After disembarking the Sun Princess for the last time we were whisked away to our luxury hotel in Sydney Australia. I started to get nervous when the address of 138 Elizabeth Street took us right into China Town with the red light district right next door.
The travel agent who booked our flight also booked the hotel in Sydney. He was told to get something really nice. After all, we were going to be waited on hand and foot for two weeks, and you can't expect us to become totally responsible for our own needs over night! We needed to ease into it. We got to the Backpackers too early to "check in", so I stood outside with the luggage while Randy and Bernie got details. I hadn't been there two minutes before a guy came by and called me the "ef" word three times for having my bags on the sidewalk. I felt like we might as well have pinned a big sign on our backs saying, "murder us and take all our crap because we are obviously much richer than you." We stowed our luggage in a back room and spent the day riding a "hop on hop off" bus seeing the city and dreading going back to the hotel. By late afternoon we had no choice but to check in.
We got our entry card and went up the stairs. Bernie and Utahna were on one floor and we were higher up. It was stinky, dirty and there were piles of dirty sheets in the hall way. The minute the door was opened I could feel bed bugs and head lice flocking my way. I took one look and told Randy that I would much rather just go to the airport and spend the night. It would be much safer and cleaner! No private bathroom- just a common shower room and toilet. Of course no air conditioning or t.v.
I was too creeped out to set my stuff down long enough to take a picture of the room, but it matched the bannister leading up to it.
Here is the lobby of our hotel. You go outside and in another door to climb up the stairs to your luxury suite. You have to change your own sheets and bring your own towels for the community shower. Bernie and Randy are breaking the news to the concierge that we will not be requiring the rooms after all. We didn't get our money back, but who cares!
I had never heard of Backpackers hotels before, but they are all over New Zealand and people with back packs frequent them. NOT people with eight large suitcases, expensive camera bags, large purses and Princess Cruise Lines totes filled with stuffed kangaroos, boomerangs and tee-shirts. Bernie had over a grand in casino winnings hidden in his camera case!
The hotel manager found us a room up the street at a Travel Lodge. So we schlepped all our crap up through the ghetto to the new place. Here you see two hot and sweaty ladies so relieved to have a room in a safe, clean and decent hotel.
Yea! A clean room with air conditioning. That travel agent better watch out- he's going to get a piece of Bernie's mind when we get home!
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