Going to Sydney for a week in November, looking for a self-catering place,
2 bedrooms, for 3 people, prefer an apartment or cottage/house, whatever I
can find, don't mind where in Sydney it is so long as its close to public
transport, so it can be out in the suburbs.

Does anyone know of any reasonably priced apartments, looking at under
$200 per night?

The issue is really one of price, as this is very dynamic. I stayed for one
night in Sydney a week or so ago and got a 1-bedroom loft apartment (with a
full kitchen, laundry etc and a fold-out double/queen in the lounge room) at
the Medina Sydney Central for $150 and that's right next door to Central
Station and major bus routes (can't get much more conveneint to public
transport than that!). Now the alleged "rack rate" on that room is $400 per
night, but they weren't busy (all this recession etc) so the prices were
down. But I bet if I was there the same time as some big event, it would be
the full $400. So, looking so far ahead, it's really hard to predict what
prices will be like.

One of the impacts that Wotif (and similar services for airlines) has had on
accommodation etc is that it has shown people that you don't really need to
pre-book a long time in advance (and indeed that you often get a better deal
often if you don't). That has in turn changed people's behaviour to stop
booking a long time in advance. So the whole industry is now a lot more
"last minute" than it used to be.

For myself, I'd wait until within 3 months of your holiday and then use
Wotif.com to make the booking.

Or if you really want to lock in your accommodation now, use Wotif to find
the places that are in your price range over the next 3 months and then
phone the hotel and ask what's the best deal they will do you you for
November -- since you are booking for several nights, you may well get a
better rate just because of that.


Kerry