I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights during the last days of my Australia 2013 trip. I really enjoyed staying this hotel.
Location
The Vibe Hotel Sydney is located in Goulburn St, which is part of the CBD. The two nearest city rail stations are Central and Museum. The Central station is about 10 minutes by foot away, Museum station only 5 minutes. he airport link train also stops at these stations. Because the hotel is in the CBD you’ll can find almost anything you need nearby. Mini marts, Bars, restaurants and coffee shops are only few steps or minutes away.
The reception staff was very friendly and upgraded me to a “Deluxe Suite Queen and Sofa”, which was really nice.
Room
The bedroom features a queen size bed flat screen and an alarm clock. The seperate living room a coach and a desk and a second tv.
Vibe Hotel Sydney – Bedroom
The bathroom has a bath tub with shower. I believe I stayed at the 7th or 8th floor. The suite has a friendly and warm interior and was clean. It was very quiet thanks to the high floor. WiFi is not included. I didn’t try it, because I had connectivity through my smartphone with integrated WiFi hotspot.
I haven’t tried the breakfast, because I prefere to enjoy it at my favourite coffee shop chain. There’s also a pool on the roof
Can I recommend this hotel? Yes, it is a great option for your stay in Sydney. Especially the location is a huge plus for exploring the city by public transport or getting to the airport.
This review and all the other reviews on this blog are not sponsored.
Welcome to my new series of posts about Australia.
This time I travelled from Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory in Australia to the centre “Alice Springs” and Uluru/Ayers Rock. Plus bonus: 2 days in Sydney.
To start off my new series: An article about Darwin.
Darwin, named after the naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin is a “small” city of approx. 129,000 people. It’s only about 4 hours flight time from Singapore and many other major Asian cities. So head out into the Territory!
Attractions
Darwin has a a lot to offer. Period. Here are some examples.
Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
This amazing museum and gallery features collections of different animals of the past, aboriginal art collections, paintings from Arnhem Land and dot paintings from the desert.
Also they give the opportunity to learn more about Cyclone Tracy , in a multi-room display with movies, pictures from the life before and the recovery phase and also features replica homes from the time before Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin.
admission: free
Crocosaurus Cove
The Crocosaurus Cove is located in the heart of Darwin city, allows visitors to view Australia’s iconic Saltwater Crocodiles. And more the extra brave there’s an opportunity to Swim with the Crocs or to holding a baby Saltwater Crocodile. Many of y travel mate spent some time there and enjoyed it!.
admission: $26 AUD – $160 AUD (depends on package you choose)
Florence Falls
Go swimming at Florence Falls, just a 2 hours ride from Darwin
How about a relaxed afternoon by a water fall. Then head out to Litchfield’s Florence Falls. A place where you can swim under a waterfall and enjoy the sun or the shade under the trees.It’s a 2 hours ride from Darwin’s city centre.
admission: free
Food tips
You like pizza? Try “il lido“, a Spanish restaurant, at the Darwin Waterfront. Their pizzas are amazing! Trust me.
You’re a bit in party mood? Try Monsoons Restaurant & Party Bar. We enjoyed their interpretation of the Oktoberfest to kick-off our tour through the Northern Territory.
They have a massive list of food and beverage options. And I am pretty sure the massive bar area will serve your needs.
The hotel prices are a little bit above Australian average (I searched for hotels in several places in Australia). You can find accommodation from hostels, 1 star little motels up to 5 star luxury hotels with bay view. I stayed at the 3/4 star hotel/motel “Travelodge Mirambeena Resort Darwin”. They have both so called “motel rooms” and hotel rooms. A had the opportunity to stay at a “budget motel room” and at a “motel room”. My tip: Definitely spend a bit more of your bucks and upgrade to the motel room. More details in one of my upcoming reviews.
Most hotels in downtown Darwin are in the walking distance of restaurants and Woolworth or other grocery stores. If you stay at the Travelodge Mirambeena Resort Darwin, Woolworth is just across the street.
Climate
Darwin is situated in in the tropical area of Australia. This means Darwin has a wet and a dry season. The wet season begins in early October which is also the beginning of Spring.
