Top 10 Best Boutique Hotels
Austin

The Texan capital is going through a tech-industry boom, and while it hasn't quite held to the promise of the "Keep Austin Weird" bumper stickers, it's managed to hang on to plenty of personality. Great food, great music, easy living, and yes, some first-rate boutique hotels, combine to make Austin a classic destination.

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South Congress Hotel
1603 South Congress Avenue
Hotel Saint Cecilia
112 Academy Drive
Kimber Modern
110 The Circle
Hotel Van Zandt, A Kimpton Hotel
605 Davis Street
Hotel Ella
1900 Rio Grande
The Heywood Hotel
1609 E. Cesar Chavez
Hotel San Jose
1316 S. Congress Ave
Travaasa Austin
13500 Farm to Market Road 2769
The Driskill
604 Brazos Street
Lone Star Court
10901 Domain Drive

South Congress Hotel

South Congress

Austin may no longer be quite as weird as it once was, but don’t throw in the towel just yet. Not all change is change for the worse: enter South Congress Hotel. In realizing its scope and purpose in the established “SoCo” neighborhood, Michael Hsu (architect) and MAI Studio (interior design) set out to accentuate, rather than quash, the character of their surroundings. More...

83 Rooms
17 Verified Reviews
24

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Hotel Saint Cecilia

South Congress

It shares ownership with another notable exception, the well-loved Hotel San Jose. But while the San Jose is essentially a budget boutique, a rehabilitated motel, the Saint Cecilia takes off running in the direction of “luxury guest house” and never really stops. Of course Austin-style luxury includes not just those wildly expensive Hästens handmade mattresses, but an in-house vintage vinyl library as well. Put it this way: the Saint Cecilia’s blend of bold modern colors and impeccably curated antiques wouldn’t even register as upscale in Houston or Dallas; here in Austin it’s clear at a glance that this is the place to stay. More...

14 Rooms
70 Verified Reviews
192

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Kimber Modern

South Congress

Amidst the hustle and bustle of South Congress Avenue, an oasis of therapeutic efficiency awaits even the most harried traveler at the Kimber Modern. Proprietor Kimber Cavendish strikes a balance between local and global, commissioning Austin-based architects to design the Zen-like structure and local artists to adorn its walls, finishing with understated international touches like Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs and Euroluce light fixtures. More...

7 Rooms
23 Verified Reviews
72

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Hotel Van Zandt, A Kimpton Hotel

Downtown

New hotels are popping up left and right in Austin. One of the most promising is Hotel Van Zandt. It’s by Kimpton, purveyor of hip boutique hotels in urban settings across the country, so you already know part of what to expect: plush guest rooms, local character, an impressive list of complimentary amenities, from the popular evening “social hour” to in-room yoga mats. Indeed, the Kimpton recipe works as well in Austin as it works everywhere else. Each of their hotels has a destination-inspired theme: at Hotel Van Zandt, as the name might suggest, it’s Austin’s famous music scene. More...

319 Rooms
1 Verified Reviews
23

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Hotel Ella

Downtown

Like a classic seafaring vessel, Hotel Ella is named after a woman. The muse is Ella Wooten, the original lady of the house, who lived here from 1900 to 1944. Celebrated for her personal style, her green thumb and her good taste in interior decoration, she was the wife of the co-founder of the University of Texas — and she spared no expense in transforming the once-ordinary estate, a short stroll away from campus, into an opulent Greek Revival–style structure in 1910. More than a century later, her passion project reopened as a boutique hotel. More...

47 Rooms
1 Verified review
13

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The Heywood Hotel

East Side

If a hotelier is going to be a little obsessive about keeping things local — hanging the work of local artists on the walls, playing local music, hiring local architects and interior designers, even stocking the rooms with locally roasted coffee — then it helps to be in a town with as much creative talent as Austin. Not to knock a perfectly fine state capital of the same size, but it’s hard to imagine a homegrown hotel in, say, Indianapolis finding its way toward mid-century Danish armchairs or a warmly lit polished-concrete courtyard — which is just what you get at East Austin’s seven-room Heywood Hotel. More...

7 Rooms
19 Verified Reviews
49

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Hotel San Jose

South Congress

A half-mile south of downtown, in Austin’s authentically funky South Congress neighborhood, the San Jose perfectly fits its location: it’s unpretentiously stylish, relaxed and comfortable, and surprisingly easy on the budget, cheaper even than the big chains downtown. More...

40 Rooms
95 Verified Reviews
186

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Travaasa Austin

Lake Travis

This is Austin in address only. Set on the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve twenty minutes outside of town, Travaasa is decidedly more Hill Country than South by Southwest. For one, there’s an earnest dedication to the Western design vernacular that works far better than it really should, proof that long views and a little restraint can take a hotelier far. Each of the seventy rooms is airy and bright, with a private deck or patio overlooking the hills beyond. More...

70 Rooms
3 Verified review
70

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The Driskill

Downtown

The Driskill is where you go for a taste of the grand old Texas, pre-George W. It's arrogant and opulent, with its massive marble lobby and awe-inspiring stained glass dome. Cattle baron Colonel Driskill wanted to open a hotel to rival the big city, to astound the locals, and to make Austin the unofficial capital of the South. He succeeded. More...

188 Rooms
44 Verified Reviews
56

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Lone Star Court

The Domain

Vintage Texan-style charm, gracious service, a live music venue on the premises: it’s all not unusual to find all of these among boutique hotels in Austin. But the owners of Lone Star Court committed even more wholeheartedly to a specifically Texan idiom. “Court,” in this case, refers to a motor court — the precursor to the American motel, offering family-friendly roadside accommodations to motorists during its mid-century heyday. The retro inspiration is apparent from the minute you roll up to the hotel’s entrance, an antique auto parked outside, a glowing neon sign pointing you towards reception. More...