Australia Trip + Hotels?

LisaMarie

Hi All,

Hope your weekend were good ones.

I'm after a bit of advice, I'm booking a trip for me and my mum next year, to Australia in April (She's 60 in Feb and I'm 30 in April...eeek!) so its a double celebrating, and I hear if you're out the country it doesn't count as bday so I can stay 29:rotfl:

What I wanted to ask was, we have a really good quote from Trailfinders.

We're doing Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, Singapore stop on the way back, A nightt in Hong Kong on way out, 21 nights in total) which includes internal flights, accom in Singapore, HK & Sydney, but is it worth booking the hotels separately, would that work out cheaper?

Also any tips on how to blag some upgrades when there, or suggestions what to see would be really handy too.

Thanks sooo much

Lisa:)

gedebage

I always book my hotels online before I travel. Chances are you may get a room upgrade in Hong Kong and Singapore depending on the hotel you stay at and whether it is quiet.


I use www.hotelscombined.com to search for the best deals. They go through all the major hotel booking websites to find the lowest price for you.

The Metropark Hotel in Kowloon, HK is great ( free upgrade ). For another good deal in HK look at the Harbour Plaza Resort Hotel in Tin Shui Wai, a lovely hotel at a good price. It is a bit out of town but they have a shuttle bus every 20 minutes.

LisaMarie

Thats fab thanks, I'll have a look at the hotels and check out some rates. Trailfinders gave me prices including hotels but I did think it might be better to book them independantly

Cheers

Lisa:D

loveabargain13

I've just booked with Trailfinders, really helpful!! Great service.

You should complete a forum search on here of Australia, lots of great tips on what to see and do, esp in Melbourne, Sydney etc.

If you can get to the Gold Coast from Brisbane definitely do, Rainbow Bay has the most amazing beaches and a lot quieter than Surfers! I can't wait to go!! :j

markandkate

We flew to Australia and used Trailfinders and found them excellent. We did not pre book all our hotels but the ones that we did pre book with them we could not find cheaper, with one exception and when we told them that the hotel was avaialble through Expedia at a lower price they honoured that price

LisaMarie

we've just booked our flights with Trailfinders! They were so nice and helpful

We're off to Melbourne, Sydney and then Brisbane...my friend lives there so its his job to show us round...I'll get him to show us some of the gold coast though thanks for the tip off and we're stopping at Singapore on the way back.

Thanks also for the hotelcompare link, that site is fab, we've decided to book the hotels separately through hotelclub (which seems to come out with the best deals on the comparison site) as they were working out much cheaper than our quoted price with any agents.

I'm excited already and we don't go til April!:j

Thanks everyone!

Smurf71

Lisa,

My wife and I are heading to Oz and NZ for 6 weeks at the end of November for a delayed honeymoon. This forum was brilliant for me in getting some really useful help and tips.

One website you should try is wotif.com. I've used it to book accomodation on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane for 5 nights, a 4 night stay in Melbourne and 4 nights on the Coastal road between Melbourne and Sydney. Only thing is that they only show availability up to three months before the date that you want to stay, but its a great site to research accomodation options that you might be interested in.

Also check out the Tripadviser forums for Australia-we picked up a wealth of knowledge and tips there on places to stay, things to do etc.

Hope this helps.

portygirl

I am visiting Oz next February/March for a family wedding. As this was not expected I am trying to get good prices for travel/accomodation. Flights were booked with Quantas/BA, £690 from Aberdeen ( £600 from LHR ) with a stopover in Singapore.
I have booked accomodation in Singapore & Sydney with Orbitz.com ( an American company ) at great rates- £80 per night ( after US$ conversion )for the The Royal Plaza on Scotts, Singapore & the Sir Stamford Circular quay, Sydney, both of which are 5* hotels. I will probably use Wotif.com for our other accomodation on the NSW coast.You can make savings by booking indepedently, but it is really time consuming.
I have visited before therefore I have an idea about locations & that is really helpful.

nollag2006

I've stayed in the Sheraton in Sydney a couple of times. Quite a nice hotel - and great views from the swimming pool

isplumm

LisaMarie wrote: »

Hi All,

Hope your weekend were good ones.

I'm after a bit of advice, I'm booking a trip for me and my mum next year, to Australia in April (She's 60 in Feb and I'm 30 in April...eeek!) so its a double celebrating, and I hear if you're out the country it doesn't count as bday so I can stay 29:rotfl:

What I wanted to ask was, we have a really good quote from Trailfinders.

We're doing Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, Singapore stop on the way back, A nightt in Hong Kong on way out, 21 nights in total) which includes internal flights, accom in Singapore, HK & Sydney, but is it worth booking the hotels separately, would that work out cheaper?

Also any tips on how to blag some upgrades when there, or suggestions what to see would be really handy too.

Thanks sooo much

Lisa:)

Hi,

I note that you are staying in HK for 1 night .,... not sure if you have booked hotel .... but we have used Citygate a few times .... 4* hotel, right next to airport .... train into HK if needed ... but also cable car upto Giant Budda ....

Last time we used it, when arriving in HK 8:00 & departing 10:00 next day .... able to check in & catch bus up to Giant Budda. There is a big shopping centre right next to hotel & free bus to airport. Bus station & railway station next to hotel. 30 minutes to HK.

Mark