It is the closest major hotel to the Australian War Memorial and is located on Limestone Avenue.

The Hotel Ainslie has been listed on the Australian Institute of Architects' Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture since 1984 due to its significance as a rare late example of English Arts and Crafts architecture[1] and was previously listed in the now defunct Register of the National Estate.

[3] The building now occupied by the hotel was built between 1926-27 as one of eight hostels designed to provide accommodation for public servants in preparation of relocating the Parliament from Melbourne to the new national capital.

[4] Following the adverse impact of the Great Depression in 1932, a liquor license was granted to building lessee Ernest Spendlove.

The beer garden was built in a distinctively more modern architectural style, disrupting the building's façade facing Limestone Avenue.