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I'm heading out to Australia fairly soon and for the start of my trip I'm hopefully staying with friends. However, there's a small chance that that won't be possible. I might find out when changing planes in the Far East, but there's a chance I'll step off the flight in Sydney to get a voicemail from my friends saying "Sorry, we can't pick you up after all, hopefully see you in a few days".

I know that for some cities there are websites that do very very last-minute hotel deals, to shift unsold rooms for that night.

Are there any that cover Australia (Sydney especially, if that matters)?

Otherwise, are there any good ways to find sensibly priced accommodation at the very last moment for Australia?

(My flight doesn't land until about 9pm, so I'll be too late to cancel a refundable hotel booking if I can stay with my friends as planned.)

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    I've just learned about Hotel Tonight - while it doesn't do Australia yet, it probably will soon.
    – Mark Mayo
    Dec 7, 2012 at 21:42
  • Yup, they're great in areas that they cover!
    – Gagravarr
    Dec 9, 2012 at 22:38

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Well presuming you're ok with hostels, there are plenty of hostels available in Sydney - although you may have to call them when you get there to confirm the availability of beds for a last minute booking.

In addition, like in the US, Lastminute exists for Australia too.

Finally the one I'd recommend is booking.com - it can do same-day bookings and has the ability to search both hostels AND hotels. I just checked for tonight and indeed there are both hostels and hotels available in Sydney for booking.

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  • +1 Hostels or backpackers accommodation, whilst not being the most glamorous, is usually cheap, easy to book (most of the time you can just turn up) and within range of the CBD. I stayed at one for a week in the Sydney CBD a few years ago at the grand price of AUD$17 a night for a private room with a lock. Note that your mileage may vary and some places are known to have theft, so be vigilant with your valuables, as you should be when travelling anywhere.
    – The Wandering Coder
    Feb 23, 2017 at 0:31
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Wotif is the dominant player in the last minute specials in Australia. They offer a pretty big range as well as reasonable discounts on or close to the day. They used to specialize in bookings under a month in advance but have slowly increased their window out to three months now.

Other than that, most large booking sites run an Australian branch or offer Australian hotels - hotels.com, lastminute.com.au, hotelclub.com.au.

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