Medina Grand

Medina Grand, Adelaide

Medina GrandSecret tunnels, hidden courtyards and private chambers give the Medina Grand Treasury a very appealing Downton Abbey-ishness. It’s easy to succumb to flights of fancy involving Lords, wicked corsetry and French silk frocks … but I digress.

This elegant sandstone hotel is situated in the cultural heartland of downtown Radelaide for maximum convenience. Rundle Mall is five minutes up the road, as is the State Art Gallery, the Museum and the sprawling grandeur of the University of South Australia. But really, why would you want to leave your room?

I stayed in an apartment that had a full kitchen, free magazines, a lovely deep bathtub and a cosy couch. My inner feline arched its back and decided to nap instead (but not before I cracked open the complimentary wine and ate a box of Lindt balls for lunch).

Downstairs, there are gardens, a fountain and the Treasury Bar which bustles with suits come 5.30pm on a Friday night. Even further downstairs (as in, underneath reception), there are sandstone tunnels that are a relic from the building’s past as the Treasury. I imagine clerks squirrelling away documents by candlelight and shady affairs involving Ministers embezzling state coffers. Today, you can hire the tunnels for events. Hello Halloween!

Like a gopher, you pop out of the tunnels near the indoor lap pool (which used to to be the stables) and swish up the stairs to a hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. I am allowed a peek into one room that is set up for a Serious Government Thing and I am delighted to see Queen Liz smiling down over a bookcase full of National Trust tomes.

Whether you’re a kinky Downton Abbey fetishist or simply a history buff, the Medina Grand Treasury is the perfect base for exploring your mild side.

2 comments on “Medina Grand, Adelaide

  1. I can tell you a few stories about nights out at the Treasury which involve a certain degree of sprawling grandeur that’s for sure! I’ve never actually been inside the hotel section. So you beat me there with the Adelaide knowledge Em! Only one small thing – when referring to an establishment of higher education I believe you are referring to the University of Adelaide NOT the Uni of South Australia. For us Adelaideans there is a big difference trust me! Uni of SA being what I have sometimes referred to as a glorified Tafe. Oh what. Did I just come across as snobbish and arrogant then? How very Adelaidean of me..

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