There is a reason I haven’t featured any family friendly properties in Sydney on this blog before. The reason is that despite visiting Sydney often with my kids I am usually disappointed with our accommodation. This disappointment is sometimes due to price – Sydney is fabulous, and popular for being fabulous hence hefty accommodation rates. Alternatively we are disappointed in the size of our accommodation (think hotel rooms that can’t fit a portacot in them) with pokey being the only appropriate word to describe our former digs in Sydney. What a happy surprise then to discover the York Suites and Residences by Swiss-Belhotel. Located on the cusp of The Rocks, Sydney’s historic waterside dining precinct The York was our home away from home for a week this month.
We stayed in a deluxe two bedroom apartment which provided a practical space for our family of five. What do I mean by practical? I mean a living area big enough for the kids to actually play, a kitchen where we could actually cook and a bathroom where I could actually bathe my kids in a bath. These sound like simple things but trust me, when it comes to Sydney accommodation they aren’t. The accommodation really came into it’s own as our trip turned pear shape due to illness (you can read more about our holiday that wasn’t here). If we had all been cramped as is usual when we visit Sydney in a shoebox of a room our situation with sick kids would have been beyond dreadful. As it were, when our baby required hospitalisation the staff were lovely (actually, come to think of it even before that they were always super friendly) and organised transport to the hospital in a cab with a car-seat for me which is difficult to arrange in Sydney I found out during our multiple hospital visits that trip.
From the kids perspective though the star of the York Suites and Residences was the pool. Our stay coincided with some particularly chilly wet weather however the outdoor pool is heated, and the spa toasty. Needless to say the pool received a workout from my boys each day.
Bonus points go to the York Suites and Residences for providing us with a highchair and a cot at no extra charge, for servicing the apartment daily and for being very close to both Coles and Woolworths, which are underneath Wynyard station a 5 minute walk away.
If you are looking for super glamorous accommodation in Sydney The York is not for you. If however you are looking for a clean, comfortable, well located place where you can actually live rather than just stay in Sydney with kids it is.
Bubs on the Move provides tips and advice for parents traveling with small children including attraction and accommodation reviews. You can join us on Facebook or Twitter to receive updates to your news feed.
It’s true – Sydney can be difficult for good value accommodation. I’ll know where to look if we need any in future, though. Thanks! 🙂
To be honest Bronwyn we were just relieved to find somewhere so roomy in the city after 6 years of visiting with kids.
OK, noted for when people ask for practical accom in the city centre.