Pullman Adelaide: The perfect blend of business and leisure in the CBD

Quentin LongBy Quentin Long
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This city stay offers modern comfort and sophisticated style.

An unashamed business plus leisure hotel, the Pullman Adelaide is an unfussy Goldilocks hotel, not too luxe and not too beige and boring. Originally opened as a Crowne Plaza hotel, the property was rebadged and rejuvenated to fit the more premium Pullman label in 2017.

In 2025, the hotel still holds its own as the safe Adelaide option with a surprising eatery delight. Here’s everything you need to know about staying at the Pullman Adelaide.

Location

the exterior of Pullman Adelaide at night
Pullman Adelaide is in a prime location moments away from Rundle Mall.

The Pullman Adelaide’s location is the best of both worlds. On Hindmarsh Square around the corner from Rundle Mall this is a neighbourhood of Adelaide CBD with enough pulse to make it interesting but not exhausting.

During our Sunday night stay, the LOC Wine Bar and Restaurant next door drew a crowd for an upmarket Sunday evening meal while The Griffin on the other side of the Pullman served up a decent pub dinner.

Younger and more enthusiastic revellers could have easily strolled to Rundle Mall or just across the square to one of the longest-running live gig and comedy clubs in the city, the Rhino Room.

Adelaide Airport is a 15-minute drive away.

Style and character

a look inside the lobby at Pullman Adealaide
Touches of brass and marble bring the luxe.

This is a hotel where the lobby promises a lot and the rooms…. Not so much.

The lobby is full of vibrant colours and fabrics. The houndstooth black and white armchairs contrast against burnt orange lounges, making for a great welcome.

The newly refurbished PARC Brasserie & Bar exudes Belle Epoque Paris. A black marble bar top with gilt gold framed recessed alcoves with high shared table for execs slaving away on laptops is a space to be enjoyed.

the Hindmarsh Lounge at Pullman Adelaide
The Hindmarsh Club Lounge offers a tranquil haven for business travellers.

Great small service touches add to the experience. The fresh popcorn served daily is a nod to the hotel being on the site of the former Academy Cinema.

And drawing on the Pullman rail association, a bell is rung every night at 5pm to signal the beginning of Happy Hour.

Facilities

the pool at Pullman Adelaide
The hotel features a 13.5-meter indoor lap pool, spa, and sauna.

Pullman Adelaide is primarily a business hotel brand that can undo its top button on Friday evening for the ‘bleisure’ market (don’t blame me for that horrible word, I believe we have Expedia US to thank for that crime against English),

So the standard business requirements are all dutifully served up and maintained.

Gym? Tick. Executive club lounge? Tick. Pool? Tick. Sauna? Tick.  Peloton bikes? Tick. 24-hour front office? Tick? In-room dining? Tick. Laundry services? Tick.

Rooms

one of the rooms at Pullman Adelaide
The rooms have everything you need for a cosy stay.

There are six room types. Entry-level Superior Rooms are more spacious than comparative entry-level rooms for business hotels. Stepping over the Deluxe to the Premium Deluxe adds a balcony while suites are a battle in size, Junior weighs in at 35sqm while the Deluxe Suite has an oversized 72sqm, separate lounge and bedroom and wrap-around balcony. All suites come with club lounge access.

As previously inferred, the rooms are a little… underwhelming.

Great hardware in bedding, toiletries, desk and chairs.  All are highly functional and ultra-comfortable. Great for the road warrior who is in and out in a flash, but a little bland for those who like a little more character in their rooms.

The bathroom follows suit; muted grey and dark floor tiles. Highly functional and spacious. Just a little lifeless.

Food and drink

the restaurant inside Pullman Adelaide
The modern brasserie serves seasonal dishes focusing on South Australian produce.

The PARC Brasserie & Restaurant is far more than a perfunctory tick-a-box-to-get-the-corporate-accounts eatery. The award-winning French brasserie serves up far more than staples but some classic Gaullic dishes like duck crépinnete, paté with cornichons or a petite courgette tart to start.

Mediterranean and Euro favourites like paella, chicken Kiev and seafood linguine sit next to French classics like braised beef cheek or a 2-kilogram côte de boeuf and then the mandatory travelling exec steaks and fish.

the bar counter at Parc Brasseries and Bar, Pullman Adelaide
Pull up a seat at the PARC bar.

It is an absolute pleasure to read a wine list in any Adelaide establishment and the PARC is no different with the added delight of perusing some French vin as well.

The PARC Brasseries & Bar is a highlight.

Does Pullman Adelaide have access for guests with disabilities?

The Pullman Adelaide has 11 rooms for travellers with reduced mobility.

Is Pullman Adelaide family-friendly?

It is not family unfriendly with a pool, sauna and spa and there are 36 interconnecting rooms.

Details

Address: Pullman Adelaide, 16 Hindmarsh Sq Adelaide

Best for: Extending business trips to a gorgeous Adelaide weekend stay.

Cost: From $219

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Quentin Long
Quentin Long is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Australian Traveller Media. Quentin is a sought-after travel media commentator. He is Australia’s most trusted source for travel news and insights, having held weekly radio segments across the country since 2006, and regularly appearing on Channel 9’s Today and A Current Affair programs from 2010. Don't ask him his favourite travel experience as that's like asking him to choose a favourite child. However he does say that Garma Festival is the one travel experience that changed him the most.
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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.