getting a ticket to the Sydney Opera House for the evening; it’s one of the best places to see the fireworks:

http://www.sydneycloseup.com/new-years-eve-events.html

The Opera Bar also throws a mean party:

http://www.barsandnightclubs.com.au/sydney/circular-quay/opera-bar/photos/2/

If you’re looking for something with a view, without breaking the bank, try the Holiday Inn Potts Point (King’s Cross). It’s handy for the tube into the CBD and has terrific views if you get a Harbour View Room on the upper floors. Surrounding area somewhat “edgy”, though.

http://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/sydney/sydas/hoteldetail

[Eastbourneguy]

If you can’t stay near circular quay I have booked meals for NYE at the Sydney oyster bar on the quay and you have a table outdoors on the quay fr the whole evening overlooking the bridge
http://Www.sydneycoveoysterbar.com

[esselle]

Try booking a balcony table at Cafe Sydney. You look straight out toward the bridge and Opera House, and the food is exceptional.

[Bullfrog]

Circular Quay is a great spot.

I used to stay at the Quay Grand Suites, which I believe has been renamed Pullman Quay Grand. Great location & opposite the botanical gardens.

[paulkaz]

As a Sydney resident I might suggest an alternative. The fireworks are only on for 15 minutes at 9 pm (for families with young kids) and 20-25 minutes at midnight. Rather than stay in a circular quay address and be in your room for just for those times you could consider staying elsewhere in the city and buy a ticket to the Lord Mayors party at the opera house ( low key ritzy) or any one of a number of harbour cruise boat parties where you ll get to be amongst the million or more people who line the foreshore to celebrate for many hours. I hope you have a wonderful visit.

[RoadKing]

Thank you all for fantastic input!
I have at several occassions enjoyed invaluable tip from this site. Priceless.
I understand, as many of you point out, that we might be a bit late. Will give it a shot this weekend and see if we can get something.
@Paulkaz: Indeed a good point, spending the evening in the hotel room may not be the best time spent.

Still, we will travel budget while on the road, so I figure a tad of upscale will do good for those days :).

Will discuss it with the missus.

Again, thank you very much for input!

[RoadKing]

@VK: A good point about a package, sadly we have already booked the flights.
Got a biz return trip per person OSL – BKK – AKL, MEL – BKK – OSL for ~£3600. Granted, it will be with dated 777-200’s, but I think it is pretty good value nevertheless. It is Thai though, so we may be surprised to be on a better machine.

[Papillion53]

I would recommend the Shangri-la Hotel (high floor obviously!)and echo Esselle’s recommendation of Cafe Sydney (new years eve or not!) – but it will be very expensive!

When I was planning our trip to Sydney, someone suggested serviced apartments on the other side of the city – looking over to the Opera House and the Bridge – that may be worth looking into as well. Sorry cant remember the names but someone will chip in.

[VintageKrug]

There are some nice apartments in Bondi Junction with balconies, great Harbour/Bridge/Opera House views near the Westfield centre – but you’d be better off in the thick of it for the big night itself:

http://www.meritonapartments.com.au/sydney/bondi-junction

Well located for public transport, and halfway between CBD and beach, not really ideal for a short stay, though.

[NTarrant]

You do need to book now. I managed to get Avios flights in June 2011 to arrive in SYD on 31/12/11 and the only hotel in the CBD I could get was the Holiday Inn at Darling Harbour, two nights AUD780.00. It is not a bad hotel, quite comfortable and we had a room overlooking the harbour.

[RoadKing]

Self serviced apt sounds like a great idea. Will check out Cafe Sydney. As I said, we do the trip going South on budget, so being a spender a couple of days in Sydney is acceptable :).

[RoadKing]

We booked Meritona Apt’s. 🙂

Just as many of you said, lots of places were fully booked.

[diane21]

I travel several times to Sydney and I have to admit City Hotel Sydney it was one of the most pleasant stays I had so far. Hotel is located at the center of the city. Everything is at your foot step and loads of public transport options are available right at the door! with only walking distances. We stayed at the family room with my dad and brother and it was spacious.

[Author]

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