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Help SydneySiders! I may have goofed.


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I need your Sydney Expertise, Please and Thank YOU.

 

Fortunately I have a little time, and there is no $$ involved yet. But, here's the question. Holiday Inn Potts Point, at Kings Cross Station, is it a neighborhood that you'd feel safe in with your 75yr old Mother??? I thought I'd found a great deal, and great location, so I reserved the room. Then when I started checking out Kings Cross Sydney, everything was coming up Red Light District, and very seedy.

I did a quick search on this forum, but all the responses were 8 years ago. Has it changed at all? Should I be worried or nervous about spending 3 nights here in January?

TIA for your sage advice.

 

Tutu

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This is a subjective call. I can say that there are elderly people of 70+ y.o. living in those areas of Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay. Especially during the day, it will be fairly busy and leafy and nice suburban scenic.

 

However, it also has the strip clubs, and related types that are common to any big city. So if that's something you want to avoid then it does still apply.

 

I can say that the HI is right beside Kings Cross station, so if you don't want to see that area it won't affect you, as you don't need to go in that area assuming you're travelling by train/taxi.

 

Personally I'd say it's quite safe for a 75y.o. woman, assuming they'd be doing the normal things a tourist would do. In that respect, it's better than say SanFran or some other areas where you see abundant panhandlers and often get approached.

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in the daytime, it's a normal suburb (with some eccentric people around).

we feel safe when we go there in the daytime.

the train station is being renovated and there is an entrance to the station at the HI side of the road so you do not have to get into Kings Cross at all.

the hotel is at the very start of the road in to Kings Cross...the nightclubs are further away from the hotel...down the road.

take normal precautions that you would in any big city.

I think you'll be fine.

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My daughter had the start of her hens night at that hotel about four years ago. very convenient location and the area should be pretty tame these days with the lock out laws.

Overall we have very much a day culture here. Having just been in Europe, the difference is amazing, people eat early and during the week restaurants in the suburbs are empty by about nine o'clock, which is when we would think about going out to dinner in Italy.

As others have said, the area is fine during the day and unless you intend to be out very late I would not be concerned.

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Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it greatly.

 

Momz decided she want to be a little closer to everything, so we've changed our resv. to THE Grace. She's very partial to the older historic hotels.

 

Cant wait to get there....

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Probably time they did something with the restaurants, but I must say the room service has always been good, breakfast is massive.

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very interesting read. Thanks for the head up.

 

I'm so very excited to be finally getting able to visit your amazing city.

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  • 2 months later...

Grace hotel is in a perfect spot! Right on the road at Wynyard station which is the best train station and where buses go to Manly, Bondi etc

 

I would recommend that you pop around the corner to the revolving restaurant called O Bar and Dining for a drink. The restaurant is expensive and probably not worth it but they have a lounge and you can sit and have a drink and nibbles while the place does a full circle. Takes about 1-2 hours for it to go around from memory.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Grace hotel is in a perfect spot! Right on the road at Wynyard station which is the best train station and where buses go to Manly, Bondi etc

 

I would recommend that you pop around the corner to the revolving restaurant called O Bar and Dining for a drink. The restaurant is expensive and probably not worth it but they have a lounge and you can sit and have a drink and nibbles while the place does a full circle. Takes about 1-2 hours for it to go around from memory.

 

Sounds perfect. We will be looking for something to keep us occupied on the first night so we don't just crash at the hotel and sleep at the wrong times... lol.

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Hello Tutu,

 

Sounds like you've got it all resolved with a room at The Grace -- you & your mom will love your three days in Sydney!

 

Just tossing my hat into the ring on Kings Cross since you mentioned there weren't any current comments on the boards though I thought I'd written about it somewhere not long ago - maybe not...

 

I stayed in a charming B&B there awhile back on Bayswater Road in Kings Cross and I had the very same reservations that you had - the descriptions online and in guides all said "red light district" and a bit of a different crowd yet it still sounded interesting (Victorian homes along tree lined streets, convenient to city center and reasonable lodgings) so I contacted some innkeepers, hotels etc. I began to get a very good feeling by talking to them and hearing about the area first hand along with accommodation amenities. I booked it and I loved it, I felt safe walking alone day and night - most days I walked into Circular Quay as it was scenic and lovely and took maybe 10-15 minutes..heaven. I felt fine walking around at night coming back to the B&B from the bus or perhaps having dinner locally.

 

But....here's the thing and I noticed Tutu has her location set to Southwest US (but has likely traveled the world!) and could have come from a big city or maybe not. I am from the biggest city in America and think it conditioned me to quite a lot so that perhaps as GUT says - Kings Cross is "rough" as it relates to an Aussie city (or another country) but for me, it was peaches and cream, teddy bears and cotton candy...with that said I keep my radar on at all times, or I try ;) So...my point is the idea of seedy/rough can vary greatly...for the US and then I think, as we all discover when we venture outside our own country, we can't even use the same yard stick anymore but must measure differently in another country.

 

If I were being pressed to compare "seedy Sydney" to someplace "seedy US" having visited over 30 US States maybe the best I could do would be to choose Rutland, Vermont and that's not an accurate seedy scale. Tough to find anything seedy about Vermont - or Sydney, but anyplace has problems and no place is perfect, ever.

 

However it's vacation and no one ever wants to hear the words "seedy" "rough" or "red light district" when it comes to their vacation (unless it's Amsterdam and people seek the red light district out deliberately) although part of me even wonders, having stayed several days in Kings Cross, if it isn't done on purpose. Yes, even the train station (I took it to Bondi Beach) and buses were OK so go figure.

 

So again, not trying to win anyone over and I do defer to GUT as a local (and any other of our wonderful locals) but my experience in Kings Cross for 2 weeks (with a week in NZ in between) was bucolic. Like me, call or get in contact with hoteliers/innkeepers in advance and try to get a local vibe - it worked for me. Other American guests were there as were people from around the world. It's not for an overnight stay (stay closer to the Quay or Rocks) but for a few days, well - you never know.

 

Cheers :)

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