Austin, United States

Line Austin

Price per night from$195.00

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD195.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Mid-century might

Setting

Bats amore

Line Austin is dead-centre in downtown, with an infinity pool and rooftop cocktail bar overlooking Lady Bird Lake and Congress Avenue Bridge, where more than a million bats emerge each evening in a jaw-dropping natural spectacle for you to enjoy, glass in hand. Indoors, the mid-century architecture is paired with bold interiors featuring local artwork and bespoke furniture influenced by the Texan landscape, while Top Chef champion Kristen Kish cooks up sharable feasts in the talk-of-the-town restaurant, Arlo Grey. Hit the waterfront hike-and-bike trail outside, taking in hipster hotspots, world-beating barbecue joints and neverending live music across this rhythmic, rebellious city.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

One $25 food and drinks credit and a 2pm late check-out

Facilities

Photos Line Austin facilities

Need to know

Rooms

428, including 108 suites.

Check–Out

Noon; check-in, 3pm – but both are flexible, subject to availability.

Prices

Double rooms from £180.70 ($228), including tax at 17 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of $3.80 per room per night on check-out and an additional resort fee of $30.42 per room per night on check-out.

More details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast; choose from hearty cooked options at Arlo Grey (from $30), or pick up pastries and oatmeal to go with your coffee at Alfred.

Also

The building has a tradition of live music (it was once used by jazz broadcasters Club Seville) which the hotel will continue – look out for in-house gigs, theatre performances and work by the artist-in-residence.

At the hotel

WiFi, bike rental. In rooms: wall-mounted TV, air-conditioning, minibar stocked with locally sourced snacks, bath products by American Medicinal, Nespresso machine on request.

Our favourite rooms

The Lakeside rooms look out onto – you guessed it – the lake, which means you watch the bat-colony spectacle without changing out of your pyjamas, if you so wish. The corner-set Town Lake Studio is flooded with natural light, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides.

Poolside

The lakeside infinity pool has views of Congress Avenue Bridge and the Austin skyline. Settle into a semi-submerged sunlounger, sip cocktails under the tartan umbrellas, or cosy up by the outdoor fireplace.

Packing tips

Bring your dancing shoes – Austin has a rhythm that’s all its own. And don’t forget your appetite, for Austin’s thriving food scene.

Also

All the rooms and the communal areas are accessible by lift; just ask if you require a wheelchair-accessible room or a vision/hearing-impairment kit.

Pet‐friendly

Pets of all shapes and sizes are very welcome, for no extra fee. See more pet-friendly hotels in Austin.

Children

All ages welcome. Cots can be added to all suites and the Town Lake Studio.

Food and Drink

Photos Line Austin food and drink

Top Table

Grab a spot by the floor-to-ceiling windows for the panoramic views over Lady Bird Lake.

Dress Code

Anything goes in Austin, but Arlo Grey deserves special treatment – bring it up a notch from the check shirts and trucker caps you’ve been wearing around hipsterville by day.

Hotel restaurant

Kristen Kish won the American TV series Top Chef in 2012, and still knows how to impress – her maiden menu at Arlo Grey is jam-packed with inventive dishes, each impeccably executed. Local, seasonal produce is harvested for the burrata salad in cucumber broth and the ricotta beignets, served with a dollop of paddlefish caviar. There’s no formal distinction between mains and starters, but you certainly won’t go hungry with the buffalo short rib with whipped aligot potato, the wagyu sirloin with radish pistu, or a fistful of the house burger. Taking its name from performer Don Dean, casual eatery Dean’s One Trick Pony dishes out Disco Fries and a Texas-heat-beating frozen Aperol pink lemonade cocktail. Hungry for more? There’s a double burger served on a Hawaiian roll, crispy chicken banh mi and hot honey chicken nuggets. If you’re in a hurry, sidle up to Dean’s Walk Up Window to order takeaway burgers, sandwiches, snacks and desserts. 

Hotel bar

Expert drink-slingers craft fresh-herb cocktails at the Arlo Grey bar from 2pm to 11pm on weekdays and noon to midnight on weekends. Try the punchy Devil’s Backbone (mezcal, pineapple and lime), the fragrant Provence (gin, lavender, champagne), or stick to a classic Old Fashioned, poured over a single chunk of ice. Rooftop bar P6 has killer views of Congress Avenue Bridge and the lake; sip on expertly shaken cocktails, locally brewed beers or perfectly chilled white wines and snack on sharing plates of charcuterie, cheeses and Spanish-inspired seafood bites. It’s open from 4pm to late Wednesday to Friday, noon to late on Saturday and noon to 8pm on Sunday.

