The Richmond Hotel has been a fixture of Rundle Mall for more than a century. Anchoring the eastern end of Adelaide’s busiest strip since the 1920s, the Art Deco landmark has watched the mall evolve around it. Fashion cycles come and go, retail booms rise and fall, and the city steadily modernises.
But for much of that time, the hotel itself remained largely unchanged. Familiar. Well-loved. And, by its own admission, due for a rethink.
Now, after a quiet, mostly in-house transformation, Hotel Richmond has emerged with a refreshed identity that honours its heritage while responding to how the space is actually used today.
“It’s not always straightforward with a heritage building,” says hotel manager Liz Davie, who has been with the venue for three years and has overseen much of the transformation. “There are quirks. But once we started, it became clear the whole place needed to be brought forward – the rooms, the corridors, the entranceways, the menu. Everything.”
The shift began almost unintentionally. Hosting Adelaide Fashion Week during Liz’s second year planted the seed for what would become an ongoing overhaul. Watching stylists and event teams temporarily reimagine the space revealed just how much potential the building still held.
“That’s when I fell in love with it,” she says. “Seeing how people styled the rooms made me realise how much more we could do permanently.”
The renovation leans into the Richmond’s Art Deco bones while softening and modernising the interiors. The restaurant and balcony underwent the most noticeable changes, with refreshed finishes, European marble benchtops at the bar, softened metal framework, new tiling and layered drapery. Ceilings and flooring remain largely intact, preserving the character of the original structure while subtly bringing it forward.
The result is a space that feels lighter, brighter and more connected to the mall below. Where the venue once felt like an escape from the chaos of Rundle Mall, it now embraces it. The balcony has become a focal point – a place to sit with a glass of wine, watch buskers drift past and take in the movement of the city.
“We’re in the middle of the mall,” Liz says. “So now we’re really playing on that, rather than hiding from it.”
Alongside the physical refresh came a rethink of the food offering. Previously anchored by pub staples, the new menu – led by Head Chef RJ Pascual – is designed to reflect the diversity of the people who pass through the mall every day.
“I always found it strange that we were hosting weddings and events but serving such a narrow menu,” Liz says. “It felt like two different identities.”
The updated offering pulls from multiple cuisines and influences, creating what Liz describes as food for “a bit of everybody”. Small plates sit alongside pub classics, wood-fired pizzas have returned, and there’s room for both casual grazing and more formal dining.
“It just made sense,” she says. “Families, shoppers, people meeting for drinks, event guests, everyone comes through here. We don’t want the focus to just be on the drinks.”
The menu weaves together Thai, Korean, Italian and Filipino influences (among others), including a “gourmet Big Mac” that perfectly sits between oily fast-food decadence and restaurant polish, and even a take on adobo, a marinated Filipino staple Liz says she’s surprised isn’t more common in Adelaide.
But perhaps the most interesting element of Richmond’s new iteration isn’t the menu or the finishes at all. While exploring the building’s lesser-known corridors during renovations, Liz and the team uncovered a collection of archival material.
“We found all of these archives, historic photos of the mall and Adelaide, menus from the ’60s, a whole load of history, and I was like, ‘Do you know what? We need to really advertise this and put it on display for everyone to see,” Liz says.
Rather than tucking them away, they now line the staircase, turning the walk upstairs into a photographic journey through time.
“It tells a story as you move through the building, and I plan to keep adding to the collection on display,” she adds.
After decades as a constant in the city’s daily rhythm, Hotel Richmond has evolved into what a public house should be. A place to share a bottle of bubbles and laughs with friends, host milestone events, celebrate family birthdays, keep even the pickiest dad happy, or pause mid-shop for a glass of wine on the balcony. An Art Deco landmark made for everyone, the Richmond is stepping confidently into its next chapter under a new lead and a fresh set of wheels, right where it has always stood.
“We just want it to be a place people want to come to,” Liz says. “Somewhere that works for everyone.”
The Hotel Richmond is located at 128 Rundle Mall, Adelaide. Find more info on the website here.
