Old & New Working Together

Adelaide makes the most of its heritage. Graceful colonial architecture is everywhere throughout the city and one of the latest tourism arrivals has attracted a very prestigious accolade.

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The Medina Grand Adelaide Treasury apartment hotel, located on the corner of King William and Flinders streets, has been recognised with an award of merit in the 2003 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.

As UNESCO regional advisor for culture in the Asia Pacific Richard A. Engelhardt said: "Medina's sophisticated conversion of the historic Adelaide Treasury building into a high-end hotel complex successfully demonstrates the commercial viability of re-using historic building stock."

In other Adelaide news, the Corus Grosvenor Hotel has been rebranded as a Mercure; the former Duxton Hotel on Currie has been rebranded as the Chancellor Adelaide; and the Townhouse on Hindley, at the corner of Hindley and Morphett streets, has been rebranded as the Quality Inn Rockford Adelaide following a multi-million dollar refurbishment.

Rooms With A View

The newly opened Majestic Roof Garden Hotel is the latest addition to the Majestic hotel chain. Located on Frome Street, near the corner of Rundle Street in the City's east end, it consists of 120 suites, conference facilities, a restaurant, gym and roof garden with views to the Adelaide Hills.

It joins a stable of up-market accommodation that includes the Adelaide Park View, Old Lion Apartments and Tynte Street Apartments.

In Glenelg, the 175-suite Ramada Plaza Pier Hotel & Suites has reported strong business in the conference market. Opened in December 2002, the Ramada has three conference rooms which range in size from 81 square metres to 50 square metres.

Another great venue for meetings and corporate functions is the National Wine Centre of Australia. Opened in 2001, the Centre was taken over by the University of Adelaide late last year with further emphasis placed on wine education programs.

Tastings The Best Of Adelaide

Amongst the attractions at the National Wine Centre is a demonstration vineyard covering 2.6 hectares, producing some 14 varieties of grapes. The first harvest, in March last year, yielded just over two tonnes which, in turn, produced 180 dozen bottles of wine.

Groups can meet in the Centre's Busby Hall, which seats 480 people theatre-style or 340 for banquets. Other meeting and functions rooms and outdoor areas can accommodate anything from small seminars to large cocktail parties. Of course, wine tastings and wine education can be utilised by corporate groups.

The Adelaide Convention Centre continues to attract prestigious international meetings. Forward bookings include the 2005 International Symposium in Information Theory, to be held in the southern hemisphere for the first time in the group's 55 year history, the International Society for Plant and Molecular Biology's Eighth World Congress in 2006, and the International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, attracting 1000 delegates from 70 countries in 2010.

The largest hotel-based conference venue in South Australia, the Hilton Adelaide, has closed its level one conference facilities for refurbishment. The ballroom will reopen with a completely new look in March, while the Balcony Rooms, Baudin Room, boardrooms and a new conference room will be unveiled in May.

The ballroom will have state-of-the-art lighting and audio-visual technology, while the Balcony Rooms will be expanded and include outdoor seating overlooking Victoria Square. This follows on from a $6 million guestroom refurbishment completed last year.