It's a chilly Friday afternoon. My conference has wrapped up for the day and I'm ready to kick back at The Franklin Hotel and catch up with Adelaide - my old haunt.
Adelaide's city centre has change enormously in the past few years. New laws allowing small bars has seen hip eateries and designer hotels like The Franklin spring up along laneways and in previously dozy parts of the city.
The Franklin is my type of hotel - low-key but stylish with wonderfully textural fittings and eye-catching pop art.
Its range of 'dawgs' has already made it a favourite watering hole for the lunch-time crowd and after-work office drinkers. The bar doubles as... well... the bar and hotel reception.
My room is located on the first floor of the elegant stone building next to another bright reading nook.
Each of The Franklin's 7 rooms has been individually-designed with dramatic colour palettes and furnishings.
I'm staying in a deluxe room (a more glamorous way of saying 'standard' ) with a large flat screen TV, iPod docking station, free WiFi and ensuite.
I love the dark, black walls...
...with contrasting pops of yellow... and the light shades which throw playful shadows around the room.
The bathroom has been beautifully renovated in keeping with the era of the building... white subway tiles with a black floor
...and a huge soaking bath which sadly I didn't get time to enjoy.
One of the best advantages of The Franklin is its location... on Franklin St just a street away from my favourite fresh food markets in the country - the Adelaide Central Market
This is a foodie's paradise. Every type of fruit and vegetable, meat or dairy, pasta or grain from dozens of cultures.
And the quality of the ingredients makes me wish I had a kitchen to cook them in!
But there's no need to cook. If you're after something a little more high-end than The Franklin's hotdogs, just two blocks away is Adelaide's hottest bar and dining strip Peel St - off Hindley St.
I drop in to Clever Little Tailor and have a delicious Eden Valley Riesling with a bowl of Coriole olives.
.. then an early dinner at Peel St restaurant a little further down the lane. I manage to get a seat at the bar and watch the expert kitchen prep for a busy night ahead. How can I go past the Masterstock crispy quail with pickled carrot salad and a glass of Mac Forbes chardonnay from the Yarra Valley? This is a very happy way to end a business trip.
and knowing my hotel and large, warm comfortable bed is just a short staggering distance away allows me to indulge in one more for the road.
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Saucy Onion stayed as a guest of The Franklin Hotel.
If you look closely and explore the city more, you will see that Adelaide has changed its retail and F&B landscape, with quaint spaces and nooks. But given then, Adelaide has still retained its charm, which only someone who has stayed in Adelaide long enough to be able to point it out and articulate.
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