A heritage pub on Tailem Bend’s Main Street has been serving travellers since 1902 and was renovated in 2018. Tailem Bend Hotel offers classic pub meals, holds a 4.1 / 5 rating on Tripadvisor, and sits about an hour’s drive from Adelaide, not far from The Bend Motorsport Park. Here’s what reviewers say about the food and rooms, what the menu and happy hour cost, and how the pub compares with the newer accommodation around the motorsport park.

Last checked: 2026-09-09

Address: Main Street, Tailem Bend SA · Phone: 08 8572 3515 · Distance from Adelaide: 1 hour drive · Rating: 4.1 / 5 (Tripadvisor)

Tailem Bend Hotel at a Glance

1 Address

• Main Street, Tailem Bend SA (official hotel website)

2 Phone

• 08 8572 3515 (official hotel website)

3 Distance from Adelaide

• About a 1-hour drive (Expedia travel guide)

4 Tripadvisor Rating

• 4.1 / 5 (Tripadvisor)

Address	Main Street, Tailem Bend SA
Phone	08 8572 3515
Distance from Adelaide	About a 1-hour drive
Tripadvisor rating	4.1 / 5
Year established	1902
Renovated	2018
Restaurant	Tailem Bend Hotel and Restaurant – traditional pub menu
Happy hour	5–6pm; tickets $2 each or 3 for $5
Reservations	By phone on 08 8572 3515

What Types of Accommodation Are in Tailem Bend?

Tailem Bend’s accommodation market is small: Tripadvisor lists roughly seven primary options, including motels, caravan parks, a riverside pub and the motorsport-park hotel. For most visitors the choice comes down to two very different stays — the historic pub rooms at Tailem Bend Hotel and the modern Rydges Pit Lane Hotel at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Tailem Bend Hotel

Tailem Bend Hotel is a working country pub with accommodation, on Main Street in the centre of town. The restaurant trades as the Tailem Bend Hotel and Restaurant and serves a traditional pub menu; Tripadvisor reviews describe the food as good value and the staff as friendly. Rooms are older in style, per Tripadvisor reviews. Reservations are taken by phone on 08 8572 3515.

Property type	Historic country pub with accommodation
Established	1902
Renovated	2018
Address	Main Street, Tailem Bend SA
Phone	08 8572 3515
Restaurant	Tailem Bend Hotel and Restaurant
Menu style	Traditional pub menu
Happy hour	5–6pm; tickets $2 each or 3 for $5
Tripadvisor rating	4.1 / 5
Reservations	By phone

Rydges Pit Lane Hotel

Rydges Pit Lane Hotel sits inside The Bend Motorsport Park and is consistently ranked among the top Tailem Bend hotels on Tripadvisor. Guest reviews highlight modern, clean rooms, comfortable beds, and the on-site bar and restaurant; one reviewer described the entrance as “awesome entrance with all the cars on display.” Standard rooms typically range from about AU$170 to AU$353 a night, putting it at the upper end of the local market.

What this means: Tailem Bend’s accommodation choice is essentially a historic pub versus a modern motorsport hotel, with a couple of motels filling the middle.

What’s in Tailem Bend?

Tailem Bend sits on the Murray River and the main highway corridor, a stop that mixes passing trade, riverfront tourism and motorsport crowds. Guest commentary on the town’s hotels repeatedly highlights proximity to The Bend Motorsport Park, views of the Murray River, and easy access to local pubs and shops as the location factors that matter most.

Tailem Bend Hotel

The hotel has been part of that local picture since 1902, functioning as both a restaurant and a pub for residents and visitors. Tripadvisor reviews spanning 2021–2024 mention friendly staff and an older building style. The 2018 renovation is worth knowing if you’re weighing a century-old pub against a modern motel.

The Bend Motorsport Park

The Bend Motorsport Park is the biggest single driver of overnight demand in the area, and Rydges Pit Lane Hotel is attached to the circuit. Price data from Trip.com and Skyscanner suggests room rates move noticeably around event periods, which is why their Tailem Bend averages differ so widely.

Local Dining and Pub Scene

Tailem Bend Hotel’s restaurant is one of the town’s main pub-dining options. The other pub to note is Riverside Hotel, whose dining room overlooks the Murray River; reviewers describe its food as classic pub-style with a wide selection at reasonable prices. For another South Australian country pub with a similar menu-led format, see our Commercial Hotel Strathalbyn review.

The pattern: the town’s food and drink scene is concentrated in a few pub dining rooms, and the river view at Riverside Hotel is the feature reviewers single out most.

Tailem Bend Hotel Menu and Prices

Pub Classics and Daily Specials

The Tailem Bend Hotel and Restaurant works from a traditional pub menu, and Tripadvisor reviews describe the food as good value — the hotel’s clearest competitive position. Specific dishes and specials change, so the hotel recommends calling 08 8572 3515 to confirm what’s on. The restaurant anchors the pub’s daily trade and also serves guests staying at the hotel.

