Beach Hotel — Restaurant in Adelaide

We had our wedding reception here a few days ago which mostly had to be planned from overseas due to us flying over for the event. We had about fifty guests in the function room for a 2 course meal with cake cutting and wine on the table.

Firstly I would like to confirm that I am a visitor in Australia, I have been here for just over a year in total. But I am in perhaps a less informed position when it comes to local prices.

The good: The price seemed good compared to other venues in the area while researching online. I found the function room itself to be very attractive, with a small stage and dance floor fit for purpose as well as a pleasant balcony area for smokers. The food was really great, as all my guests agreed, and I enjoyed some of the best salmon I have ever eaten. The night was definitely a success overall and I am happy we chose the venue.

The bad: The hidden costs, upon sitting down with the representative of the venue we were informed of more costs we were not initially made aware of. It was $45 for two courses per person, we were told it would cost $5.00 extra per person just to be able to choose their meals between an option of two. Out of a varied menu we understood was the full selection, we were told that we had to pick two choices from starters and mains to suit absolutely everyone. I understand their reasons but would have appreciated more clarity before we were effectively locked in. Further it was $25.00 per bottle of their cheapest wine, or a $10.00 'corking' charge per bottle we brought in. Which seemed steep on top of the $400 we had already paid to merely book the place.

There is also the matter of the decorations, the images on the website and the language uses gave us reason to believe that all the chairs would be decorated with coloured linen to our specifications, making the room really beautiful. However again, when we sat down with the representative the day before she informed us that this would cost a further large amount of money, and was with a separate company who may not have time to do it. Needless to say my bride to be was quite disappointed by this.

Finally we found the representative did her job, but we did feel she was a little condescending and not particularly friendly considering the celebration. We also gave explicit instructions on the table positioning to her, which she did not follow. When we came in the night before to add last touches we had to help move the tables ourselves, which kindly another member of staff helped us with.

As a result, the actual night itself was great. But the actual sale side and hidden costs quickly became more and more unreasonable. We may not have chosen this place had we been aware of these costs and I really dislike the underhanded way we were told...

Casual dining experience after a day at the wineries. We decided to attend the dining room at the Beach Hotel ordered schnitzel/veg/chips (was average and took ages to come out). We did not order any alcohol, nor did they even once consider or offer us both any table water. When dealing with customers who may “appear” intoxicated based off assumptions, the appropriate thing to do is offer them water, however your colleague who served us was “very young” but had no issue with us, she just didn’t offer water.

We went to pay for our meal (who was the replier of this review being the manager), we went to the toilet, as exiting they refused entry back into the venue. Upon asking for the manager, he had no clear description as to why we were instructed to leave, I asked for further explanation. He had no leg to stand on as we shown no symptoms other than the likely loud voices, the venue was basically empty hence the echoing! Moments later after being told to leave, a rather immature male colleague came out laughing at us in the car park with remarks such as “haha sucked in”, the young male manager and male security guard were standing right there and the male colleague was encouraged by the manager himself and security guard. I’ve Never felt so attacked by three males. It was disgusting behaviour.

We’ve never really experienced (privileged opinion I know) any form of discrimination but that felt incredibly unnecessary. They happily serve underage teenagers every Friday night without ever kicking them out the venue and serve a magnitude of intoxicated humans daily. Yet we ordered a Schnitzel and ZERO alcohol and yet we were told to leave.

You have to demonstrate clear “visible” signs of intoxication for that to occur and upon asking the staff, they were unable and uneducated to describe those signs and just made an assumption. We just paid for our meal and went to the toilet and we’re about close to leaving the venue.

I am so appalled at the customer service it is incredibly unprofessional. I’ve worked for very high end customer service inflight and I believe that was complete and utter poor form. It’s different if someone intoxicated actually asked for alcohol, you kindly offer them water, however we did not ask for any, nor were we disruptive.

Do not go to this venue. Awful experience from someone who has attended this venue since she was 18 years old, over 15 years ago. It’s completely lost its touch! I’m severely disappointed. New management sucks. Not the same place. Lucky I’m from Melbourne anyway.

Definitely not the safest venue, when young 20 years olds are getting in with arms. Probably need to improve the security here too. Seems they encourage the bad behaviour...

Why would you get rid of ALL vegan options? Your staff don’t even know what vegan is. Disappointment is an understatement. And don’t forget how you got rid of all live music, too. What used to be my favourite place to dine and party in the south, now is a complete write off. None of my friends or family go here anymore. You’ve lost many loyal customers. It might be time to rethink your poor business decisions.

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Edit: I see your response and I apologize, I should have explained in more depth.

The only vegan options you offer on your online menu are a $24 halloumi salad without the halloumi and a $22 eggplant parmi without the cheese or chips.

I thought perhaps your vegan menu is not online, so I contacted the restaurant to enquire. The person who answered the phone did not know what vegan was, let alone what items on your menu are, or could be made vegan. Their service was unhelpful.

For years, your restaurant offered a dedicated vegan menu with upward of 6 thoughtful options. These options included vegan cheese and condiments, and even a dedicated vegan dessert. My personal favourite was the vegan eggplant parmy, which included a vegan cheese topping with a side of vegan-friendly chips and salad with vegan dressing, for roughly the same price.

Going from that level of service to quite genuinely ZERO specifically vegan options, and ZERO thoughtful alteration options, on your menu - in 2024, I should add - is beyond disappointing.

Looking on your website, I can see that on Sundays you do have a live acoustic performance, so I apologize for that.

This, however, is very different to the live music that used to be offered at your venue. With themed music nights such as the popular 90's and R&B nights, DJs, and our beloved local bands, you would find the Beach Hotel venue packed and lively on nearly any weekend or holiday.

When I have driven past on a weekend more recently, the carpark has been close to empty, and next to no diners or partiers can be seen in the outside spaces. It's really sad.

To recreate this outing experience, we have to go elsewhere, since this is not offered at your hotel anymore. I don't know why you've made these changes, when I'm sure your business has suffered for it, and they are not positive changes.

Compared to how it was: your menu is severely lacking, (judging from other reviews) your food quality is cheap and poor, your service is abysmal, and your venue is honestly depressing.

I hope you'll change it back, or even make it better than before, so that your customers will have a more...