PAX AUS 2013 Hotel Discussion Thread [link in OP]

SmallLady

BOOK HERE!

Hotels!! Book them while they are hot and toasty!

Are you from the Melbourne area?? Tell us what the hotel areas are like!

Have you stayed in any of these hotels? Please share!

Want to find out who's staying where? This is the place to do it!

Berym

Beat me to it by a minute

I'd like to stay at one that has a community feel to it, as with ones in the US where you get people gaming in the lobby and so forth.

Any idea what that is likely to be?

Berym

Edit: Duplicated. Removed

zerochosen

Berym wrote: »

Beat me to it by a minute

I'd like to stay at one that has a community feel to it, as with ones in the US where you get people gaming in the lobby and so forth.

Any idea what that is likely to be?

Not sure about lobbys, but serviced appartments usually have a dining (i.e. gaming) tables, so I'm looking at the Grand Mecure - no matter what, we'll make sure we bring the community wherever we go :-)

Beker

Yea unless someone gets excited and organizes something, hotel lobby stuff will likely happen organically and sporadically this first year. Which is cool.

Psykar

As someone living in Melbourne, with a caveat I haven't stayed at any of them :P

Southbank is high class, lots of restaurants and street performers just outside the door, nice views blah blah.
CBD (north of the river) will be surrounded by the hidden alleyways and bars Melbourne is apparently well known for.
Docklands is a bit of a wasteland at the moment. No real character or anything, but I guess there's some retail outlets.
Victoria St is fairly typical Melbourne, you may have to change trains to get to PAX, but not a big issue I guess.

The one near the venue on Epsom Rd is not too bad, short tram ride to the city, in a residential area, so there are a few smallish shopping strips around.

Feel free to shoot any specific questions.

Hearthjaw

Anyone else considering the Melbourne YHA?

zerochosen

Anyone having issues with booking hotels via the PAX site? Getting weird errors...

Camaran

Go with the YHA. You can save $100+ per night

exis

Hearthjaw wrote: »

Anyone else considering the Melbourne YHA?

I think I might be doing YHA or something similar, unless I can organize an affordable shared room somewhere else. Holding off on accommodation for now though.

punzie

I'm trying to figure out estimated costs, but I feel lost looking at the hotel site. There are a ton of choices and they don't seem to give an address or estimated distance to the event on the main page. Do I really have to click each hotel for this info? Maybe I'm just used to OnPeak, but that seems to make it difficult to compare. I'd love a way to reorganize them by distance and/or price. Please someone tell me I'm overlooking something obvious.
Also, I tried to input my info for booking (to see if I'd get better info that way) and even though I changed my country to USA, it still only gives me Australian states/provinces in the dropdown. Anyone from outside Australia run into this?

heels

punzie wrote: »

I'm trying to figure out estimated costs...

I'll bring it to the attention of our team!

MagnusCarter

Anyone know if there is going to be a shuttle service running ? Most of the hotels are quite a distance away and the only viable public transit seems to be the tram, the buses past the showground go nowhere near the hotels. The trams also seem to stop at just after midnight, well before the concerts usually finish.

SmallLady

This may be information that will be available later.

In the mean time however, I'm going to email @yug about that.

Psykar

Often for events at the showgrounds there is a train line running there especially for the event as well as the trams.
I imagine this *could* be the case, but there may still be an issue with how late the last one runs.

zerochosen

SmallLady wrote: »

This may be information that will be available later.

In the mean time however, I'm going to email @yug about that.

Maybe the Mana Bar can organise a booze bus straight to their door :winky:

Camaran

Psykar wrote: »

I imagine this *could* be the case, but there may still be an issue with how late the last one runs.

*Usually* Metro runs trains until when the Event Organisers say they can get everyone out of the Showgrounds.

Lorahalo

I think the lines for the Mana Bar are going to be astronomical during PAX. It's not a big place, it's freaking tiny.

zerochosen

Lorahalo wrote: »

I think the lines for the Mana Bar are going to be astronomical during PAX. It's not a big place, it's freaking tiny.

Bugger, didn't know that. I guess all local pubs are going to have to become geek bars for a couple of days :-)

Hearthjaw

Yeah I'll be going YHA, much cheaper and it's pretty close.
There's either the Metro or CBD hostel.
They're both about $30/night for a shared room. The metro one is closer (about 5km) and has a free breakfast for groups. The CBD one is about 7km away but it has a bar
Looking at public transport it's slightly easier from the CBD but either way you're looking at an hour so journey if you don't have wheels.

Nezuji

I live in Melbourne, but I do have experience of staying in a couple of hotels here.

Alto Hotel on Bourke: Very nice, quiet hotel, in an older building, with no real areas for meeting. Breakfast is usually included, but nothing to write home about (1 comp. hot dish + unlimited cereal/toast/tea/coffee). You can get a big discount by paying upfront on advance bookings.

Seasons Botanic Gardens: A nice hotel in a more modern building. AFAIK, all suites come with a decent kitchenette and washer/dryer combo. The hotel restaurant isn't bad, but it's not wonderful, either. Might be a little noisy for someone used to a quiet neighbourhood; even though the rooms are sound-proofed, the hotel is still on a major rod, with traffic & trams starting early in the morning and running late into the night.

I can recommend both of these hotels, but I also have it from multiple reliable sources, due to their personal experiences, that budget travellers would be well advised to steer clear of the All Nations backpackers on the corner of Spencer and Flinders streets.

Nezuji

smerk

Just booked a Quest 3br Apartment Thu-Mon. Being walking distance to PAX is totally worth the extra cash and distance from CBD, although we'll fill the couches and carpets and there may be platonic spooning, so it shouldn't be too bad. Kitchen, Laundry and big Boardgame Table don't hurt either. BTW, are the [E] staying at Quest too, or do they get a barracks onsite?

