Mawson Lakes is a delfin development 12km from the CBD and is probably a $20ish cabride from the city.
TG
maybe more towards $25 or $30 depending on time of day
have you looked at Glenelg. Tram to the city would be cheaper than taxi from Mawson lakes.
Besides the classic adelaide rally there is also the horses on this weekend, 3 day event and whatever else horse people do.
Have you tried the Majestic Roof top garden on Frome Rd. There are also Quest apartments in the city, Hindmarsh Square, I think and probably also Frome road area.
There is another Quest hotel on Greenholl road which might be ok. Also look around Norwood that is accessible to the city.
Ahh just did a wotif - The Flinders Lodge at KentTown might be OK. I think we put some visitors from the UN in there. I've also heard of the Welcome Inn, but not sure if it was good or bad. There are also a couple of Hindley St options available. But down market looking.
for real budget there is Arkaba Court hotel - had to stay there for a week when my first born joined us and I was working in a town 600 km north of Adelaide. There are actually 2 Arkaba's within about 500 m of each other. One is a bit a pub/hotel/pokies type place. The other (where I stayed) is a bit more down market.
Actually there are probably another 4 events on, it is the adelaide way. I got a big shock the first friday I decided (at about 2:30pm friday) to leave the mining town and drive to the big smoke for the weekend. Had to pay a fair bit for the Hyatt that weekend