Must-see hotels in South Australia

  • Southern Ocean Lodge

    Kangaroo Island

    Looking for a place to your woo your sweetheart? The shining star in the SA tourism galaxy is Southern Ocean Lodge, a sexy, low-profile snake tracing the…

  • Largs Pier Hotel

    Largs Pier Hotel

    Adelaide

    Surprise! In the snoozy beach 'burb of Largs Bay, 5km north of Port Adelaide, is this gorgeous, 130-year-old, three-storey wedding-cake hotel with sky…

  • Mayfair Hotel

    Adelaide

    The gargoyles on Adelaide's 1934 Colonial Mutual Life insurance building guarded a whole lot of empty rooms for decades (has the money gone out of…

  • Soho Hotel

    Adelaide

    Attempting to conjure up the vibe of London’s Soho district, these plush suites in Adelaide's East End (some with spas, most with balconies) are…

  • SupaShak

    Kangaroo Island

    Oh look, a lunar landing pod has touched down in the Vivonne Bay dunes… This angular architectural spacecraft is future-fantastic, responding to the…

  • Minima Hotel

    Adelaide

    The mural-clad Minima offers compact but stylish rooms, each decorated by a different SA artist, in a prize-winning Melbourne St location (wake up and…

  • Antechamber Bay South Campground

    Kangaroo Island

    Within Lashmar Conservation Park where the Chapman River runs into Antechamber Bay, these dozen marvellously low-key campsites are right on the riverbank,…

  • Cape du Couedic Lodges

    Kangaroo Island

    These three three-bedroom limestone cottages near the Cape du Couedic lighthouse each sleep seven. Inside they're decked out in simple, rather masculine…

  • Glenelg Beach Hostel

    Glenelg Beach Hostel

    Adelaide

    A couple of streets back from the beach, this beaut old terrace (1878) is Adelaide's budget golden child. Fan-cooled rooms maintain period details and are…

  • Watson

    Watson

    Adelaide

    The Watson (named after indigenous artist Tommy Watson, whose works dazzle here) is a sassy, multilevel 115-unit complex 4km north of the CBD in…

  • Levi Park Caravan Park

    Levi Park Caravan Park

    Adelaide

    This leafy, grassy Torrens-side park is about 4km northeast of town and loaded with facilities, including tennis courts and a palm-fringed cricket oval…

  • Adelaide Luxury Beach House

    Adelaide Luxury Beach House

    Adelaide

    Do you like to be beside the seaside? Adelaide's beaches face west, so there are brilliant sunsets. Sit on the terrace at this mod beach house with a…

  • Stamford Grand Hotel

    Stamford Grand Hotel

    Adelaide

    The first Glenelg edifice to scrape the sky with any real authority, this plush, pink-hued hotel overlooks sparkling Gulf St Vincent. Dinner, bed and…

  • Seawall Apartments

    Seawall Apartments

    Adelaide

    This renovated row of old houses is a five-minute wander along the sea wall from Moseley Sq in Glenelg. They really didn't need a gimmick − the location…

  • Oaks Plaza Pier

    Oaks Plaza Pier

    Adelaide

    The pick of the multilevel apartment buildings along the Glenelg foreshore, the eight-storey Oaks Plaza Pier offers flashy corporate-style rooms and large…

  • Atura Adelaide Airport

    Adelaide

    Got an early flight? Atura is a sleek, seven-level airport hotel – a bit 'Eastern Bloc' externally, but a designer's delight on the inside. Splashed with…

  • Lifetime Private Rentals

    Kangaroo Island

    Pricey but worth every penny, these four gorgeous self-contained stone-and-timber houses dot the hillsides above beautiful Snelling Beach (actually, they…

  • Sea Dragon Lodge

    Kangaroo Island

    This beautiful three-bedroom timber lodge near Cape Willoughby is a high-end paradise, with polished timber floors, lofty ceilings, a mod kitchen and a…

  • Stranraer Homestead

    Kangaroo Island

    Lost in the parched dune county south of Cygnet River, difficult-to-pronounce Stranraer is a plush, four-suite B&B in a meticulously restored 1920 stone…