Beker

[E] don't get barracks, we get the same hotel list you fine folks do.

I looked at Quest, but while close, it seemed to be about a mile away. Certainly walkable, but with the possibility of icky weather I went with Riverside right on the tram line.

punzie

Beker wrote: »

I looked at Quest, but while close, it seemed to be about a mile away. Certainly walkable, but with the possibility of icky weather I went with Riverside right on the tram line.

Looking at this, it shows one room that's Riverside 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $220 per night and another that's Highlander 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $180 per night. Anyone know what the difference is?

zerochosen

My guess is that one would be river views, and the other mountain views

smerk

This is Melbourne. Icky weather is almost certain. The Internets said the showgrounds were 1/2 a mile away rather than 1. Did the Internets tell me LIES?

Beker

smerk wrote: »

This is Melbourne. Icky weather is almost certain. The Internets said the showgrounds were 1/2 a mile away rather than 1. Did the Internets tell me LIES?

Haven't been there, I was just guesstimating based on Google maps. YMMV

Beker

punzie wrote: »

Looking at this, it shows one room that's Riverside 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $220 per night and another that's Highlander 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $180 per night. Anyone know what the difference is?

Looks like the Riverside Serviced Apartments and the Riverside Annex Apartments (the Highlander) are two different towers of the same Hotel.
From the Riverside website.

Best Western Riverside Serviced Apartments : located in the CBD of Melbourne and occupying the top three floors of a modern 17 storey building. Many of the serviced apartments feature panoramic views of the Yarra River, Port Phillip Bay and the Melbourne City skyline. Best Western Riverside Apartments is the ideal location for corporate guests, being located near the business end of Melbourne CBD.

Riverside Annex Apartments (the Highlander) : located on the corners of Flinders and Highlander Lane. Situated on the first, second and third floors, just near our reception in Highlander Lane. All Apartments in this building are one bedroom. Highlander Apartments are unique boutique apartments with easy access to all the main attractions Melbourne has to offer.

Both Riverside and Highlander apartments are conveniently located at the historic and entertainment end of the City, just minutes walk to Crown Casino, Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centres, Aquarium, Southbank restaurants and Etihad Stadium. While the MCG and Rod Laver Tennis Centre is just a short tram ride.

Anzekay

I've been looking into the idea of renting an apartment with a bunch of others for a week or so around PAX, since several of us plan to enforce, and some are from overseas and want to stay longer than just the PAX weekend. Anyone from Melbourne got any suggestions for places/websites to look into for this?

Psykar

Anzekay wrote: »

I've been looking into the idea of renting an apartment with a bunch of others for a week or so around PAX, since several of us plan to enforce, and some are from overseas and want to stay longer than just the PAX weekend. Anyone from Melbourne got any suggestions for places/websites to look into for this?

Check out http://www.stayz.com.au

Anzekay

Psykar wrote: »

Anzekay wrote: »

I've been looking into the idea of renting an apartment with a bunch of others for a week or so around PAX, since several of us plan to enforce, and some are from overseas and want to stay longer than just the PAX weekend. Anyone from Melbourne got any suggestions for places/websites to look into for this?

Check out http://www.stayz.com.au

You are the bomb, sir.

FPFr0sty

yer, flemington has their own little apartments.
Im surprised they couldnt get a deal with "Langham hotel".
I would suggest to outsiders; go and stay at Crown.. its quite central to everything, and well, its crown.

Ammamarie

Was just wondering if many people are booking through the PAX website. Would love to book somewhere with a great PAX community feel to it and to be able to meet new people and chill out in the evenings.

FatSoDa

Ammamarie wrote: »

Was just wondering if many people are booking through the PAX website. Would love to book somewhere with a great PAX community feel to it and to be able to meet new people and chill out in the evenings.

I booked the riverside, which isnt far from a 57 tram stop which takes you to the showgrounds, and its ony $180 per night for a single room. You can book that through the website.

zerochosen

Riverside +1, and according to the forums somewhere it is almost booked out. And we all know that everything on the forums is true

FatSoDa

zerochosen wrote: »

Riverside +1, and according to the forums somewhere it is almost booked out. And we all know that everything on the forums is true

can we be besties?

zerochosen

FatSoDa wrote: »

zerochosen wrote: »

Riverside +1, and according to the forums somewhere it is almost booked out. And we all know that everything on the forums is true

can we be besties?

Creepy uncle powers... ACTIVATE!

Ammamarie

FatSoDa wrote: »

Ammamarie wrote: »

Was just wondering if many people are booking through the PAX website. Would love to book somewhere with a great PAX community feel to it and to be able to meet new people and chill out in the evenings.

I booked the riverside, which isnt far from a 57 tram stop which takes you to the showgrounds, and its ony $180 per night for a single room. You can book that through the website.

Awesome Thanks looking now

Danacyrus

I'm actually looking at Short Stay Properties, in particular a three bedroom terrace house (looks AMAZING) which is 7 minutes from the CBD and has the 57 tram straight outside. Works out $250 a night for the house. Soooooo good.

FPFr0sty

Hetels around Crown

Melbourne Hotel Search

There you guys and girls go.. but as you can see some of them dont list pricing pass March next year.
If I have the time, I may go around to some of the places and ask if I could do a quick tour of the "said rooms" with a camera, for you folks to get a better look into the rooms before you lodge.

DragonBear

@Danacyrus I have four peeps looking to share (only need two rooms) if you need bodies to fill rooms?