The slick new retreat in one of this city’s best locations

The hotel

Vibe Hotel Adelaide, South Australia

Check-in

Enter the double-storey foyer of this recently built hotel and take a deep breath. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out over a festoon-lit communal garden, and above nests a dramatic 15-metre, locally crafted lighting installation. Head to the front desk (featuring actual humans instead of soulless screens) for a seamless check-in. On the way to your room – one of 123 across the hotel’s 18 storeys, with city or hill views for all rooms from level eight and up – pass in-house bar Storehouse, where happy hour cocktails are $15, and detour to level one to check out the cleverly hidden lap pool, which is suspended between the hotel and the adjacent residential tower and kept at a toasty 28 degrees.

The look

Shall we call the hotel “texturally curious”? Between the three-dimensional raised tiles in the lobby, restaurant and rooms, the bathroom’s Tasmanian oak wood-panelling and the rustic plaster walls above the bed and the modern shapes, like the starburst sheeting that marks the mezzanine (which, in turn, matches the retro-inspired carpets in the rooms), it is spirited without gaudiness. There are subtle concrete touches, too, but you’d hardly know it, so distracting are other details such as the ochre-coloured lounge chair, the lush floor-to-ceiling curtains and the oatmeal tones of the bed’s Creswick wool blanket.

The room

Why the air-conditioning is set to 18 degrees is a question for another day, but I choose to interpret it as a literal example of the coolness of the room, which feels stylish and understated. I’m in a deluxe king, with sweeping views from the Adelaide Hills to the CBD, over leafy downtown and its autumnal tree-lined streets. There’s a big seat in the window, a lovely timber headboard, a black cabinetry alcove for a minibar and plenty of smart storage for short- and long-term guests. The bathroom – with shower and loo hidden behind tinted partition cubicles but an otherwise open vanity separated from the bed by timber slats – feels a bit intergalactic, but it does mean that afternoon light spills into every nook and cranny.

Food + drink

Onsite restaurant Storehouse shines at dinner, with a menu featuring terrific portions of exceptionally garlicky linguine tossed with South Australian blue swimmer crab and Warrigal greens, as well as knots of burrata atop lightly charred leek and hazelnuts (and an illogical three slices of focaccia). Breakfast – favourites and creative plates, such as sweetcorn fritters with pickled zucchini – are served from 7am to 10am, and its bounty is sought by tired travellers, corporate crews and non-guests alike.

Out + about

Thanks to its Flinders Street location, the hotel is within walking distance to Rundle Street shopping, the 70-trader-strong Central Market, where you can pick up chocolate frogs from Adelaide-born Haigh’s or brie at The Smelly Cheese shop. It’s also in proximity to some of Adelaide’s best annual events: in May, Tasting Adelaide’s precinct is down the road in Victoria Square, the Adelaide Oval (home to the AFL’s Gather Round) is a 30-minute walk away, and it’s well positioned for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. You’re a 12-minute drive from the airport. Day trips to Monarto Safari Park or the paddle steamers of Mannum on the Murray River are only an hour away, as is Barossa’s Seppeltsfield Winery (and its acclaimed onsite restaurant Fino).

The verdict

Fresh style and modern comforts in an ideally central urban location.

Essentials

From $299 a night. The hotel has six accessible rooms. 260 Flinders St, Adelaide. Phone: (08) 8432 3333. See vibehotels.com

Our rating out of five

★★★★

Highlight

This hotel has it – location, location, location. Yet you still have the option to stay put and tuck into lavish dinners.

Lowlight

Parking, from $25 a day, is hidden in a warehouse behind the hotel; at night, it feels like a slightly sketchy operation to retrieve your car.

The writer visited with support from the South Australian Tourism Commission. See southaustralia.com