A Historic Hotel
The Crafers Hotel,
Since 1839
The Crafers Hotel has been pouring drinks in the hills since 1839, making it one of Adelaide’s first pubs. Nearly two centuries on, it’s still the place to stop for a meal, a pint by the fire or a night upstairs.
Where it began
David Crafer opened the first inn here in 1839, back when the area was known as the Tiers and his regulars were the timber cutters working the stringybark forest. It had a thatched roof and a mud floor, and a rough crowd to match. In 1840 a gang of bushrangers took over the bar while Crafer was in Adelaide, helping themselves to the brandy until the police arrived to find them too drunk to put up a fight. The town that grew around the pub took his name.
A stop on the coach road
For decades the hotel was a fixture on the main road east out of Adelaide, where coaches stopped and horses rested before the climb to Mount Barker. Our 1913 photograph shows a stagecoach, a carriage and an early motor car lined up out the front, the old road and the new meeting at the pub’s door.
The pub today
A careful restoration stripped the hotel back to its original stone and structure, then brought it forward with reclaimed timber, leather, iron and copper. Open fires in winter, a beer garden in summer, and a bistro that brings a French lean to Adelaide Hills produce, named AHASA Best Bistro (Outer Metropolitan) from 2017 to 2020. Upstairs, seven boutique rooms carry names from the pub’s past, including the Sawyer, Norfolk and Tiers.
Locally owned, locally run
Today the Crafers Hotel is part of the Adelaide Hills Hospitality Group, and we’re still doing what Crafer set out to do: looking after locals, travellers and anyone who’s made the trip up the hill.
Come up the hill
Nearly 190 years in, the door’s still open and the fire’s still lit. Whether you’re after a long lunch in the bistro, a private room for your next celebration, a night out at one of our events or just a quick look at what’s on the menu, there’s always a reason to make the trip up the hill. Come in, pull up a stool and add your own chapter to the story.