Last orders

Alfred is open daily from 6am to 6pm. Arlo Grey serves breakfast (7-11am), dinner (5-10pm) and weekend brunch (10am-3pm). Dean’s One Trick Pony is open from 11am to 10pm (5pm on Sunday and Monday); the Walk Up Window is open from noon to 5pm on weekends.

Room service

An in-room dining service is coming soon – you’ll be able to order direct from the Arlo Grey kitchen.

Location

Photos Line Austin location
Address
Line Austin
111 East Cesar Chavez
Austin
78701
United States

The Line is on the north bank of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. It overlooks Congress Avenue Bridge, which takes you into the hip South Congress district.

Planes

You can fly direct to Austin-Bergstrom International airport from cities across North America; British Airways and Norwegian fly from London in just over 10 hours. From the airport, it’s a 25-minute drive to the hotel – take a taxi, or book a private transfer for $35. You can call Smith24 for help with all your travel arrangements.

Trains

Amtrak’s Texas Eagle service runs daily to San Antonio (three hours and 20 minutes) and Dallas (six hours); railroad enthusiasts can carry on (and on) all the way to Chicago (29 hours) or Los Angeles (35 hours) on the same line. The station’s two miles across town, about 10 minutes in a cab.

Automobiles

‘Texas’ and ‘road trips’ go together like brisket and barbecue sauce. Hire a car at the airport, and explore this supersized state at your own pace – stick Hill Country, Big Bend National Park and the desert town of Marfa at the top of your to-dos. Valet parking at the hotel costs $54 a night.

Worth getting out of bed for

You don’t get more central than this – walk north through the bright lights of downtown, hunt down the hottest bars in East Austin, or rummage for fashion finds at independent shops in South Congress. For a basic orientation, hike or bike the Lady Bird Lake Trail, which runs for 10 miles along the waterfront, and passes just below your bedroom window. Fitness fiends can join in-house yoga, kickboxing and dance classes on the rotating weekly programme, or source a pass for the local gym from the hotel concierge.

Austin is a hedonist’s dream – at every turn there’s a place to eat, drink, or be merry (often all three simultaneously). If there’s one way to beat the heat, it’s a dip in the 1,000ft-long groundwater-fed Barton Springs – do as the locals do and bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grassy embankments. Browse the boutiques in South Congress, head to the antiques emporium Uncommon Objects, or pick up an LP at Waterloo Records. Tour and beer-taste in craft breweries on the hip Eastside – Blue Owl specialises in sour beers and Friends & Allies is the go-to for a hoppy IPA. For gigs and live events, check Do512, or get a no-frills snapshot on Showlist Austin. Finally, do your bit to ‘Keep Austin Weird’ – and if that means going to ‘chicken-shit bingo’ at The Little Longhorn Saloon, so be it.

More than a million bats live in the world’s largest urban colony, tucked under the arches of Congress Avenue Bridge, just yards from the hotel. Make your way down to the waterside boardwalk at sunset – or book a room with a view –and watch in wonder as they stream across the evening sky.

Local restaurants

Believe the hype: there’s no better brisket than at Franklin Barbecue (900 E 11th Street) – but prepare to wait in line for the privilege of tasting it first-hand; if your tummy is rumbling impatiently, opt for able deputy La Barbecue (2027 E Cesar Chavez Street) instead. The bulging fried chicken sandwiches at Bird Bird Biscuit (2701 Manor Road) are a local favourite (and don’t worry, they deal in scone-like American biscuits – there’s not a bourbon or custard cream in sight). Cross the road from the hotel for a bite at Fareground (111 Congress Avenue), a food-hall hub hosting independent street food concessions. Watch the world go by from an outdoor table at foodie wine bar June’s (1722 S Congress Avenue), feast on smokehouse Tex-Asian food at Loro (2115 S Lamar Boulevard), and go for late-night steak frites in the bistro garden at Justine’s (4710 E 5th Street). 

Local bars

Rainey Street is all fun and games – try Lustre Pearl (94 Rainey Street) for ping pong, corn-hole and Lonestar beers in the garden. Live music rocks in Austin – head to the Continental Club (1315 S Congress Avenue) for upcoming country and jazz bands in an intimate tavern setting, or the Broken Spoke (3201 S Lamar Boulevard) for the all-singing, all-dancing Texas honky tonk experience. If your two-step needs touching up, join a free and friendly class at The White Horse (500 Comal Street). The street locally known as ‘Dirty 6th’ is best avoided, except for the peerless cocktails at intimate speakeasy Midnight Cowboy (313 E 6th Street); book ahead, and push the buzzer cryptically labelled ‘Harry Craddock’ on arrival.

