Canberra Hotels and Accommodation

(Canberra, Australian Capital Territory - ACT, Australia)

Canberra has a variety of different accommodation options, although only a small selection of hotels are actually situated within the city centre itself. Instead, most hotels are to be found to the south of central Canberra, around the Capital Hill region, being particularly concentrated in the Barton and Kingston districts, where good connections to the public transport network await.

Lodging in Canberra is not especially cheap, although most hotels do tend to come with clean, modern facilities and a good standard of accommodation. Apart from Capital Hill, other popular areas of the city in which to stay include both the Manuka district and the nearby town of Queanbeyan.

Where to Stay

Some of the districts in Canberra with the highest concentrations of hotels include Ainslie Avenue, Downer, O'Connor and Northbourne Avenue. Notable accommodation lines stretches such as Balmain Crescent, Binara Street, Dawes Street, the Federal Highway, Giles Street, Kingston Terrace, Kunzea Street, Limestone Avenue, Marcus Clarke Street, Molonglo Street and Stephen Street.

Canberra features several budget hotels, which are located along Akuna Street, Dryandra Street and Mort Street. Also of note are the halls of residence at the Australian National University (ANU), where both self-catering rooms and B&B accommodation opportunities are available between late November and late February, during the main university holidays. Travelodges, small chain motels and several camping and caravan parks reside within the O'Connor and Sutton districts, at the Namadgi National Park and at the Try Woods Reserve.

The small town of Queanbeyan is just 12 km / 7 miles from central Canberra and features some of the cheapest accommodation in the whole of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Also, the nearby historic villages of Braidwood and Murrumbateman contain a number of very inexpensive hotels, bed and breakfast options and similar lodging. Queanbeyan has slightly more affordable mid-range motel accommodation, and its inner suburbs of Kingston and Manuka are home to a number of fully-serviced apartments, with excellent facilities and views of the Canberra cityscape.

Canberra's most luxury hotels are often quite expensive and five-star accommodation is generally noticeably cheaper at the weekends. Most of the city's upmarket hotels are situated close to Northbourne Avenue and Marcus Clarke Street in the Civic district, and on Ainslie Avenue and Limestone Avenue within the Braddon area. Bungendore, a small town which is around 35 km / 22 miles from central Canberra, also has several outstanding luxury hotels, which stand close to scenic vineyards and wineries.

The main tourist season in Canberra falls between Australia's summer and autumn, from December to May, and at this time of year hotels often increase their room prices. Cheaper discounted packages are usually offered outside of the main tourist season, between the winter months of June to September.