Belair Hotel

The old hotel which is now the new Belair Hotel is right next door to the Glenalta railway station, on the edge of Belair as you enter Blackwood.

We have dined there regularly for 15 or more years, including tonight. Great food, reasonable prices, not quite fine dining but reliable, great food and good variety. The place has 3 different dining areas plus 2 alfresco areas.

How did it get its name of Belair? One account has it that the name Belair originates from 1849, after Eugene Bellairs, a Government surveyor who lived in the area.

Another account is that the suburb was named by Gustav Ludewigs and his wife Maria, who was born at Bel Air on the French-held island of Martinique (West Indies). The Ludewigs arrived in South Australia in 1849, and leased land in the area from 1855. I tend to believe this second explanation.

In 1869 the original small building at the centre of todays hotel was established as the Blackwood Inn. Then in 1880 a new stone building was erected on the site of the Blackwood Inn and renamed the Belair Hotel.

Strangely there is no sign on the front of the hotel proclaiming its name!
There should be a sign as it was crowned Australia's Best Bistro in 2010/2011 by the AHA!

After a total renovation and extension, the new Belair Hotel reopened in late May 2009. It has everything you could ask for in a modern hotel, from food and drink to function rooms to gambling as in poker machines. Not to forget, plus fantastic views of the Adelaide Hills.
See the hotel much better in LARGE.