Drinks and Happy Hour

The bar runs happy hour from 5 to 6pm, with tickets at $2 each or three for $5 — a detail the hotel posts on its Facebook page. It’s a small, tangible discount and a useful detail for budget-conscious travellers.

The bottom line: the hotel competes on value — cheap happy hour tickets and pub meals reviewers call well priced — rather than on a polished dining room.

Pros and Cons: Tailem Bend Hotel

The trade-off: a century of character and clear value in exchange for older-style rooms and a by-phone booking process.

Price Guide: What a Stay Costs

Tailem Bend Hotel does not publish a standard room-rate band in the sources we reviewed; the clearest pricing signals are the $2 happy-hour tickets and Tripadvisor’s description of the food as good value. For the local market, Skyscanner puts the average weekday hotel rate near AU$216 and the weekend average near AU$186, with the cheapest rooms around AU$140–AU$142 a night; Trip.com’s aggregation runs higher at roughly AU$358 weekday and AU$392 weekend across about 36 listed properties. That spread is wide for a small town, and it points to event-driven demand.

What to watch: if your dates are flexible, Skyscanner flags Tuesday as a relatively cheaper night and Wednesday as a frequent price peak.

Location and Getting There

Tailem Bend Hotel sits on Main Street in the centre of Tailem Bend, about an hour’s drive from Adelaide. The Murray River is part of the town’s setting — Riverside Hotel’s dining room looks out over it — and The Bend Motorsport Park is the area’s other big draw. Guest reviews of local hotels repeatedly cite proximity to the park and river views as the location factors that matter most.

Why this matters: the hotel’s Main Street location works for all three visitor types — highway stops, motorsport weekends and Murray River trips.

Other Places to Stay in Tailem Bend

If Tailem Bend Hotel doesn’t fit, the town’s other options are close by.

Rydges Pit Lane Hotel is the on-site choice for race weekends, with a car-themed foyer and its own bar and restaurant.

Motel River Bend is the town’s cost-effective motel option: guests rate it about 9 out of 10 on Expedia (“Wonderful”), and reviews highlight clean, modern rooms, comfortable beds, efficient air conditioning and a functional kitchenette. One verified guest wrote that it “was very clean and was above our expectations.”

Riverside Hotel is the closest comparison to Tailem Bend Hotel: a smaller pub-hotel whose dining room overlooks the Murray River, with classic pub meals at reasonable prices. If you like the river-pub idea, our Loxton Hotel menu review covers a similar Murray River hotel.

The Bend Abode markets itself as newly renovated, luxury-style accommodation in the town centre, with undercover parking — a middle ground between pub rooms and the motorsport hotel.

The catch: the pub hotels give you character and meals, the motel gives you consistency, Rydges gives you race-weekend proximity, and The Bend Abode gives you a more dressed-up town stay.

Tailem Bend Hotel: A Short Timeline

• 1902 — Tailem Bend Hotel established on Main Street.
• 2018 — Hotel renovated.
• By October 2022 — The Bend Abode promoted as newly renovated, luxury-style town-centre accommodation.
• Late 2023 — Trip.com counts 196 reviews across 36 Tailem Bend properties.
• Late 2024 — Tripadvisor lists seven primary accommodation options in Tailem Bend.
• Mid 2026 — Expedia’s guide shows Rydges Pit Lane and Motel River Bend both around 9/10 (“Wonderful”).

The implication: the hotel’s history is the long story, while the broader accommodation market has expanded noticeably over the past few years around The Bend Motorsport Park.

““Nice clean modern room comfortable bed friendly staff awesome entrance with all the cars on display.””

– Anonymous guest reviewer, Tripadvisor user reviewing Rydges Pit Lane

““Convenient location for restaurants, downtown and travel. The motel was very clean and was above our expectations.””

– Verified traveler, Travelocity user reviewing Motel River Bend

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the phone number of Tailem Bend Hotel?

The phone number is 08 8572 3515.

What are the happy hour deals at Tailem Bend Hotel?

Happy hour runs from 5 to 6pm; tickets are $2 each or three for $5.

How far is Tailem Bend Hotel from Adelaide?

It’s about a 1-hour drive from Adelaide.

When was Tailem Bend Hotel renovated?

The hotel was renovated in 2018.

What is the Tripadvisor rating of Tailem Bend Hotel?

The hotel holds a 4.1 out of 5 rating on Tripadvisor.

Does Tailem Bend Hotel have a restaurant?

Yes — the Tailem Bend Hotel and Restaurant serves a traditional pub menu.

Sources

• Tailem Bend Hotel – official website
• Expedia – Tailem Bend travel guide
• Travelocity – Tailem Bend hotels guide
• The Bend Abode – official website
• Skyscanner – Tailem Bend hotels
• Trip.com – Tailem Bend hotels list
• Tripadvisor – Tailem Bend Hotels