Images: Provided.
Six giant flowers are blooming inside an Adelaide hotel every night, and you can watch the spectacle unfold over a botanical-inspired cocktail made with South Australian flavours.
The new Sun Orchid Lounge at Amora Adelaide opened last week, with a dramatic installation at the centrepiece: six enormous sculptural lanterns inspired by South Australia’s rare and endangered Sun Orchid.
From 5pm until midnight, the lanterns come to life at five minutes past every hour, slowly opening and glowing through a five-minute choreographed sequence designed to mimic the flower blooming in the warmth of the sun.
“The purpose of the sun orchids is to give visitors a moment to pause and connect,” Amora Hotel general manager Sunil said. It’s a fitting philosophy for a venue whose signature promise is Where Memories Bloom.
Amora Hotel officially opened on July 1st this year at the former Hilton site, with the transformed lobby lounge sitting beneath the building’s sweeping grand staircase that has been the backdrop to Adelaide weddings, celebrations and milestone moments for more than four decades.
“We completely transformed the lobby lounge, but we wanted to retain the staircase because it’s such an important part of the hotel’s history. So many people in Adelaide have memories attached to it,” Sunil said.
The renovated lobby is part of the hotel’s broader $73 million revamp, with staged upgrades to continue throughout the year.
The lounge is open to everyone, with plenty of seating designed for groups to settle in for snacks, drinks and a few photos beneath the staircase and blooming orchids.
The food menu follows the local-first philosophy, with the kitchen sourcing as much produce as possible from South Australian suppliers and producers.
Think Coffin Bay oysters with green apple mignonette, abalone and chicken skewers with shiitake and black garlic, king prawn and Szechuan zucchini flowers with fermented chilli sauce, and braised beef cheek tucked into an Emmental cheese jaffle with truffle.
There’s also a take on the Thai khanom bueang, filled with lemon meringue, toasted coconut, smoked caviar and egg yolk threads, and an all-day charcuterie plate loaded with Sicilian olives, Jamon Serrano, cacciatore, pickled guindillas, ox heart tomato and crispy focaccia.
On Friday and Saturday nights, a pianist provides the soundtrack, while the drinks menu continues the botanical theme with cocktails including the Sun Orchid Martini, Amora Adelaide Bloom Spritz and a Native Gin & Tonic Collection.
The Amora Martini pairs olive leaf gin with house-made citrus and herbal vermouth, while the Sun Orchid is a brighter, tropical creation inspired by South Australian producers and Thai flavours, combining local and Australian gins with mandarin, yuzu, pineapple, coconut and lemongrass.
And if you’re wondering when to arrive, Sunil has a simple tip: don’t miss five past the hour.
“Once you’ve seen the orchids open, you’ll want to see them again,” he said. “It becomes part of the night.”
Sun Orchid Lounge
When: Open daily from 11:30am to late
Where: Amora Hotel Lobby, 233 Victoria Square, Adelaide
To find out more, click here.
