This was published 14 years ago
Convict chic is still a steal: this view for a loaf of bread (after inflation)
By Elicia Murray Urban Affairs Reporter
A ROOM with a harbour view for $42 a night?
Strange, but about to be true, as one of Sydney's swankiest tourist areas prepares to welcome a budget alternative.
Yours for $42 a night ... the view from the rooftop of the Sydney Harbour YHA being built in The Rocks.Credit: Peter Rae
Sydney Harbour YHA is on schedule to open a $25 million 106-bedroom hostel and education centre at The Rocks in November.
A bunk bed in a six-person dorm room will cost $42 a night when bookings open in September - or even less with a member's discount.
The manager, Ross Lardner, said had already been inundated with inquiries for a limited number of places on the roof terrace at New Year's Eve, even with a three-night minimum stay. "It's a spectacular spot for viewing the fireworks. And with the number of people allowed on the roof terrace, it will not feel particularly crowded," he said.
A few metres up the road at the Shangri-La, the rate for a deluxe harbour view room on New Year's Eve is $850 a night, with a four-night minimum booking. The hostel is built on a 2650-square metre site owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, bordered by Cumberland and Gloucester streets.
When bubonic plague arrived in Sydney in the early 1900s, the NSW government condemned large areas of The Rocks, then considered a slum, to demolition. The block was later concreted over and used as a bus parking yard.
Since the mid-1900s, excavations have unearthed the remains of more than one million artefacts and 40 buildings, including the only visible foundations of a house built by a First Fleet convict.
The new structure is built on pillars to allow visitors to view archaeological remains.
"It's like standing on tippy-toes above the remnants," Mr Lardner said.
An education centre will tell stories of the site's earliest colonial inhabitants, including Richard Byrne, an Irish rebel who was transported to Australia for his part in the 1798 Wicklow uprising.
Another resident, George Cribb, was a butcher and bigamist also suspected of having a lucrative sideline in the sly-grog trade. When archaeologists excavated the area, they discovered a still and a well containing crockery. According to one theory, wife No. 1 disposed of it when she found out about wife No. 2.
Mr Lardner said he hoped visitors would be entertained by the stories, rather than inspired to duplicate them.
"I can't see anybody going to the extent of illegally brewing alcohol in their rooms. Especially on short visits,"