The venue for the Congress (the Telstra Theatre, Corner George and King Street, Sydney) is well located for accommodation. There are 20 hotels within 500 metres of the venue, and a further 200 hotels, short-stay apartments and hostels within a radius of 2 kilometres.

Accommodation in Sydney ranges from the ultra-luxury 6-star hotel through to the very basic back-packers hostel. Most of the possible places to stay are listed on this page and marked on a map of the city. We have identified the hotels and short-stay apartments that are closest to the venue, and they appear below.

The ICV organisers sought to negotiate a conference rate for delegates at one or more nearby hotels, but we were not successful. Most hotels in Sydney are able to be booked on-line directly or through various internet hotel-booking sites, with many offering on-line special deals that can be lower than the rate quoted for corporates and conferences, especially close to the dates of stay. The main on-line hotel services that have extensive lists of Sydney hotels are: www.trivago.com.au (which does comparisons with other on-line hotel sites); www.agoda.com; www.tripadvisor.com.au; www.expedia.com.au; www.wotif.com; au.hotels.com; www.hotel.com.au; www.booking.com; www.wego.com.au; and www.hotelscombined.com.au (which also does multi-site comparisons).

We recommend that ICV26 participants should book their hotels about 6 - 10 weeks prior to the Congress for the best pricing, though an earlier booking ensures availability of the preferred room type. Some of the normal high priced hotels are currently offering advanced purchase rates up to 30 days prior to date of arrival that represent significant discounts on the normal standard room rates. Some of the small low-cost hotels and pubs with rooms have very limited capacity, and they should be booked as early as practical.

Accommodation in Sydney is relatively expensive compared to much of the United States and Europe, though prices are comparable to hotels in the inner-city areas of most European capital cities and similar large international cities. There is cheaper accommodation and we have a separate section on low-cost options. However, as is the case everywhere, price and quality are aligned and the lower priced accommodation is generally priced to match the quality of the rooms, as much as for the lack of a premium for location.

There are a number of self-service apartment buildings which are ideal for a 1-week stay, and rooms vary from 1-bedroom studios to 2 bedroom suites suitable for sharing - all the comforts of the quality hotels, but no room-services. These can be suitable for shared-stay arrangements between participants. There are also several "pubs-with-rooms", which are the closest accommodations style to the "bed-and-breakfast" in the Sydney CBD, which until the last 10 years had almost no residential housing.

The ICV26 organisers are not in a position to "recommend" specific hotels and the information is provided in good faith, but may have some inaccuracies or changes occur prior to August 2015. The approximate room costs are for a room with a double or twin bed, ensuite, without breakfast, including taxes. Prices will be quoted inclusive of GST (VAT) and there are no state or local accommodation taxes. Hotels may have a surcharge for use of a credit card, with Amex cards usually at a higher fee. The estimated room costs are based on test bookings direct to each hotel website in early March 2015 and the prices may be for a limited numbers of rooms. Most hotels have highly variable pricing based on day of week, time of year and period before booking, and the same room can be charged differently through different sales channels. Generally pricing is for the room - irrespective of occupancy by one or two people.

The Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour closed Dec 2013 for redevelopment and will not reopen until late 2016. This has disrupted the Sydney accommodation market to a small extent but it appears that availability and pricing rooms is little changed. Sydney is in the process of building a Light Rail line (tram) and it's route will go along George Street, past the venue. This will disrupt buses along George Street, but work will not commence until 23 October 2015, which will avoid the access problems to and from accommodation in the southern part of the city until after the ICV.

HOTELS NEAR VENUE - "ICV26 PREFERRED":

Approximate Room Cost per night

77 York Street (corner of Clarence, King and York Streets)

Location of Welcome Drinks and Canberra bus pick-up

$225 (advance purchase)

Commercial Travellers Association Club

Corner Martin Place & Pitt Street (entrance from lower level MLC Centre) (book direct to club only with online email)(say you are a guest of Ron Strachan - contact us for his member number)

Break Free on Clarence (ex City Hotel)

193-195 Clarence Street (near King St)

The Occidental (pub-with-rooms, mostly shared bathroom)

43 York Street (corner Erskine St)(book direct to hotel only)

Mantra on Kent

$230 - $285 ($265 avge)

$121 (advance purchase)(includes continental breakfast)

Ibis Budget Sydney East [Accor] (ex Formule 1)

219 Kent Street (corner Margaret and Napoleon Streets) (close to Barangaroo construction site and motorway flyover)