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Y on the Park Hotel Sydney (Australia)
by flodombey
My friend and I stayed here for 2 nights in May 2008 as part of a trip up the East coast of Australia, it was my first time in Sydney and I have to say I was pretty impressed by the value for money that we got from Y on the Park Hotel.
I had booked the hotel using their website, a couple of months before we travelled. I knew ... the dates we would be in Sydney for and this place came up with some bargain room rates and good reviews so I figured it was well worth trying. The rate I got for a twin room (with shared facilities) was $90 per night, at the time this worked out as about £50 per night for the room which, given the central location, seemed an absolute bargain.
This hotel offers varying levels of rooms, from backpacker, hostel style dorms to private rooms with shared facilities (as we booked) and also proper hotel style private en-suite rooms - something for every budget! In my opinion the private rooms with shared facilities offered the best of both worlds as you had your own space but great value.
The room we had contained two single beds (at strange angles to one another but this was due to the strange shape of the building I think, the room was a hexagonal shape), tea and coffee making facilities, a small fridge, a safe, a tv on a bracket up on the wall and a wardrobe and shelving unit. There was not a great deal of floor space but enough for our suitcases and a chair, the window was large and let in a lot of light but it looked onto a central courtyard and other windows opposite, not an unpleasant view and given the city location to be expected on such a budget.
The shared facilities were great, personally I never saw another person in them, the women's block had 3 showers and 3 toilets plus a number of basins. The bathroom blocks are in the centre of the floor with the rooms going round the outside, there are entrances on either end so its easy enough and a short route from your room into the bathrooms and this seems to have been a very logical way to do it.
The floors are split I believe from talking to the lady on reception, our floor (2) was all private rooms with shared facilities, the floor below us was the dorms and the top few floors contained the private en suite rooms. Again this seemed logical and meant that if you were a family with private rooms you need never hear the backpackers on the ground floor coming in at all hours (apologies for the sweeping generalisation there - speaking from personal observation only!).
The hotel has a great lobby area and very friendly and efficient front desk staff, when I booked online it only asked for one nights payment as deposit, I paid the balance quickly on check in and found all the details matched mine etc. They also gave us some great city maps and recommended a restaurant round the corner for a cheap meal.
On the other side of the ground floor from the reception area is a cafe/restaurant serving breakfasts and snacks, all room rates include a basic breakfast of cereal and toast with tea and coffee but for a few dollars more you can add cooked items and extras to it if you so desired. The food was fine and sufficient enough to get us going in the morning without paying extra but I suppose it depends how hungry you are!
Next to the restaurant is an internet cafe area containing around 10 machines. These are all coin operated to get on the internet and at the time we visited it was around $1 for 30 minutes. The internet speed was pretty good and we were able to achieve all that we needed to in the allotted time. We never had to wait for a machine, probably because Sydney is littered with web cafes catering to the backpacker crowd.
We slept fine in this hotel, no problems with noise or disturbance from other guests and it suited our needs wonderfully.
The location of this hotel is really excellent, it is called Y on the Park because it is literally across the street from the beautiful and extensive Hyde Park (containing the outstanding Botanical Gardens which are a must see). If you walk through the park you can get to Sydney Harbour in about an hour, it is a wonderful stroll to take as the scenery is quite something. However, if you do not fancy such a long walk you can take the train, Sydney has a great and efficient light rail network and Museum station is located round the corner from the hotel. By train you can get to the harbour and opera house in around 10 minutes.
The area surrounding the hotel is full of shops, bars and restaurants so pretty much everything you need can be found within a stones throw of the hotel. On the corner before the park there is a mini market where you can pick up drinks and food for the day if you are on a budget.
All in all I would highly recommend this hotel, split between the two of us it cost £50 each for a two night stay in central Sydney and anyway you look at it thats pretty good value for money. Considering what we got for our money I would say its a bargain, a good, clean room in a wonderful location and hotel staff who were friendly and helpful. If I ever visit Sydney again I will not hesitate to try this place again for a room.
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Melaluka & Bella Costa Backpackers (Noosa)
by arrnoosa
I have stayed here twice, for a week each time. The first time was in 2000 and I had a brilliant time as I was with 5 mates and we had a whole apartment all to ourselves. The second time was still good but felt the place had been run down a bit.
Back in 2000, they had the Melaluka apartments and the non advertised apartments ... next to them (not Costa Bella, there are other apartments on the other side of the Melaluka ones). We stayed in the non advertised ones and they are absolutely lovely. Very spacious with 3 bedrooms can sleep 6 people easily. There is a shared swimming pool that the back bedrooms lead out onto if you are on the right level. Come with dishwasher and all the kitchen kit you need. The front bedroom has a balcony which has stunning views. We have watched many whales swimming in the morning and a couple of amazing thunderstorms from the balcony! The beach is literally 2mins walk across the road. You can use the hostels bodyboards for free but the waves there can be pretty huge, so be careful.
Our second stay here was in 2006 and even though the Costa Bella was finished by then we wanted to stay where we were before. However they seemed very reluctant to admit that they were available for some reason. Costa Bella were too expensive so we had to make do with the Melaluka apartments. These would be nice if they maintained them a bit better. During the first night, mice munched through most of our newly bought food, and when we complained they just denied that it could be mice and laughed it off. We demanded to move and eventually got our wish to stay in the non advertised apartments again. The rest of the stay was brilliant.
As the accommodation is in apartments, you will probably end up sharing with other people, most likely couples.
The apartments used to be run brilliantly by the mum, but now the twin sons have taken over it really seems like they have let the place go. They even forgot to pick us up from the bus stop so we had to wait ages for a lift.
I would still recommend this place especially if there is a group of you. The location is away from the main part of Noosa and the stretch of beach is HUGE. You can take a lovely walk through the national park which is at the end of the beach and end up in the main part of Noosa. This takes about an hour but is well worth it.
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TraveLodge Wentworth Avenue Hotel Sydney (Australia)
by petite_poupette
I stayed at this hotel three times during my stay in Australia and I would throughly recommend it. The rooms themselves are big (big enough to have two suitcases and their contents strewn all over the floor!) and even have a little kitchenette complete with fridge and microwave so you can heat and store food. A range of cutlery and ... kitchen utensils are provided and everything was very clean.
As I stayed at the hotel three times, I saw three different room styles and there are some rooms - namely those at the end of the corridors on the lower floors that seemed smaller and much more cramped. Luckily, I also benefitted from staying on the top floor and the views.
Having come to the hotel with a large load of washing, it was refreshing to find that the hotel had both washing machines and tumble driers available for use (coin operated). These seemed well used, but I never had to queue to use either.
The hotel is in a good location for walking down town. It is slightly further out than some tourists may be willing to walk, but I would say it's a 15 minute walk to the main central area of Sydney (further if you're going to the Opera House area and The Rocks). It's also about a 15 minute walk to Darling Harbour which has a range of bars and restaurants (plus a tourist information centre).
The hotel offers a left luggage room to store your bags on the day of check in/check out, and has a smaller bar/restaurant area. I didn't use the bar or the restaurant so I can't comment on the level of service here.
Compared to Travelodge in the UK, this was of a much higher standard and didn't just feel a like a glorified hostel. However, the prices as a result were higher than those in the UK. The reception staff were very helpful and the hotel is associated with an airport taxi service which picks up and drops off run in front of the hotel.
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