Where Are The Cheap Places To Stay During Vivid? (Naked City)

You are planning to spend a few nights in a Sydney city hotel to take in the plummeting drones during Vivid and other unexpected treats the annual festival might offer. You have a very limited budget and are obviously looking for the most economical digs to stay in for the night. Unfortunately thousands of tourists have flocked to town, and many of the hotels have bumped up their prices for the duration of the event.

You start to get desperate, combing travellers’ YouTube vlogs for any reviews or suggestions for an el cheapo place to bed down for two or three nights. It’s not Sydney but at one stage you come across a young Japanese guy who has decided to stay at Japan’s worst rate hotel, the infamous Sanwa in Kobe, for just $10 (Australian) per night. The decrepit rooms are not much bigger than a broom cupboard, with no entry lock on the door. You get a pair of scissors at the reception desk to cut the plastic snap tie to gain entry. The minimal bedding looks like it’s suffering some kind of infectious disease but there is a TV and even a remote to turn it on.

It’s freaky, disturbing and downright scary, all at once, but it’s a kind of inspiration. Think of the money you save, albeit with your life at risk, and after all it’s just a place to spend the night – even though it could be your last. It would be unlikely there’s anything so gross and grotty in Sydney but you are prepared to compromise if the price is right.

For starters we have a number of centrally located capsule hotels where you can bed down for as little as $59 a night. There’s the inevitable shared toilet and bathroom facilities but you get free WiFi, fresh bed linen and basic air conditioning. Just a note, if you want to use one of the lockers you need to bring your own padlock or purchase at the reception. Overall it’s not a bad solution if you simply want a safe and clean stay for the night and still have bucks to blow at the Vivid food trucks.

Over the decades the Sydney CBD has offered a whole range of hotels and hostels aimed at the budget traveller. When interstate and country train travel was more popular many of these cheapies were located in the southern part of the city, within walking distance of Central Station. Foremost amongst them was the aptly named Peoples Palace at 400 Pitt St, a temperance hotel operated by the Salvation Army from 1899 until 1988. Part of its façade still remains today, incorporated into the 40 storey Miramar apartment block.

Originally built to house society’s down and out, it eventually morphed into a budget hotel, popular with both singles and family groups and big enough to house around 500 people. Judging by the number of Facebook groups and the comments therein, it still attracts a degree of nostalgia from those who stayed there – like this memory from a gentleman called George:

“My home for about 4 days when my cash ran out in 1972. I was 22 years old , 1st overseas trip from N.Z. Had to stay until mummy arranged my flight back home. Ate off the food cart over the road with the homeless. Haven’t eaten Curried sausages since. Great life experience. Thanks Australia.”
Kings Cross has also traditionally housed a variety of backpacker hostels, pub style accom and motel style venues where rooms could also be hired by the hour (use your imagination!). A number of these once notorious flop house still remain today, extensively upgraded, rebranded and aimed specifically at the budget traveller.

A classic example is the now ‘Astoria Space Pop Up’ at 9 Darlinghurst Rd, which offers a variety of basic modern rooms including a kitchenette. However, roll back the years to the 80s, 90s and early 2000s and it was simply known as ‘The Astoria’ – a haven for drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes and a who’s who of shady KC characters. In 2009 it was officially declared a ‘disorderly house’ by the NSW Supreme Court, enabling police to enter the premises at any time without the need for a warrant. If you are a fan of local crime fiction, set in the glory days of Kings Cross, the Astoria (sometimes called ‘the hysteria’) is bound to get a mention.

Finally, if you are desperate to catch the Vivid light shows and can’t afford even the cheapest hotel or hostel you might think of pitching a tent for the night in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Sorry, think again! Not only could you be clobbered by an out of control falling drone, it’s strictly illegal. Under the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Regulation, setting up a tent or sleeping overnight without written permission is prohibited and can result in significant fines.

Of course if you are a homeless person, bedding down on a park bench or under a Moreton Bay Fig, nobody seems to care – unless they have the inconvenience of removing your fatally hypothermic body in the morning.