Five fire crews battled to extinguish the blaze as it took hold of a first-floor office at the pub, on the corner of George and London Sts, on Sunday evening.
The Fire Service's assistant area manager for Otago, Roger Smith, said most of the building was not seriously damaged.
''Other than some minor water damage to the public areas of the hotel, there's no other fire damage.''
Mr Smith said it was too early to say when the pub would reopen.
''There is work that needs to be done.
''There is some damage to the electrical wiring in the part of the hotel that's affected by the fire.
''Until that's sorted, you can't just turn the electricity back on.''
The exterior of the building was mainly unscathed, other than the three windows of the upstairs office space, which had been destroyed.
Investigators were inside working to determine the cause of the fire but early indications were that it did not appear to be suspicious, Mr Smith said.
''We haven't got any evidence to suggest that it is [suspicious], but it has been flagged as an option.''
Firefighters were alerted to the incident after an alarm activated about 7pm on Sunday.
It took 18 firefighters 20 minutes to get the fire under control. A private insurance company investigator arrived in Dunedin yesterday afternoon to assess the property, which has a current rateable value of $1.25 million.
East Otago Southland fire risk management officer Cathy Trevathan, who was overseeing the investigation, said there was nothing to report and the investigation would continue today. Bog Property Ltd director Maxwell Bremner could not be reached for comment.
