New South Wales : New South Wales Accommodation

• Sydney Accommodation
• North Coast Accommodation
• South Coast Accommodation
• Blue Mountains Accommodation
• Hunter Valley Accommodation
• Inland Accommodation and Other Coastal Properties

Sydney

Because Sydney is Australia’s largest city, it stands to reason that it also has the largest number of accommodation properties - far too many to list here. Here are a few I like. The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel in The Rocks is a gem. Australia’s oldest licensed hotel with modern rooms, brasserie, atmosphere and a walk to major attractions and its very well priced. Overlooking Darling Harbour are the Goldsbrough Apartments - self-contained one and two bedroom, modern apartments within a heritage façade - a walk to the Powerhouse Museum, Maritime Museum, Aquarium, Chinatown, Casino and the city. One of my favourite spots in Sydney is the ‘insular peninsular’ of the Northern Beaches. There’s accommodation at The Newport Arms, across the road at the Mirage or a nice little B & B in Palm Beach called Palm Beach Holidays.

• Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel
• Goldsbrough Apartments
• The Newport Arms
• Palm Beach Holidays

North Coast

There are more accommodation properties between Sydney and Brisbane than you can poke a surfboard at. A couple of really nice properties on the Central Coast, not far from Sydney are the Blue Seas Villas at Avoca Beach and Bali at the Bay at Shoal Bay. It won the 2003 North coast Tourism Award for Business ecellence. For those looking for a rural retreat with a difference, the Clarendon Forest Retreat (NW of Forster, south of Taree) has six delightful cottages that will suit honeymooners, couples and families - two of the cottages even welcome pets. The major holiday destinations are Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Byron Bay.

Good resort accommodation with swimming pools etc includes Pelican Beach Resort at Coffs and Sails at Port Macquarie - it’s an excellent resort but take a repellent for the sandflies along the shore - Spooky’s at Angourie has a range of accommodation from budget to upmarket (used to be surfer Nat Young’s resort, ‘Nat’s’) and for a bit of pampering, the Byron Bliss House at Byron Bay. The lighthouse cottages at Byron Bay are also available for rent at reasonable prices if you are looking for something a little different.

There’s also a range of good motel accommodation around Ballina and Byron. At Ballina, just south of Byron, there’s Ballina Manor, a 5-star Edwardian Manor House for those wanting luxury.

Blue Seas Villas Bali at the Bay Clarendon Forest Retreat Pelican Beach Resort

Sails Port Macquarie Byron Bliss House Ballina Manor

South Coast

To be honest, I haven’t stayed in too many places down the coast from Sydney. While there are lots of very good motels, I’ve usually gone for a more ‘back to nature’ break to fish and do basically nothing, camping, staying in a mate’s beach shack or caravan parks. A few properties worthy of mention though are the Ulladulla Guest House, a five star guesthouse that was recently refurbished, Sandholme Guesthouse (Huskisson) and Bannisters Point Lodge (on the clifftop above Mollymook Beach) for some romantic R & R, and Gabbi’s Hollow B & B in Milton (near Mollymook). It is a comfortable home with a choice of four really nice rooms.

• Ulladulla Guest House
• Sandholme Guesthouse
• Bannisters Point Lodge
• Gabbi’s Hollow

Blue Mountains

Much of the accommodation in the Blue Mountains reflects the natural beauty - B & Bs, cottages and the like and there are some great resorts like Lilianfels, which is certainly one of the country’s finest boutique retreats. There are also a number of properties that suit a romantic getaway for a weekend out of Sydney. And one place I’m quite fond of is the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath - historic, quaint, charming, great views across the Megalong Valley - a delightful spot for a Devonshire tea or a quiet beer.

• Lilianfels
• Grand Mercure Hydro Majestic

Hunter Valley

The Hunter is not only for wine lovers - it’s a great spot to just get away to for a few days and there’s some excellent cottage style accommodation like Ironstone Cottages and Olive Grove Cottages as well as country resort properties like Tuscany Wine Estate or The Vineyards Estate. This is five-star luxury in one of the Valley’s prettiest vineyards with a great seafood restaurant. Travel a little further (half an hour) and you come to the World Heritage wilderness of Barrington Tops and the Barrington Tops Country Retreat is a perfect place to get away from it all. There are private lodges and comfy log cabins that come with open fires and corner spa baths.

• Ironstone Cottage
• Olive Grove Cottages
• Tuscany Wine Estate
• The Vineyards Estate
• Barrington Tops Country Retreat

Inland and Other Coastal Properties

This is a large area to attempt giving a ‘small guide’ to. When I’m travelling I have three levels of criteria for accommodation. If travelling solo, I like good, old fashioned country pubs - you may have shared bathroom facilities, but they are cheap, friendly and licensed. If staying in a particular place with the family for more than a couple of days, I like self-contained accommodation with a bit of space (separate bedrooms) and if travelling with the family looking for overnight accommodation, I like Best Western properties. While it is a chain, these properties are locally owned, have individual style, are friendly and have amenities like swimming pool, TV, restaurant etc at a good price (many around $100 per room per night).

These type of properties suit travelling down the South Coast and can be found in Wollongong, Kiama, Nowra, Ulladulla, Batemans Bay, Bega and Eden - so that’s pretty well covered. On the North Coast they have motels at Gosford, Newcastle, Tea Gardens, Forster/Tuncurry, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Nambucca Heads, Coffs Harbour, Yamba and Ballina.

Inland there are Best Western properties in Lismore, Grafton, Glen Innes, Armidale, Inverell, Moree, Tamworth, Coonabarabran, Scone, Muswellbrook, Maitland, Mudgee, Bathurst, Lithgow, Katoomba, Mittagong, Goulburn, Cooma, Tumut, Albury, Corowa, Wagga Wagga, Young, Cowra, Yetholme, Orange, Parkes, Dubbo, Tooleybuc and Broken Hill.

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