The Archer Hotel

The Archer opened in 1849 as the Huntsman Hotel, and the building has led several lives since: Lutheran Church library, offices, a bank, a radio station. It only became the Archer in 2003, when a renovation gave the heritage listed site a modern bar and an open beer garden. The current structure dates from the boom years of the early 1880s and is unusual for the city, two storeys of stuccoed dressings and squared sandstone with a broken arch pediment and pendant swags that have no counterpart anywhere in Adelaide. Brothers Joe and Ross Calabria took it over in 2024 and have been restoring the wraparound balcony and the little known upstairs library. Capacity runs to 430 and the two levels get used as two rooms. Beats on Parade ran house heaters upstairs and dance classics downstairs across eight DJs and live percussion, free entry all night, and Sub Frequency brought a bass heavy Friday.