When I booked this trip to the US through Expedia.com, I didn’t notice that the first leg was from Brisbane to Sydney. That’s not a problem of course, it just adds an extra dimension to the trip.
My granddaughter Ayla and her boyfriend Tim took us to Brisbane Airport to catch the 8:45pm flight to Sydney. Check in with Qantas didn’t take too long and the young man behind the counter was friendly and helpful. We reached the gate in plenty of time, and of course the flight was delayed. Why am I not surprised.
After a very smooth flight we landed in Sydney at 11:10pm. Qantas staff are always friendly and there was inboard service of a spinach and fetta roll, an apple and drinks.
At Sydney airport the luggage was delayed and people around us were phoning friends and family to tell them of their arrival and that everyone was in the same boat – waiting for their luggage.
So finally we get our luggage and head to the shuttle buses. Not very well signposted I might add. In fact we weren’t too sure we were heading to the right place and as we were crossing the road a shuttle bus stopped at the crossing and it had the name of our hotel and a few others written on the side of the van. A woman in front of me called out to the driver to see if had room for them and so we did the same.
The driver was very unfriendly and unhelpful, simply complaining about the time and telling us that this was the last shuttle and did we realize the time. UH yes we sure did. What did he think we had been doing ?
Well with much bad grace he let us on the shuttle and we headed to the hotel. When we arrived at the first hotel, the driver made no mention of which hotel we were at and simply got out to get the bag for one of the other passengers who had been sitting in the front of the shuttle…we of course were right at the back. Then I noticed the first half of the hotel name on a plaque and realised that this was our hotel. So we hopped off and the driver grunted and asked if we had signed the form we had been handed while driving, which of course we had.
Oh dear, so much for the start of the journey.
Things picked up once we were inside the hotel. The reception staff were friendly and check in was quick and easy. We have a non smoking Superior room with a king sized bed.
This hotel was not part of the package that I had booked and once I realised that we had a nights stay in SydneyI booked it for its close proximity to the airport, through Hotelclub.com. I highly recommend Hotelclub.com when booking a hotel because not only is the website easy to navigate making it easy to book but you also get really good prices on hotels and earn member dollars towards future stays.
Before leaving Canberra I purchased a pre paid wireless broadband USB device through dodo so I could use it on those occassions when their is no wireless internet connection. So I was able to quickly and easily connet to the net at the hotel. Dodo have the best deal with the device costing $149.00 with 70 hours of internet time. Being able to get on the internet anywhere and not have to pay for a connection has proved invaluable and I will certainly be picking up one of these to use in the US while we are there.
Filed under: America & Canada • Australia & NZ • Sydney
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Wanda and Paula are friends and business partners that love to travel. We developed this website to share our experiences, what we've learned over the years and also to provide reviews on hotels, airlines, restaurants and anything else travel related.
Not long now and you will be on the plane to San Francisco. Make sure you think of me when you have your hot chocolate with marshmallow on the Qantas flight.
I did think of you when they brought around the hot chocolate with the marshmallow. It was yummy. Then they brought around orange juice and between the flight attendant and Val they managed to spill half a cup of orange juice down the front of my white top. So I was wet and stained when I arrived in SF.
Since then the zip on my suitcase broke. That will teach me I was going to buy that new one before leaving, and I left my universal adapter at home. And whoever thinks the US is cheap is dreaming. To replace my suitcase with one similar is $169 plus tax, which is way more than back home and the adapter cost me $54 also more expensive than home.
Still I am here and that is the main thing.
I can tell you need a good sleep…it will all look better in the morning.