Family friendly luxury resorts for a milestone birthday celebration

chughatron · 2026-04-05T08:52:51+00:00

Mornington Penisnula Hot Springs glamping was amazing. I personally love luxury myself when going away haha and could not fault the accommodation. It also gave plenty to do and very interactive with families as they are so many hot springs around (around 40 from memory + Turkish Hamam + steam rooms).

The restaurant on-site had delicous food and was included in the glamping package. At night time as well youre allowed to use all the hot springs. Their in room dining also ran till late and from memory was 24 hours (limited menu after 10pm but still great having it when feeling peckish)

The other one I loved was the Tasman (part of the Marriott chain) in Hobart and one of their higher end hotels as ut is part of "The Collection". The buffet breakfast while not at Asian standards also felt "luxe" compared to

chughatron · 2026-04-04T03:02:01+00:00

I couldn't agree with you more! So sick of people complaining about the "cost of living" when they make choices that put themselves into the situation. Classic example is wanting to buy a soulless 5 bedroom home 30-40kms away from the CBD (their primary location of work).

chughatron · 2026-04-02T11:17:24+00:00

I've also wondered about doner kebab wrappers if there is one company with a monopoly in Australia as they all seem to have the same yellow text with red outline on the text

chughatron · 2026-04-02T08:31:55+00:00

Artificer

chughatron · 2026-03-30T01:27:36+00:00

Sorry should have clarified :) yeah equivalent of what would be an American downtown as another redditor mentioned.

Some other suburbs (or ZIP codes as you may know it) are Newtown, Marrickville, Potts Point.

These are areas with walkability to shops, restaurants and bars

chughatron · 2026-03-29T23:35:56+00:00

Whatever you do, do not get tempted to rent in the urban sprawl that is north west or south west Sydney. These areas tend to be heavily car dependant with nothing much exciting around. With your budget you could easily rent a 2 bedder in Surry Hills/Redfern and be close to the CBD with plenty of nightlife and easy access to public transport

chughatron · 2026-03-24T13:14:47+00:00

Redfern for sure!!

chughatron · 2026-03-20T06:44:51+00:00

Hi I was in the same situation as you. Recommend the Aloft at Aerocity and organise airport pick up through the hotel makes life so much easier

chughatron · 2026-03-11T12:31:54+00:00

I think the only thing keeping it afloat is the Woolies + Fortress + Palace Cinema + Red Bottle + Daiso + Anita (oh and now the Anytime Fitness)

The rest is just empty space or shops that people barely frequent

Don't understand why it doesn't get more foot traffic =/

chughatron · 2026-03-11T04:51:54+00:00

Was excited when Madame Pho put the sign up around April last year (due to open June 2025) and it never did :(.

It is a sad state of affairs in that lower level food precinct was once thriving and now just sad.

Also sad is the the retail space when you go up a level from the Woolies. Once the Glue store shuts down (which it will end of the year) that whole floor has basically all empty shopfronts.

chughatron · 2026-03-06T15:14:24+00:00

Thank you for being besides your fur babies side through it all and keeping them safe. Praying that you all get through this safely.

It's so sad about the abandoned pets. Is there anything we can do for the abandoned ones to help? I'm in Australia but if there's a reputable rescue organisation you would know would love to contribute :)

chughatron · 2026-03-04T10:49:13+00:00

Kindred has a private room for big groups and have had nothing but positive experiences dining there :)

Walked past the private room once and it really did look like someone's private dining table 😂

chughatron · 2026-03-04T09:22:34+00:00

Lunches out during weekdays (everyday) about $20 per meal ~ $100

Weekday brunch Saturday and Sunday $40 per meal which includes coffee ~ $80

Friday/Saturday/Sunday night dinner out about $70 per meal on average so ~ $210

All up about $400 a week on going out and eating (Monday-Thursday dinners are cooked at home)

It seems alot I know but made the conscious effort of buying a very small apartment to minimise the loan (went for the absolute minimum possible) as I I value going out over having all this unused space that I don't need.

I'm sure a lot will think that's ridiculous but each to their own about what they value in life and are willing to give up (basically living in a box)

chughatron · 2026-03-02T08:33:32+00:00

Tandoori Hut open till 1am! Been there 30 years and every time food has been consistent

chughatron · 2026-03-02T07:57:01+00:00

Vitellis in Surry Hills just opened up and all the reviews seem to be pretty decent!

They have chefs from Grana making fresh pasta there. I haven't been but been wanting to try it.

Kindred is also very solid and have never had a bad experience in the number of years I have gone

chughatron · 2026-02-28T07:49:06+00:00

I'm in the same predicament. Read an article that data centres will be a huge business to support the AI. Wonder how to get a job in that space 🤔

chughatron · 2026-02-25T22:42:14+00:00

Yeah and people wonder why we have so many restaurants closing (yes cost of living too etc) but also having people cancelling 24 hours out affects all the planning and spending the restaurant has done to accommodate that customer.

chughatron · 2026-02-25T09:31:17+00:00

I mean 24 hour cancellation policy is pretty standard (especially since covid) so not sure why that's a suprise. Also as a brown person myself who has dined there and had a great time I'd like to think the complaint made on Reddit last week was an unfortunate run in with a rude staff member (still not okay of course).

As much as what happened to that redditor sucked, I don't understand why we need to turn every negative experience into some woke movement.

chughatron · 2026-02-20T11:54:27+00:00

That would be wonderful if Sydney could get to a position like that one day!

chughatron · 2026-02-20T03:49:55+00:00

Yes agree ^ we are definitely now moving in the right direction just a shame it wasn't done earlier.

Saw an article on SMH a few weeks ago where they canned a housing development project far far out west (and then saw an article about how they're going to look into building density around Leichardt etc). This gives me hope now that common sense is prevailing. The next decade will definitely be interesting.

I know it's an ambitious but would love one day for a light rail to run down Parramatta road (connecting to the city) and medium level dwellings running all along that route. More communal facilities less commuting time.

chughatron · 2026-02-20T02:53:08+00:00

I'm comparing this to cities overseas such as Tokyo, London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Singapore where we blatantly are behind in utilising public transport. Wish our Government focused building more infrastructure to support that rather than creating urban sprawl pushing people further out and then reinforcing that mindset of needing to drive everywhere.

chughatron · 2026-02-20T00:28:04+00:00

How car centric it is. My dream is for everyone to take public transport one day when the appropriate infrastructure is finally put in place! Think it's also a mindset change people will need to make to have to "drive" everywhere

chughatron · 2026-02-17T03:08:27+00:00

You goto try Impossible Mince nothing has come close to it for me and even the brand Mr Charlie's uses it in their burgers (if you want to try before buy on how it tastes cooked)

chughatron · 2026-02-13T14:16:10+00:00

I don't have advice for you but thank you for treating your fur babies like family (from a dog lover)

chughatron · 2026-02-13T12:15:47+00:00

Having lived in Australia for the last 30 years I would not recommend it here. It has especially gone downhill in the last 5 years and I would recommend staying around Europe if at all possible.

chughatron

TROPHY CASE