I suggest staying (if you can and are sports inclined), at the Australian Institute of Sport or AIS.

Canberra is the capital of Australia, it can be cold in winter and has a few great attrations like Museums and Parliament House. Very pretty city, clean with good accomodation.

best time to visit is during spring time- its a must to see the floriade festival. its best to stay overnight if coming from sydney (3 hours travel time @ mostly 80-100km/hour)

We stayed at the Bentley Suites apartments on Canberra Avenue in Forrest, in October 2008.
I can recommend this for value for money ($190 per night for 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment) and central location, secure car parking included.
Apartment was enormous, carpeted, in good clean condition, sparsely but adequately furnished, comfortable beds. It had its own balcony, laundry, TV with cable movie channels (no extra charge), small CD player, but no DVD player.
The "fully equipped" kitchen had good appliances but lacked a full range of cooking utensils - it was adequate for making breakfast or a simple lunch or dinner but you wouldn't be able to prepare a full meal without difficulty.
Restaurants and takeaway food is available nearby though, at Mandurah shops.

i loved it, didn't think there would be much to do but there is, specially if the weather is not nice cos everything is inside, plenty of place of interest and the town is beautiful too. a must see

cold, windy and frozen and good