The Austral Hotel
205 Rundle Street, Adelaide
The east end of Rundle Street, c.1887, with the International Hotel (now the Austral Hotel) on the corner of Bent Street.
Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia.
Established in 1882, the Austral Hotel was built during a period of rapid growth in Adelaide’s East End, providing accommodation and hospitality for the merchants, market workers and travellers who frequented the nearby Produce Market. Occupying a prominent corner site at the intersection of Rundle Street and Ebenezer Place, the hotel quickly became a well-known meeting place within one of the city’s busiest commercial precincts.
Its handsome Victorian façade, defined by arched windows, decorative mouldings and an elegant wraparound balcony, remains one of the East End’s most recognisable architectural landmarks. Carefully adapted over time while retaining its historic character, the Austral Hotel continues to play an important role in the precinct’s identity, linking Adelaide’s nineteenth-century market heritage with the vibrant hospitality destination that Rundle Street East is today.