  • Molly's Run

    Kangaroo Island

    On a hillside above Smith Bay on the North Coast Rd, an easy 22km west of Kingscote, terracotta-tiled, white-stuccoed Molly's Run looks like it could have…

  • Ibis Hotel

    Adelaide

    Adelaide's stylish, reliable, high-rise Ibis does compact corporate twins and doubles in an unbeatable downtown locale (well, unbeatable if you're in ADL…

  • Adelaide Central YHA

    Adelaide

    The YHA isn’t known for its gregariousness – you’ll get plenty of sleep in the spacious and comfortable rooms here. This is a seriously schmick hostel…

  • Serenity Cottage

    Kangaroo Island

    Looking something akin to a marooned gypsy caravan, Serenity Cottage is a compact, grey-and-red weatherboard shack in the dunes behind Vivonne Bay, with…

  • Backpack Oz

    Adelaide

    It doesn’t look flash externally, but this converted pub (the old Orient Hotel) strikes the right balance between party and placid. There are spacious…

  • Discovery Lagoon Caravan & Camping Grounds

    Kangaroo Island

    Not far along the road into Emu Bay after you turn off the North Coast Rd (all up, about 12km from Kingscote), this simple lakeside campground has lots of…

  • Adabco Boutique Hotel

    Adelaide

    This excellent, stone-clad boutique hotel – built in 1894 in high Venetian Gothic style – has at various times been an Aboriginal education facility, a…

  • O'Connell Inn

    Adelaide

    It's absurdly difficult to find a decent motel in Adelaide (most are mired in the 2000s), but this one makes a reasonable fist of the new century, helped…

  • Hotel Richmond

    Adelaide

    This opulent hotel in a grand 1920s building in the middle of Rundle Mall has mod-minimalist rooms with king-sized beds, marble bathrooms, and American…

  • Ashendens at Penneshaw

    Kangaroo Island

    Down a steep casuarina-lined driveway just east of downtown Penneshaw (follow the shoreline road around), Ashendens is a contemporary Aussie beach house…

  • Greenways Apartments

    Adelaide

    These 1938 apartments ain’t flash, but if you have a pathological hatred of slick, 21st-century open-plan ‘lifestyles’, then Greenways is for you! And…

  • Walkers Arms Hotel

    Adelaide

    This unusual pub (something akin to a grey concrete spaceship) is really hitting the mark with its compact, stylish pub rooms – great value for a really…

  • Kangaroo Island Bayview Villas

    Kangaroo Island

    Great value for families or wandering bands of buddies, this row of four tidy three-bedroom villas sits on the hillside above town. Great views of the bay…

  • Princes Lodge

    Adelaide

    In a grand 1913 house overlooking the parklands, this cheery, eclectic lodge has high ceilings, new TVs and a certain faded grandeur. Close to the chichi…

  • KI Dragonfly Guesthouse

    Kangaroo Island

    Just a couple of blocks from Kingscote's main strip, this small, bright-yellow guesthouse is clean and affordable, and has a cosy lounge, lush lawns, and…

  • Hostel 109

    Adelaide

    A small, well-managed hostel in a quiet corner of town, with a couple of little balconies over the street and a cosy kitchen/communal area. It's clean and…

  • Ozone Hotel

    Kangaroo Island

    Opposite the foreshore with killer views, the 100-year-old Ozone has quality pub rooms upstairs, motel rooms, and stylish deluxe apartments in a new wing…

  • Waves & Wildlife

    Kangaroo Island

    This phalanx of trim, tidy cottages marches down a grassy hillside above Stokes Bay (love the tunnel and the rock pool!). There are one- and three-bedroom…

  • Western KI Caravan Park

    Kangaroo Island

    A few minutes' drive east of Flinders Chase National Park, this friendly park has shady gums, resident roos and koalas, a kids' playground and a jumbo…

  • Pullman Hotel

    Adelaide

    Adelaide's slick Pullman Hotel spreads itself through two 14-storey towers just back from Rundle St, with little balconies overlooking the neat lawn…

  • Peppers Waymouth Hotel

    Adelaide

    Towering Peppers Waymouth is all business, and if that's why you're in Adelaide, make it your business to stay here – an ace location in the middle of the…

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