The Windsor is sited to take advantage of patrons visiting Perth Zoo, coming via ferry along the Swan River.

The Windsor Hotel was designed by prominent architect J. J. Talbot Hobbs, and built for George Strickland in 1898 at a cost of £4,050, equivalent to A$732,609 in 2022.

The hotel opened on the corner of Mends Street and Mill Point Road at a time when the popularity of South Perth was increasing; by the mid-1890s the suburb was well established.

The building is constructed with tuck-pointed brickwork in Flemish bond and its corrugated iron roof is concealed behind a parapet.

The veranda roof is broken by gables, which highlight the main entrance to each street facade and the truncated corner.