Reviews

Photos Line Austin reviews
Laura Neilson

Anonymous review

By Laura Neilson, Travel-hungry style writer

It had been nearly three years since my last visit, and while I never lived there, Austin invariably welcomes me with a familiar feeling of being back home. However much it may change with time, the city always feels accessible. The purpose of my two-night visit was simple: to reacquaint myself with the town, to see some friends, and to eat some great food. 

My post for the next two nights: the Line, situated downtown on the edge of the Congress Avenue Bridge and Town Lake (aka Lady Bird Lake). The 428-room hotel opened in 2018, but the mid-century structure itself dates back to 1965, when it originally debuted as the Crest Inn. My sixth-floor Town Lake Studio room was – quite literally – a sight to behold, with it’s floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the lake. 

A sprawling, open space rendered in mostly grey tones, the room had a calming appeal. I loved the colorful print by the local artist Alexandra Valenti (one of several Austin-based artists whose work appears throughout) hanging above a small work table, and considered details like the cool selection of art books and magazines.

The weather report kept see-sawing between rain, no rain, rain soon, no rain for hours...but I was eager to get outside before losing any more of the day, and opted to take my chances. I set off across the bridge along South Congress, one of downtown Austin’s main thoroughfares with pockets of fun restaurants and bars, unique shops, and longstanding music venues like the venerable Continental Club. 

While contemplating a quick, early evening glass of wine at the lovely wine bar June’s All Day, the skies opened up and decided for me. June’s sunny decor, and its fabulous wine list couldn’t have been a better refuge for waiting out the downpour. I had a glass of bubbly rosé off the happy hour menu, and my server sweetly brought over a small bowl of olives, too. I wanted to save my appetite for dinner at Suerte, though, a Mexican spot that’s been getting heaps of accolades since it opened, including a Food & Wine best new restaurant nod.

So was Suerte worth it? Absolutely. My kampachi ceviche had such a deliciously bright, spicy-citrusy broth, I wanted to tip the bowl to slurp up whatever meager dregs remained. I also had the peach and mango salad, which couldn’t have been a better showcase for the local, in-season peaches, as well as the mushroom tlacoyo. Before calling the night complete, I stopped in at the nearby White Horse, an iconic Austin honky-tonk, for a quick boogie. As they say, when in Austin…

The next morning, I took a few hours to enjoy the comforts of room service, while tackling some lingering work assignments. Once out the door, I headed south across the lake again for some light shopping. I stopped at the Austin Motel’s lobby shop, known for its awesome selection of items including artsy ceramic mugs and chic striped bathing suits, before stopping a few doors down at By George, which carries a fabulous selection by some of my favorite designer labels.

For lunch, I tucked in at another local favorite – Elizabeth Street Café – which I come back to time and time again for its delicious Vietnamese food and cool, low-key vibe. The temperature had already crept past 90 degrees, so a chilled, poached shrimp summer roll and a tangy, spicy mango salad hit the spot. Still, the sweltering heat made the idea of walking seem unbearable, so I hopped in an Uber back to the hotel, where I enjoyed some much-needed downtime by the hotel’s pool before meeting a friend for cocktails at the Line’s rooftop bar, P6. 

Thankfully, I didn’t have to travel very far for dinner at Arlo Grey, located downstairs off the hotel’s lobby, where Chef Kristen Kish (Top Chef’s season 10 winner) presides over the kitchen. To celebrate the restaurant’s one-year anniversary throughout the entire month of June, the kitchen was offering a list of specials that included several classics from the opening menu. We shared a handful of small plates, including a milky burrata with grilled bread, carrots and smoky, charred corn with feta, lusciously delicate poached swordfish, and a surprise sleeper hit: braised white beans with endive for scooping. We were too full for dessert, but left with some anyways.

Breakfast the next day comprised coffee and last night’s confetti cake in bed (Saturday morning bliss), to fuel my run along Lady Bird Lake afterwards. A friend was picking me up promptly at noon, so I headed back to the room to pack. I flew out later that afternoon, but not without one final meal – and a terrific one – at Loro, an Asian barbecue-smokehouse hybrid, where my favorite dish was by far the oak smoked salmon over a bowl of coconut rice. 

There’s been a rash of new hotels (both big franchise brands and unique boutiques) to open in Austin these past few years, but what I especially loved about the Line was how in sync it felt with the overall energy of the city: refreshing, but familiar – not unlike my visits to Austin in general. I can’t wait to come back.

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Price per night from $195.00