During my stay end of September/early October I had temperatures of up to 33°C during day time. In the summer you can expect temperatures of 40°C+. Keep in mind that you can exspect more rain during the wet season. The wet season begins in October.
Stay tuned for more about the Northern Territory in the coming days!
You may have read that I am going on a trip to Asia next month. To give this blog a much higher quality I was looking for a new camera.
I found the Sony NEX 5R, a brand new compact system camera combining quality of DSLR cameras and the small form factor of compact cameras.
This is the first part of my detailed review about this amazing camera. Part 2 will be a detailed live testing on my trip in Asia.
The specs
The Sony NEX 5R features an 16 Megapixels APS-C cmos sensor with hybrid autofocus system. The camera also records HD video with 1080p at 50 frames per second.
It also features an 3″ touch screen display with live view. The Sony NEX 5R offers the same options like a typical DSLR camera. You can set Aperture, EV, ISO, …
The Camera is able to shoot up to 10 frames per second. Another awesome feature is the integrated WiFi support. You can download “apps” like direct upload, photo effects
and much more.
Kit lens
The Sony NEX 5RK comes with a 18-55mm standard zoom lens. It has an average speed of F3.5-5.6.
The lens supports both constrast and phase detection autofocus.
It’s very light and compact, but it also offers an integrated optical image stabilisation.
[note color=”#FFCC00″]Newer versions of kits come with a 16-50mm (F3.5-6.3) power zoom lens, which is even lighter.[/note]
Image quality
What do you expect from a camera with a DSLR sized CMOS sensor? Good image quality with without noise.
I’ve already shot several hundreds photos in different light conditions. The image quality is extraordinary. For low light / night photography I recommend a better lens than the kit lens.
I already ordered the Sony NEX 50mm F1.8 fixed lens. It is a portrait lens which is also a top choice for night photography. Stay tuned for part 2 of my review, in which I intend to give this lens a serious low light challenge.
This camera has an excellent autofocus, which is super fast and precise when Hybrid AF is enabled. Currently it’s only supported by a limited number of lenses.
The Sony NEX 5R produces photos with very natural colours.
Lens support
The NEX line supports E-mount and A-mount (Sony DSLR) lenses with an adapter. Sony offers a bunch of standard zooms, fixed lens and macro lenses.
Also companies like Sigma, Tamron and others have a few lenses for the E-mount in their portfolio.
Stay tuned for part two of my review. Live from Asia.
I am very happy to announce my upcoming trip to Asia.
My trip starts 14th November in Munich. From there I am travelling to Singapore and Thailand and report about
hotels
airports
airport lounges
attractions
much more.
As a Star Alliance Gold member I plan to visit different frequent traveller lounges in Munich, Singapore and Bangkok and give you an review of the food.
While I focused first a bit on the introduction, I will now tell you more about the different benefits and requirements at the member airline frequent flyer programs.
In addition to the Star Alliance Gold benefits, you also get, what I call, “local benefits”. E.g. Upgrade voucher or Lounge access even If you’re only a Silver status member. These benefits depend on the member alliance and their frequent traveller program.
A few people asked me, what’s coming next? Sorry for the delay, I’ve been very busy at work and had only a few minutes at night to write about what I love. Travelling.
The whole hotel is very classy and in my opinion it should be understood as a premium business hotel.
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza - King Room
I booked a King Room. Unfortunately, the room was located to the street side instead of mountain view. The King Room has a small balcony with table and two chairs.
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza - King Room
The bed, typically for Hyatt, very comfortable. The room is very dark, almost all the furniture is dark brown, as is the bathroom. Elegant style! Everything was very clean.
In the bathroom you can find the Hyatt standards: bathtub with shower, shampoo, body lotion and toothpaste.
The concierge next to the front desk can book shuttles from SuperShuttle. The shuttles takes you to LAX within approximately 45 minutes. A useful Hyatt Fast Board terminal is also offered in the hotel lobby.
Early flight and no time for breakfast? A Starbucks can be found directly in the lobby. Sweet!
Near the Hyatt Century Plaza are many banks, a Westfield Shopping Mall and several bus stops.
Walking time to Beverly Hills is about 25 minutes, where you can enjoy a very good dinner.
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